Rate my Bio Load

[DarrenCar]

New to the hobby and am researching some equipment. Skimmers primarily. So I will be setting up a 65 gallon DT with a 20 gallon sump. I plan on ~50 ish lbs rock and live sand. Prospective fish wish list is, 2 Ocellaris clowns, 1 Dwarf Angel, 1 Firefish, 1 Watchman Goby, 1 Flasher wrasse and maybe 1 Royal gamma. A cleaner shrimp, blue leg crabs and some snails. After the tank gets going say 6 or so months I plan on some Zoa's, Mushrooms and leathers.
Will this be a Small, Medium or large bio load? I have limited space to work with and need a skimmer that has a small footprint and most of the ones I like are all ranking themselves on the Bio load.

 

[nautical_nathaniel]

Do you plan on adding all of the fish and then starting with coral?

I've always tried to add a fish or two first, then add some corals, then add another fish, and another coral, and so on until it gets to where I am just adding more coral. Coral will consume some of the nutrients fish expel, so its a good idea to sort of build up both groups to see how the ecosystem handles itself with more bio-load.

Fish-wise, I think you're okay with that size tank. Coral-wise, as long as you've got open rock you've got space for more coral ;)

 

[A sea K]

I would consider that a medium bio load. Consider your feeding regimen with your selection criteria. I purposely feed quite heavy and that alone will add to the bio load.

 

[DarrenCar]

So it would be safe to say I’m teetering between medium and heavy on an overall bio load when everything is added?
I want to make sure I get an appropriate size skimmer the first time and not buying a new one a year later.

 

[A sea K]

So it would be safe to say I’m teetering we tweet medium and heavy on an overall bio load when everything is added?

I would yes. Also keep in mind that most people recommend a skimmer rated for 2 times the system capacity/bio load.
I'm using a reef octo 150 prime internal on my 80 gal which is heavily stocked, it works very well but I wish it were a little larger and am currently looking into possible upgrades. It is rated at 75 gallons with a heavy bio load and I find that to to be a accurate assessment.

 

[DarrenCar]

I’ve pretty much narrows it down to the Reef Octo SSS 150 or the Classic 152-s. I’ve read some reviews about the collection cup on the sss 150 being hard to remove but like the footprint. The classic isn’t that much bigger though so that may be the better choice.