bubbarockies Posted January 7, 2016 Share Posted January 7, 2016 I am wondering if a skimmer rated for 200 gallons will even do anything on a 40 breeder. I always oversize my skimmers, but never quite this much. The 40 breeder is plumbed to a 20 gallon sump. The baffles allow for water level to be held at the manufacturer's suggested height, and the footprint will fit, however, with the bio-load being so much lower than what the skimmer is rated for, will the skimmer actually help? Are there any potential down sides? I'm confident that the bubbles will diffuse before reaching the return pump, so I am not concerned there. Thanks for your help! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StayPuff Posted January 7, 2016 Share Posted January 7, 2016 (edited) Well this is a touchy subject im sure and im sure you could get 100 answers. But i will keep mine short yes remember these are skimmers and there are things in the tank that need to be there I don't think the word is Over skimming because I don't know if you could I'm no master by all means. But skimming to much I think would take out protein (But this is very hard to do) There was some add that I read that the skimmers do take out trace elements that you need as well. So there is my 2 cents I also use a bigger skimmer but not that big mine is rated for 130 gallons on my 100 gallon tank and does wonders. Just whatever you do make sure you go good water movement in there. For the record you will learn things that work for me that wont work for you or work for you that wont work for me so that's what great about asking is you learn from everyone and see what works for you. that is a beast though one rated for 200 gallons Edited January 7, 2016 by StayPuff Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lexinverts Posted January 7, 2016 Share Posted January 7, 2016 A potential downside is that a seriously oversized skimmer could too much of the nutrients out of the water. You'll need a little bit of nitrate and phosphate in order to have success growing corals. It also might pull quite a bit of water out of the tank just from skimming, and you'll have to stay on top of your salinity if you are using auto topoff. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The ReefBox Posted January 7, 2016 Share Posted January 7, 2016 So my .02 on this top is pretty simple... If you are oversized on your skimmer it will stop skimming when it is has pulled out all of the organics it can for any given time. Not saying it quits working, just that it stops producing that nice foam head to overflow into your cup. When the organics build up again the skimmer will go to work! On the reverse. An undersized skimmer will work opposite...it will skim 24/7 and not necessary remove all the potentional organics that one would if oversized in the same amount of time or if severely undersized may never catch up. There are a lot of debates about this subject and a lot of it talked about on other forums such as should we skim 24 hrs a day. My answer is yes because it is an essential part of tank aeration. Many people have plenty of aeration without skimmer running but why not just size correctly and let run 24/7. Only reasons I could come up with would be to save on power and your equipment....but then again the starting and stop could cause more wear on the pump. As always there are several ways to skin a cat 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The ReefBox Posted January 7, 2016 Share Posted January 7, 2016 My thoughts for you bubba is if you want to use that skimmer and not purchase a new one......go ahead, just put it on a timer and run for half a day. You will never build up more organics in 12 hours to be harmful to tank and its inhabitants in that period of time. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blackice Posted January 7, 2016 Share Posted January 7, 2016 A say run it! Run it 24/7 and stuff that 40g with 10 4" tangs and you will be right at the limit of one inch per gallon of fish..???? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bubbarockies Posted January 7, 2016 Author Share Posted January 7, 2016 A say run it! Run it 24/7 and stuff that 40g with 10 4" tangs and you will be right at the limit of one inch per gallon of fish..????I wish! There is a reason for a 200 gallon rated skimmer. I plan on setting up a 125 or 180 within 6 months. So those tangs are definitely happening! [emoji2] I'm hoping to pick up a more appropriately sized one for the 40 soon, I'm just wondering if I can delay that purchase by using the oversized one. Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markvo Posted January 7, 2016 Share Posted January 7, 2016 The good skimmers are rated by bio-load. If you don't feed much, there isn't as much to remove from the water. Most skimmers are over-rated by the manufacturer and I agree that over-skimming is more of an urban myth. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BoringDave Posted January 14, 2016 Share Posted January 14, 2016 My last skimmer was rated 160 gallons over the volume of my tank. As stated above it would just stop making a foam head until I fed the tank again. Also as stated, I had 0 nitrates 0 nitrite and don't know about phosphate because I have never tested it since I have 0 algae problems. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goldenbasketreef Posted January 14, 2016 Share Posted January 14, 2016 Skimmer manufactures always over rated the skimmer service rating so most likely you will be undersized if you base your decision to use the skimmer as per manufacture rated service. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bubbarockies Posted January 14, 2016 Author Share Posted January 14, 2016 My last skimmer was rated 160 gallons over the volume of my tank. As stated above it would just stop making a foam head until I fed the tank again. Also as stated, I had 0 nitrates 0 nitrite and don't know about phosphate because I have never tested it since I have 0 algae problems.Do you keep corals? I'm slightly concerned that if I run it full time that I won't have enough nutrients for zoas, acans, etc. I can set it on a timer if necessary but my pH drops when the skimmer is off. I suppose I could run the skimmer at night when pH is usually a little lower and leave it off during the day. Thoughts? Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TaylorW Posted February 28, 2016 Share Posted February 28, 2016 Great question Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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