mattinlasvegas
Aquarium Advice Newbie
Hey guys - a little clarification and some guidance is sorely needed 
I have a Rena XP-4 (rated at 450 gph) filter system now, and I want to install a Red Sea C-Skim 1800 protein skimmer. It is my understanding that the out take of the skimmer must empty into a sump like container (or even just a bucket big enough to hold the overflow), but it seems that the Red Sea people claim that the C-1800 should not be gravity fed but fed from a pump, and here come the questions:
1.) Could I in theory connect the outtake of the Rena XP-4 to the intake of the C-Skim 1800? (The skimmer is rated at 400-450 gph of water and the XP 4 has a flow rate of 450)
2.) Doesn't 1.) sound dangerous? what if the return pump stops working and the filter keeps feeding the skimmer.....the water vessel would fill up REAL QUICK!!
3.) Would a better solution be as follows: get an overflow box (I am considering having one built that can feed up to 600 gph, so enough), empty (by gravity) into a separate sump/vessel; place a pump in that vessel to feed the skimmer and a pump in the return vessel to feed the water back to the tank?
3 sounds complicated and 1 sounds dangerous - I would really much prefer to gravity feed the skimmer and just have one vessel that returns the outflow water to the tank.....do any of you have any experience with gravity feeding a C-skim 1200 or 1800?
Thanks
Matt
I have a Rena XP-4 (rated at 450 gph) filter system now, and I want to install a Red Sea C-Skim 1800 protein skimmer. It is my understanding that the out take of the skimmer must empty into a sump like container (or even just a bucket big enough to hold the overflow), but it seems that the Red Sea people claim that the C-1800 should not be gravity fed but fed from a pump, and here come the questions:
1.) Could I in theory connect the outtake of the Rena XP-4 to the intake of the C-Skim 1800? (The skimmer is rated at 400-450 gph of water and the XP 4 has a flow rate of 450)
2.) Doesn't 1.) sound dangerous? what if the return pump stops working and the filter keeps feeding the skimmer.....the water vessel would fill up REAL QUICK!!
3.) Would a better solution be as follows: get an overflow box (I am considering having one built that can feed up to 600 gph, so enough), empty (by gravity) into a separate sump/vessel; place a pump in that vessel to feed the skimmer and a pump in the return vessel to feed the water back to the tank?
3 sounds complicated and 1 sounds dangerous - I would really much prefer to gravity feed the skimmer and just have one vessel that returns the outflow water to the tank.....do any of you have any experience with gravity feeding a C-skim 1200 or 1800?
Thanks
Matt
