Protein Skimmer Question

[ChiTownRomeo]

I have a 55 gallon Aquarium with no sump. I am using a canister filter just to get rid of the surface scum that builds up. I have 2 Mp'10s but they don't point to the surface to clear the film. The canister is making my nitrates spike. I won 2 Eshopps psk-75H skimmers rated for 75 gallons each. Would that be overkill in my system? I really wanna ditch the canister but hate that surface film. I can't have a sump cause the landlord is having a fit about me having a tank already lol. I have 60 pounds of live rock and 55 pounds of Tropic Eden live sand. Any advice?

 

[carey]

Using one of those skimmers would be a great thing imo. Using two would probably be a waste of energy as far as electricity. I would hook up the one and see what it pulls out. Are you heavily stocked with fish or coral? If not the one should suffice just fine.

 

[ChiTownRomeo]

Using one of those skimmers would be a great thing imo. Using two would probably be a waste of energy as far as electricity. I would hook up the one and see what it pulls out. Are you heavily stocked with fish or coral? If not the one should suffice just fine.

for right now just 2 Clowns. 1 Chromis, Duncan's Torch< Frogspawn and Hammer coral.

 

[carey]

Yeah, you are lightly stocked so the one skimmer will most likely be just fine. The skimmer will skim out excess organic matter and with only a small handful of fish two would be overkill. At least in my opinion/experience.

As you add more stock and/or acquire more corals you may see the one skimmer start to get overloaded and filling the cup really quickly, at that point I would consider a larger skimmer or running the two you have.

 

[TimaT]

There is no such thing as overkill. the water quality in a reef is 10x cleaner than a skimmer can ever Take out... the bigger the better.
however i would really like to suggest a in sump skimmer because they just much better than any of the hang on the back skimmers...

another suggestion would be to remove what ever media you are running in the filter that are causing nitrate problems and just run it through carbon.
*the nitrate are building up on what ever you have in.

PS.
i have been running my 150 rated skimmer on my 46gal tank for over a year and never had any "overkill" problems.

 

[ChiTownRomeo]

There is no such thing as overkill. the water quality in a reef is 10x cleaner than a skimmer can ever Take out... the bigger the better.
however i would really like to suggest a in sump skimmer because they just much better than any of the hang on the back skimmers...

another suggestion would be to remove what ever media you are running in the filter that are causing nitrate problems and just run it through carbon.
*the nitrate are building up on what ever you have in.

PS.
i have been running my 150 rated skimmer on my 46gal tank for over a year and never had any "overkill" problems.

Nothing in the canister but 4 bags of Purigen, 2 bags of Chemi Pur elite, 1 thing of Phos Guard and 1 fine filter pad

 

[TimaT]

Theres your nitrate Factory guy! 4 bags of Purigen and the filter pad. remove them

 

[jeffaquarius]

If you put too much stuff on canister, they actually restrict the flow inside and water just pass around them. It is designed so that the canister will never be choked to stop the flow. Thus those media just sit there ineffectively and building up those nitrates.

 

[huma-huma]

There actually is such thing as overkill. Running 2 75g rated skimmers on a 55 will show you that. I follow Careys advice and go from there. Theres no nee for 2 skimmer at this point

 

[jeffaquarius]

There is no such thing as overkill. the water quality in a reef is 10x cleaner than a skimmer can ever Take out... the bigger the better.
however i would really like to suggest a in sump skimmer because they just much better than any of the hang on the back skimmers...

another suggestion would be to remove what ever media you are running in the filter that are causing nitrate problems and just run it through carbon.
*the nitrate are building up on what ever you have in.

PS.
i have been running my 150 rated skimmer on my 46gal tank for over a year and never had any "overkill" problems.

If you can maintain your stockings with minimal equipment why put over sized equipment that is not proportion to your tank specially if they are visible in the DT? I would consider it over kill if the tank is cluttered with unnecessary equipment.

 

[huma-huma]

Maintaining a tank , and maintaining a stable tank are two different things. Running oversized / extra euipment isnt always a bad thing. For instance, running an pversized skimmer insures that 1) you dont have a piece of equip stressing to run at 100% and 2) it can also handle any spikes that will at some point occur. You have to understand that maintaining a stable saltwater tank requires its equipment/ utilities to be able to handle spikes and jumps.

To the OP, theres nothing wrong with running the skimmer you have, it fits your needs and it was free. Dont worry about running an in-sump style skimmer because you dont have a sump or the ability to run one

 

[jeffaquarius]

If you have filter feeder corals you don't need that extra skimming. In fact I turn it off for several hours when feeding. Too many stuff hanging in DT is ugly. When we say maintaining it is understood to be the ideal or stable.

 

[ChiTownRomeo]

lol I'm all confused now

 

[jeffaquarius]

Just weigh the pros and cons. For me I always choose the simplest with less maintenance set up. I would prefer an HOB mechanical filter than canister because it is easy to maintain. That would be more beneficial than using the 2nd skimmer.