Okay i am planning to get WM MF 201 rated for 250 gallon. You guys know my tank is 30x30x18 (70gal) plus 20 gallon sump. I am a minimalist so not too many rocks. I am think about the future tank upgrade and was wondering if i will over skim the tank? If so, what do you think of having the skimmer on a timer? what is the best time to run and how long?
Over Skimming
- Thread starter bkoo29
- Start date
I believe what mike is trying to say, The skimmer will be staying in front of the game sorta speak.
A protein skimmer removes " proteins" from the water column or " D.O.C. ". If you have a oversized skimmer it will pull out all the doc's, and at times you will have no proteins in the water column, which kinda gives the skimmer a break, meaning it will have a inconsitent foam head. To me thats NOT a bad thing.
A protein skimmer removes " proteins" from the water column or " D.O.C. ". If you have a oversized skimmer it will pull out all the doc's, and at times you will have no proteins in the water column, which kinda gives the skimmer a break, meaning it will have a inconsitent foam head. To me thats NOT a bad thing.
A skimmer can definitely be "too big" for a system.
One aspect is the physical ability to skim. That is, the diameter of the neck & bubbling power of the pump are so large that it would take a very large amount of DOCs to fractionate any amount of foam. In a small tank that is lightly stocked, the required level of DOCs to foam would be harmful to most sensitive coral. Dont confuse not foaming with the lack of DOCs beacuse if you feed, theyre definitely in there. In this case a smaller skimmer would be able to foam when a larger one couldnt. An undersized skimmer would foam even earlier but couldnt keep up, that is, it couldnt remove organics as fast as you help make them. Size does matter, and not just bigger is better.
Another aspect is the goal of skimming. How low do you want the DOCs to go? Obviously with SPS the less the better. LPS, im not sure, but probably a little bit more DOCs is ok. Zoos & softies may not want it as low. As for non-photosynthetics, a skimmer directly and indirectly competes with the coral for food, so skimming would not be good. The best NPS tanks ive seen are dirty, "overfed", not skimmed, but get water changes frequently.
HTH
One aspect is the physical ability to skim. That is, the diameter of the neck & bubbling power of the pump are so large that it would take a very large amount of DOCs to fractionate any amount of foam. In a small tank that is lightly stocked, the required level of DOCs to foam would be harmful to most sensitive coral. Dont confuse not foaming with the lack of DOCs beacuse if you feed, theyre definitely in there. In this case a smaller skimmer would be able to foam when a larger one couldnt. An undersized skimmer would foam even earlier but couldnt keep up, that is, it couldnt remove organics as fast as you help make them. Size does matter, and not just bigger is better.
Another aspect is the goal of skimming. How low do you want the DOCs to go? Obviously with SPS the less the better. LPS, im not sure, but probably a little bit more DOCs is ok. Zoos & softies may not want it as low. As for non-photosynthetics, a skimmer directly and indirectly competes with the coral for food, so skimming would not be good. The best NPS tanks ive seen are dirty, "overfed", not skimmed, but get water changes frequently.
HTH
I just "down graded" my skimmer to a CAD pls50 (cad rated 5-60g). My system is 40g total and I had a s120 (eshopps rated 40-120g) on there.
I've been battling LOW no3 on this tank for a while now, and I have come to the conclusion that the tank is being overskimmed.
What @rayaray is saying in the post above makes perfect sense, I would only make foam after heavy feedings, the cup would fill up maybe 1/2" and then nothing until the next heavy feed.
I'll update this thread in a couple weeks to see if the smaller skimmer was a good move.
I've been battling LOW no3 on this tank for a while now, and I have come to the conclusion that the tank is being overskimmed.
What @rayaray is saying in the post above makes perfect sense, I would only make foam after heavy feedings, the cup would fill up maybe 1/2" and then nothing until the next heavy feed.
I'll update this thread in a couple weeks to see if the smaller skimmer was a good move.
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it's hard to over skim a tank since your skimmer will not operate at 100% 24/7 when the neck get dirty your skimage is reduce. I rather have my tank clean and I can feed more than let it dirty and deal with algae. I feed like 8 times a day so I always go for bigger skimmer plus if I upgrade my tank I don't have to buy a new skimmer. My volume is 300g net and my skimmer is rated for 500g.
