steve8855

no such thing as over skimming IMO, i run a octopus nwb-110 love it(70g tank) get the biggest skimmer you can afford and fit, bubble magus is good also and the extreme series from octopus are nice, but there are lots of good companies out there. look at what acrylic they use for the actual skimmer also look at the pump thats another big thing, and above all google reviews and youtube vids on them.

the only time you can run in to over skimming problems is....hmmmm never i guess, i really cant think of a problem you would have that would be directly related to having "too big" of a skimmer, other then not producing alot of skimate because the organics simply arent there to remove.

if you are looking to upgrade down the road definitly go with a large high quality skimmer now rather than latter, i would like to suggest a Vertex Alpha 170 or 200 be prepared these are expensive skimmer! but i have heard great things about them, and when compaired to the "gold standard" bubble king they are match for match and quite a bit cheeper. even though they have the same high end pump, are made at the same factory and use the same high quality materials. i plan on upgrading my skimmer soon and it will definitly be a Alpha 170

Well i found a Hydor Performer 600 Protein Skimmer on sale reg $660 for $280

But its rated for 220 gallon and my tank is only a 65 gallon, and I feel like I will be pulling everything "bad" and "good" out of my tank?

hey steve

i checked out that skimmer and read some reviews. to be blunt, IMO it may be fine now but once you upgrade you wont be happy with it. both the skimmers i posted earlyer were rated for 200-300gallons slight overkill for now but keeping in mind you are planing for a 220gallon tank plus i assume the sump

if your striving for low nutrient water there really isnt any "good" a skimmer will remove other then trace amounts of CaCO3 MgCO3 which will most likly be doesed anyways, it will mostly all be organic material aka uneaten fishfood and poop stuff that breaks down and fouls water

You can have a skimmer that is too big. If the skimmer is rated too high for your tank it will not pull out the skimate correctly. Your tank size needs to be somewhat in the range of what the skimmer says it is for. A skimmer that is rated for a 220 gallon tank is not going to skim as well on a 65 gallon tank as a skimmer that is rated for that size tank. Usually the high and low side of the ratings are based on how heavily your tank is stocked.

Originally Posted by Mccoy85

You can have a skimmer that is too big. If the skimmer is rated too high for your tank it will not pull out the skimate correctly. Your tank size needs to be somewhat in the range of what the skimmer says it is for. A skimmer that is rated for a 220 gallon tank is not going to skim as well on a 65 gallon tank as a skimmer that is rated for that size tank. Usually the high and low side of the ratings are based on how heavily your tank is stocked.

i have an alpha 200 on my 125 and i have a heavily stocked tank and i can safely say it may have been a bit much for my tank. it works really well but i definitely can say that it wouldn't work very well on a 65 gallon tank. i ran a bubble magus on my 55 gallon tank a couple of years ago and it was a great skimmer for the price. i personally would look for a skimmer that fits your tank now and then upgrade skimmers when you decide to upgrade the tank. thats just me two cents, take it for what its worth.

if your going to over size the skimmer at this time then i would one that has the smallest neck size possible for the rating your looking to get.

This is a good debate question! Another problem with the ratings is that they are usually incorrect. If a skimmer is rated for 220 gallons, it might only be suitable for 150 gallons, in my opinion. From my experience, the higher end skimmers (more expensive) are generally more accurate with their ratings.

The main argument from having a skimmer that is too big for the setup is that a proper head of foam can't be made on the skimmer... so organics do not get filtered. This is the result of the neck size being too big. That never really did make sense to me. I understand that it would take a certain amount of organics in order to generate foam, but in that case, a large skimmer would also have the same problem on a large tank once organics got down to a low level... never being able to skim out everything. That's why it does not make sense to me. If that is really the case, then large tanks would benefit from having a small skimmer to supplement their big skimmer, in order to filter out the organics the big skimmer is unable to filter due to the large neck size.

I personally have a Super Reef Octopus XP3000, which is rated for 300 gallons. I have 177 gallons in my setup and the skimmer was filtering dark gunk out when I had just 2 fish and no corals... all that does is further my belief that the neck size does not really matter.

Other thoughts?

-James

it is not that with a bigger neck that it does skim it is that it tends to build up in the neck and not push it out into the collection cup which means its still in the water breaking into thing that are not removed by skimmimg like n03 ect

Originally Posted by DJ in WV

it is not that with a bigger neck that it does skim it is that it tends to build up in the neck and not push it out into the collection cup which means its still in the water breaking into thing that are not removed by skimmimg like n03 ect

... and that is the result of the neck being to large. So i think we are in agreement on what I was saying. Although, I don't necessarily agree with that theory or we would all need smaller skimmers to supplement our large versions.

also depends on how wet you make your skimmate the wetter the larger neck you can use and be effective if your looking for dry skim then a smaller neck is needed.

i understand what you guys are saying, when it comes down to overskimming it if organics are going to be skimmed,they will be skimmed its just a matter of having "enough" to create a foam which can be pushed out, where a smaller neck has the advantage. a soloution to this can be skimming slightly more wet? and i agree with jlemoine2 rating are hardly ever accurate because there really is no "standard" to rate against which all manufactures follow

p.s DJ looks like we had the same thought on skimming wet, you just posted it 3min before me haha

hey steve here is a question i didnt ask earlyer and it will help this decision, how much do you have to spend on a skimmer? how much can you have budgeted down the road to buy a new skimmer when you are also buying a new tank?

Originally Posted by baker.shawn

hey steve here is a question i didnt ask earlyer and it will help this decision, how much do you have to spend on a skimmer? how much can you have budgeted down the road to buy a new skimmer when you are also buying a new tank?

That is a good point, Shaun. When in doubt, get the best you can afford. In my opinion, a skimmer is a critical component to a reef aquarium. Even though a larger skimmer is generally desired, I think it is better to get a high-end small skimmer than to get a low-end big skimmer at the same price. With skimmers, you get what you pay for in terms of quality and reliability.

so much good information.

so i guess the final questiong is whats some of my best options for a skimmer around 300 or less

There are two Reef Octopus Extreme Skimmers that are in your range on Marine Depot... you might be able to find a slightly better price somewhere else.

The XS-160 is $295 and the XS-200 is $325. The XS-200 is probably worth the extra $30.

Marine Depot doesnt have very friendly shipping prices to us canadians, you may want to look at bulk reef supply they have great customer service and you pay the REAL shipping price plus they take care of duties! they sell the XS-200 and XS-160 aswell as bubble magnus BM-NAC7 which seem to be your best options currently

im not sure where in ontario you are but if you can stop off at the oakville reef gallery talk to the guys there before you order,they have very fair prices and stock hugee quantity of everything basicly...oh and they always have lots of coral to cherry pick

for the size tank you have now i would say look at the bubble magus nac6 or the nac7. i have used the nac6 and it worked really well. it pulled out some nasty skimmate and seemed to consistent once it was dialed in.

+1 for the nac6 i have one and it is running well on my 108 with 55gal sump. Mind you it would not be enough for a 220 and from what i have read nor would the nac7.