Skimmer recommendations

[Silverback26]

Hey guys, I am working on setting up a 135 gallon acrylic tank that my mom found at goodwill for $180! I have so far cleaned it up and polished it, got a HOB overflow, cut an area on the lid for the overflow to hang, and ordered a sapphire Cr44 from trigger systems for my sump. There are a lot of deals going on right now for Black Friday and am looking into equipment for the sump and am considering buying my lights but I am a bit lost on what to look for or what skimmer to choose as I have only had AIO tanks up to this point. There is a deal for a K1-160 icecap skimmer I found for about $165 that looks pretty good. I’m curious what your guys opinion is on that and possible alternatives as I haven’t seen too much discussion on icecap skimmers.

 

[Naekuh]

you really want one with a DC pump on a variable controller, as it will make tuning the system much easier.

I run a simplicity 240.
You can see what i mean about a variable controller on the DC pump by googling one.

But i do not think i would buy a protein skimmer anyone unless it had a variable DC pump after owning one that does.

I really want a Nyos, but those are extremely pricey but very pretty. Realized pretty shouldn't be a factor because its going in the sump and the only time u will ever see it again, is when its dirty and ugly and you need to do maintenance on it.

 

[Silverback26]

you really want one with a DC pump on a variable controller, as it will make tuning the system much easier.

I run a simplicity 240.
You can see what i mean about a variable controller on the DC pump by googling one.

But i do not think i would buy a protein skimmer anyone unless it had a variable DC pump after owning one that does.

I really want a Nyos, but those are extremely pricey but very pretty. Realized pretty shouldn't be a factor because its going in the sump and the only time u will ever see it again, is when its dirty and ugly and you need to do maintenance on it.

I was looking at that exact skimmer but unfortunately it’s out of stock on the websites I have been checking. Seems like it has great reviews and is pretty affordable compared to others, it is not super important that I get one now so I will probably just wait till they are restocked. What size is your setup? And this may be dumb but for the bioload does that include the sump volume?

 

[Naekuh]

i have a 150G Lagoon.
Bioload is not too heavy, as i only have 1 Tomini tang, 1 rabbitfish, 2 clowns, 7 anthias of mixed species, 7 green chromis.

I do need to empty the cup every week or so, so i put it on a separate collector as the unit allows me to put a tube on it, and collect to a 1 gallon milk jug.

Bioload means how much fish you have, and how often you feed.
If you like your fish fat... then consider it a heavy bioload unless you have like 1 fish.
A heavy bioload would be if you had several tangs and a rabbitfish, that alone is enough to push you into moderate/heavy in a 135.

You don't want to undersize your skimmer, at the same time, you don't want to go overkill.
So i think a a good skimmer for you would be something that can handle about 180G on your 135. That way, your not to under, and your not too overkill.