Can you over skim?

[NigelK8485]

I've been emailing back and forth with a few people and when I get home I'm going to pull the trigger on getting a tank to start up saltwater. It'll be either a 90 gallon or 120 gallon depending on if this guy will trade me for my 45 or not. I'll have a 40 gallon sump, and then I can get a great deal on this protein skimmer but it's rated for up to 300 gallon tanks.

I've read that having too large of a skimmer can remove vital nutrients from the tank but have also heard the opposite. Do you think it'd be alright to run a skimmer rated for such a larger tank?


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[Anovack]

I could be mistaken but the only problem with running a skimmer at a wet skim is that your taking salt water out and would be replaced with rodi water and would lower the tanks salinity over time.


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[dylan p]

You want to get a skimmer rated at least twice your tank size in case you have something die it won't crash your system. I think if you got a 125 with a 40 gallon sump a protein skimmer rated for 300 gallons would be perfect. Not sure about the 90 gallon but I don't think it would hurt anything


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[54seaweed]

on my 37g tank I run a 100g rated skimmer on my 90g I run a 300g rated skimmer
bigger skimmers are better for the reason its not straining to keep up ,

 

[PB_Smith]

Some clarification needed.
If you are using a commercially available skimmer designed specifically for the aquarium industry, the chances of "overskimming" to a point of having a detrimental impact on livestock is rather slim. Those skimmers simply do not have the length of bubble/water contact time, about 2 minutes, that results in pulling trace elements and minerals out as well.
My air powered DIY skimmer has a contact time of about 1+ minutes, that's how long it takes for probably 90% of the bubbles to reach the surface after the air is turned off, and I haven't encountered any issues.


Two minutes is supposedly the ideal contact time as it allows more waste to be removed.

 

[Reefing Madness]

Run a skimmer rated for twice the volume of your total volume.

 

[coralbandit]

IMO you will not easily over skim.
I run a MTC HSA 1000 I believe rated upto 750g on my 120 without issue?
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[NigelK8485]

Awesome, thanks. I'm getting the 120 gallon and the skimmer is rated at 350 gallons so should be great.


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[Reefer James]

No you cannot. The post about salinity for wet skimming was only factor. You may need to not top off your tank on day of water changes or add in salt for super wet skimming.