Skimmer advice

[jamesfwillis]

Afternoon all and happy Friday to you.

I’ve seen a lot of posts of people running multiple skimmers and I wondered.

I have a reefsys180 and in the sumo I have a nyos Quantum 120 but I do have spare a bubble Magnus 3.5 so my question is as follows

Could I run the two skimmers and if so would on of the skimmers be ok in the media part with bio balls all around it

 

[Dan_P]

Afternoon all and happy Friday to you.

I’ve seen a lot of posts of people running multiple skimmers and I wondered.

I have a reefsys180 and in the sumo I have a nyos Quantum 120 but I do have spare a bubble Magnus 3.5 so my question is as follows

Could I run the two skimmers and if so would on of the skimmers be ok in the media part with bio balls all around it

Can’t think of any reasons why your idea would not work well. Run two skimmers

 

[Dread Pirate Dave]

Is there a reason for needing two skimmers? The one in your sump doesn't look like it is producing much. :)

 

[jamesfwillis]

Is there a reason for needing two skimmers? The one in your sump doesn't look like it is producing much. :)

I just cleaned it out

 

[west co reefer]

What is your reason for wanting to run 2 skimmers? If one can handle your bioload, the 2nd is unnecessary.

 

[jamesfwillis]

Just because I have one sitting around and thought it might help better than sitting in the cupboard

 

[west co reefer]

You could run it, but if the other skimmer handles the current bioload well enough, a 2nd isn't needed. When you throw the second one on and it causes both to struggle with producing enough skimmate to reach the collection cup, then remove one. It doesn't hurt to try, but it in the case of skimmers, more or bigger is not necessarily better.

 

[PharmrJohn]

You could run it, but if the other skimmer handles the current bioload well enough, a 2nd isn't needed. When you throw the second one on and it causes both to struggle with producing enough skimmate to reach the collection cup, then remove one. It doesn't hurt to try, but it in the case of skimmers, more or bigger is not necessarily better.

General rule of thumb these days is to run a skimmer that is rated for your tank, OR if the tank is just on the edge of two different models (let's say you have a 160g) you'd choose the skimmer that's rated for 150g rather than 200. You CAN overskim. That being said, I ran a skimmer on my old 90g that rated for 200g with no issue. Nutrients were fine. Go ahead and try it and see what happens. You can always remove it or dial one down if you have a DC Pump.

 

[jamesfwillis]

So I take it a skimmer would be fine with a load of bio balls round it then

 

[PharmrJohn]

Don't see any issue with it. They will continue to do their thing and the skimmer won't have any affect on them.