I know this is controversial, anecdotal and wishful thinking. I purchased a turbo aquatics scrubber (L4) and realized after I got it that for my skimmer to operate safely (had a flood happen as a result of trying to fit both in my sump) that I can't have both the scrubber and the skimmer in / on my 75 gallon sump. Even if I repositioned the sump's location, the skimmer would have to go in the middle of the 75 which would put the bubbles too close to the return section and could cause issues. Plus, I'd have difficulty finding safe room for the heaters.
So, unless I get a completely different and larger sump (125 might work) I'm stuck with either using the Diablo DC skimmer or using the scrubber. The skimmer is rated for 500 gallons, but I've had issues keeping it well tuned. either it skims nothing or skims too much and floods. I'm told there's easy ways to shut it off if starts to cause a flood, but that's more effort than I'm willing to do now.
So, I've shut down the skimmer completely and just going to use the scrubber. It's approximately 4 days old. So, it will be a few weeks until it's up to snuff on removing nitrates.
It's a 340 gallon tank, with 75 gallon sump, 2-3 inch sand bed in the display. and right now around 10 fish. 4-5 corals to start with (LPS and some SPS just to test things out).
I've got a mature tang that is close to 7-8 inches and a Rabbit fish that's close to 6-7 inches, the rest are all smaller. Around 1-2 inches each.
So, my question is, for the next couple years, will a turf scrubber (double sided with red LEDs) be sufficient to keep up with nitrate removal and 2-3 30 gallon water changes a month?
Or do I need to find a remote sump that I cycle water into and just have the skimmer in that and have it gravity feed the sump. I could probably setup a 20 gallon rubbermaid bin and have either the skimmer in that or the scrubber flow into that and that flow into the sump, plumbed, but fed by gravity if I must have a skimmer. But, it'll take me a while to get up to 30 fish. my goal is to have around 30-40 fish, and tons of LPS and possibly NPS corals! Maybe a clam or two.
Tank has been operational for about 3 months. I'm open to best practice suggestions?
So, unless I get a completely different and larger sump (125 might work) I'm stuck with either using the Diablo DC skimmer or using the scrubber. The skimmer is rated for 500 gallons, but I've had issues keeping it well tuned. either it skims nothing or skims too much and floods. I'm told there's easy ways to shut it off if starts to cause a flood, but that's more effort than I'm willing to do now.
So, I've shut down the skimmer completely and just going to use the scrubber. It's approximately 4 days old. So, it will be a few weeks until it's up to snuff on removing nitrates.
It's a 340 gallon tank, with 75 gallon sump, 2-3 inch sand bed in the display. and right now around 10 fish. 4-5 corals to start with (LPS and some SPS just to test things out).
I've got a mature tang that is close to 7-8 inches and a Rabbit fish that's close to 6-7 inches, the rest are all smaller. Around 1-2 inches each.
So, my question is, for the next couple years, will a turf scrubber (double sided with red LEDs) be sufficient to keep up with nitrate removal and 2-3 30 gallon water changes a month?
Or do I need to find a remote sump that I cycle water into and just have the skimmer in that and have it gravity feed the sump. I could probably setup a 20 gallon rubbermaid bin and have either the skimmer in that or the scrubber flow into that and that flow into the sump, plumbed, but fed by gravity if I must have a skimmer. But, it'll take me a while to get up to 30 fish. my goal is to have around 30-40 fish, and tons of LPS and possibly NPS corals! Maybe a clam or two.
Tank has been operational for about 3 months. I'm open to best practice suggestions?