Skimming a 28 gallon SPS reef

[childress5tyler]

Hello! I'm in the process of setting up a new reef after being out of the hobby for ~3 years. I'm going to set up an all SPS 28 gallon Deep Blue rimless with an ICEBOX 15 sump (approximately 40 gallons in total). I'm planning on having around 12 4-6" mini colonies through the reef, one (possibly two) large maxima clam, and two onyx clownfish. I am looking into skimmers and it was recommended that I run the Reef Octopus 110 SSS. Do you think that this skimmer would be overkill or do you think it would be appropriate? The goal will not be exponential growth, but rather moderate growth and great color, given the size of the reef.

I'll be dosing phytoplankton every other day, feeding mysis every other day, running carbon/GFO in a phosban reactor, and autodosing Ca, ALK, Mag, and AcroPower as well. I'll run the AI Prime and 1 MP10, as well.

Give me your thoughts on whether or not I'm making a mistake by considering this skimmer! I do not want this SPS reef to be depleted of the necessary nutrients, denying each colony what it needs; but I also want my water to be very clean.

 

[CodyRVA]

This seems to be more of a personal preference. My preference has always been to implement an over sized skimmer and supplement it where/when needed. So, if I need to run some pellets, i'll add some slowly and see how the system reacts; same with GFO, Filter socks, etc. The skimmer provides other benefits than carbon dosing, GFO, mechanical filtration, etc.

I run a Skimz DC Monster 163 on my 80G reef; rated for 200G light bioload and 120 heavy bioload. I still run GFO & filter socks. The RO 110 SSS, calls for 60G on a heavy load, so I highly doubt you'll strip your system with this skimmer alone.

 

[childress5tyler]

This seems to be more of a personal preference. My preference has always been to implement an over sized skimmer and supplement it where/when needed. So, if I need to run some pellets, i'll add some slowly and see how the system reacts; same with GFO, Filter socks, etc. The skimmer provides other benefits than carbon dosing, GFO, mechanical filtration, etc.

I run a Skimz DC Monster 163 on my 80G reef; rated for 200G light bioload and 120 heavy bioload. I still run GFO & filter socks. The RO 110 SSS, calls for 60G on a heavy load, so I highly doubt you'll strip your system with this skimmer alone.

Thank you for your response, I didn't think that it would strip my system but I wanted to get a few more opinions. I've tried to do some research on this and have failed to find any information on how sps colonies affects bio-load. If it doesn't contribute very much to overall bio-load, I should have a fairly small bio-load considering I will only have 2 fish, 2 clams, ~20 pounds of live rock, and possibly ~20-25 pounds of sand (considering a bare bottom reef). Do colonies contribute to bio-load?

Thanks,
Tyler

 

[CodyRVA]

Do colonies contribute to bio-load?

To my knowledge, every living organism produces some degree of waste. From my understanding, the zooxanthellae in coral help to utilize the waste the corals produce, of which is very little to begin with; the zooxanthellae reduce the waste even more. So, yes they do, but will it have an adverse affect on your reef... no. However, the more you feed your corals, the more waste you stand to introduce; not just from the food source, but the more something consumes, the more waste it produces. Also, don't forget about plate corals, anemones, duncans, acans, etc, etc, etc... anything that can eat larger volumes of food are much easier to witness excreting waste.

 

[childress5tyler]

To my knowledge, every living organism produces some degree of waste. From my understanding, the zooxanthellae in coral help to utilize the waste the corals produce, of which is very little to begin with; the zooxanthellae reduce the waste even more. So, yes they do, but will it have an adverse affect on your reef... no. However, the more you feed your corals, the more waste you stand to introduce; not just from the food source, but the more something consumes, the more waste it produces. Also, don't forget about plate corals, anemones, duncans, acans, etc, etc, etc... anything that can eat larger volumes of food are much easier to witness excreting waste.

That's what I figured. I assumed that it was a very small amount of waste; I'll be doing strictly sps

 

[Chris Adams]

I know main question was about skimmer but you mention adding this and that. I thought I would chime in here and offer a little information on my tank which I would finally consider successful SPS "always room to improve and learn though". I am quite ignorant when it comes to a lot of the equipment because I have never run it. This is just based on my experience in my tank. Bear with me. I think KISS is the way to start. Add only what you need if you need it
38gl IM AIO
running 2+ years
No sump.. I would not mind 1 myself.
IM protein skimmer that came with it. I would not mind upgrading this but does the job
Some base rock in back
usually have chaeto in 1 compartment with magnetic nano glow runs at night.
BM-t01 doser dosing alk cal mg
kalk reactor tied into my ato. Mainly to help my PH drops at night as tank in bedroom (never again)
MP10
2 clowns
recently moved to BB
Ran GFO reactor, took it off, put it on, took it off :) corals always seemed to react negatively for me. I have on occasion hung a bag in back area for a week.
Occasionally added Acro power, and fuel other times but can't say either provided a noticeable difference.

Within last few months I went from 10gl wc every week to 5gl maybe every other. Also swapped out my reef radiance led/t5x2 retro for ATI 6x24(love this thing) early December

My colors are better than ever and so is the growth. Mainly SPS
ALK checked other day was 6.5 scared crap out of me so I up dosing and currently 7.65
cal 475
mg ??? generally hangs 1400 but got busy forgot to test
po4 .14 previous check was November 5th and was .05. No question growth and color improved since that time.
no3 10+ this was basically 0 back on November 5th

Just wanted to show you things can be kept simple and still have great SPS.

Take a look. Got new lens so plan on getting some nice shots of the Acros this weekend
http://reef2reef.com/threads/the-so-called-wifes-tank.281054/

I hope this info helps and that I did not waste your time.