Undecided about equipment for 50G reef (20G sump) - especially return pump and skimmer

[Muffin87]

After a year with a 16G nano, I'm upgrading to a custom-made tank/sump.

• display: 55G
• sump: 20G
• in-sump refugium: 8G (i.e. 15% of display)

I wanted some feedback on the equipment I plan to buy.
I'm pretty sure I'll be using these lights, and these pumps -- still I'd love to hear your thoughts.

• light: GNC Bluray (expensive but apparently you can't beat the coverage - also I love passive cooling).
• refugium lights: Dennerle Reef Light (PL, 36w) X 2 (came with my 16G nano)
• dosing pump: jebao wifi dosing 3.4 (83€ on eBay)
• powerheads: sicce voyager nano 2000 x 2 (very cheap and silent, will be replaced when anemones are introduced)

Kinda undecided about the skimmer and the return pump.

For the return pump, I was thinking one of these two:

• Sicce Syncra Silent 2.0 - heard it's reliable and actually dead silent.
• Nyos Viper 2.0 - apparently, the build quality of Nyos product tends to be high and the price point is similar to the Sicce syncra silent.

This is my first skimmer, I'd like something that:

• is easy to tweak and fine-tune
  as a first time reefer, I'll probably end up trying different settings.
• won't break as I clean it/empty the skimmer cup
  I'm really impatient with clunky plastic getting stuck.
• is very silent
  the tank is gonna be very near the desk where I work, eat, and spend most of my day.

I've narrowed it down to four skimmers:

• Bubble Magus Curve 5 (cheap, many reviews)
• Bubble Magus Z5 (can't find any reviews - but cheap and love the space-saving design)
• Nyos Quantum 120 (expensive, allegedly silent and easy to fine-tune, but some struggled with vibrations and skimmer cup?)
• Tunze 9410 (good reviews, not cheap, not too expensive either)

I'm really tempted to get the Nyos Quantum 120, but it's really expensive in comparison to the other skimmers, and some still complained about the skimmer cup, or having to put something heavy on the top of it to stop vibrations.

Anyone feels like giving me some ideas?

Thanks a lot!

 

[Huff747]

I ran a 40 gallon with a 20 gallon sump using a Sicce 2.0 and Bubble Magnus 5 in my home office. Both were very quiet and I have no complaints about either. Don’t have experience with the other equipment you have listed.

Personal opinion but I’d hold off on the dosing pump if it were me. I’m about 2 years in across 3 different tanks of various sizes and still haven’t dosed anything. I use Kalk in my ATO and on occasion I need to top off some other elements but not yet often enough to use a dosing pump. May get there someday as corals grow but I’d just suggest going slow with that and you can add one later.

 

[X-37B]

Get the 9410. I have the 9410 on my 45 frag tank and the 9410 dc on my 120. This skimmer is set and forget. The easiest skimmer cup to clean of any I have used. Plus you wont need to upgrade if you go to a larger tank under 150 gallons.

 

[mr9iron]

I think your equipment list looks pretty good but you may consider a larger return pump as the Sicce 2.0 may not have enough ummph after you consider height, head pressure, elbows and other fittings.

I cannot comment on the Skimmers as I haven’t had any of those but I had an Aquamax that was a beast.

 

[Blue Spot Octopus]

Aqua Maxx S-Co 1 skimmers are really nice.

 

[Hemmdog]

I’d do the curve 5 elite, and a jebao dct-6000(budget but good) or a VarioS4(mid range) for your return.

 

[Midrats]

I second the 9410.