skimmer question

[fijiwigi]

Ok I think I understand what a skimmer does. My question is wouldn't it be most beneficial to have the skimmer hanging off of the Main tank verses inside a sump? I just figure there would be more waste to be collected from the surface of the main tank verses the sump considering there is more surface area. Then if you have an overflow and sump the main tank would always be at the same water level so the skimmer could be set for optimum performance where as in a sump you always have to worry about water levels in the sump dropping due to evaporation. Also keeping the skimmer on the main tank gives more space inside the sump to be used as a refugium to improve water quality even more. The only downside I see to hanging the skimmer on the main tank is it is not pretty. I guess the purpose of a sump is to move equipment to the bottom of the display to not be seen and I see the point however I am thinking a refugium instead of a sump is the way to go for me. Just curious if anyone had input on this topic.

 

[ccCapt]

You can easily set up your sump with baffles so the section the skimmer is in never has fluctuating water levels. Not sure what you mean by having more surface area to skim when you hang on the back. All the water in the sump is/was surface water from the tank. You can just as easily set up the skimmer as a HOB on the section of sump you have set up for a constant water level.

 

[Ziggy953]

Well as for the skimmer, put it down in the sump! You are right it's not pretty to look at. The main reason for a sump is to as you said get the heaters and stuff out of the main tank but it also serves another purpose and that is adding more water volume to your system.
To really get the benefits of a Fuge it needs to have a little size to it. In your case you have a 46bow and probably not a lot of room under the tank. A 20g long tank divided up could work well for you. I took my system a step further and I have a 20gtall tank that is a dedicated fuge. I have a 10g return sump and a 15g acrylic sump that is getting ready to be tied to the system for even more water volume.

Adding a fuge with LR LR rubble and Macro Algae will greatly improve your water quality. Doing regular PWCs will keep it that way!

 

[Kurt_Nelson]

cccapt hit it on the head... ALL the water in your sump was once surface water in the tank to start with, so you're really skimming the same water. Plus, depending on how you set up your hang on back skimmer, you may not necessarily be skimming from the surface anyway. The Remora HOBs, without their additional surface skimmer box, pull water from mid tank. You can modify it to pull from both mid tank and the surface, but it doesn't come that way from the factory.

If you're going to have a sump, I'd put it there with the rest of the unsightly/noisy stuff.