What type of Skimmer for a 550 gallon

[charliethetuna]

Hi everyone after my last tank leaking I went and ordered an acrylic 400 gallon tank it will be coming in 6 weeks .what type of Skimmer would you run on this my total water volume should be a out 550 after sump frag tank etc ...Im always heavy stocked ..I don't know what to go with it insump,external (never ran and external before ,alittle scared of flooding ? Downdraft,beckett,? Brands or type ? What do aquariums use to skim?

 

[watdachuck]

LifeReef! I've never needed one this big but always wanted one this big! This is the 48" but he makes them up to 72 inches!!

 

[charliethetuna]

I was actually looking at that last night..my question on external skimmers is what if u don't adjust it right and the cup overflows wouldn't u have a mess ,what stops that from happending with an external Skimmer? .

 

[watdachuck]

In my experience with LifeReef the cup has filled and then any additional skimmate just won't make it into the cup and falls back down the neck. Most like this one also have a release valve in the bottom of the cup and drains into a separate container preventing it from ever filling of desired.

 

[maroun.c]

On large tanks budget becomes key,if uncan afford it a properly rated Bubble king is excellent.
I run a super reef octopus external 8000 on my system ( total volume is around 800g) and am happy with performance and stability. I always prefer external over internal and never had a flooding from skimmer as they have some safety denatures against it. If ur worried about that if u can fit an external skimmer in ur sumpmthat would provide a safety factor for u. I believe that external skimmers perform bet s pump is only mixing water nd injeting ir rather than also feeding the skimmer so believe Air injection ratios and performance of same skimmer pump will be better in expternal vs internal.

 

[charliethetuna]

On large tanks budget becomes key,if uncan afford it a properly rated Bubble king is excellent.
I run a super reef octopus external 8000 on my system ( total volume is around 800g) and am happy with performance and stability. I always prefer external over internal and never had a flooding from skimmer as they have some safety denatures against it. If ur worried about that if u can fit an external skimmer in ur sumpmthat would provide a safety factor for u. I believe that external skimmers perform bet s pump is only mixing water nd injeting ir rather than also feeding the skimmer so believe Air injection ratios and performance of same skimmer pump will be better in expternal vs internal.

I always wanted to mess with an external I have a hugh sump and I'm using a vertex alpha 250 for the past year which has been working great ..I thi k I will look into the reef octopus 7000 when the time comes

 

[ca1ore]

If you have space, the only thing that really changes performance is contact time/height. My go to skimmer was always MTC, but they’re out of business so I’d second lifereef. I’ve no recent experience with the stubby ones.

 

[KingJason]

I have a LifeReef VS3-48 and it kicks butt. It would still be my choice if I was doing another tank. It pulls out so much junk from my tank and was extremely easy to dial in.

It has overflowed on me but it was my fault for not cleaning it out and being lazy. If the neck get's too clogged or too much gunk builds up on the bottom drain area it will push water up and fill up the collection cup quick. It has a drain line so you can just leave it open and setup some type of alarm for it if it makes you worried. But in my experience it has never had a problem when I keep it clean.

 

[Saveafish]

LifeReef! I've never needed one this big but always wanted one this big! This is the 48" but he makes them up to 72 inches!!

Plus ONE. That's what you want.

 

[Saveafish]

If you have space, the only thing that really changes performance is contact time/height. My go to skimmer was always MTC, but they’re out of business so I’d second lifereef. I’ve no recent experience with the stubby ones.

I got the last one made. MTC-MVX.
My choice now would be lifereef. Get an extension for it too. And waste collection

 

[ca1ore]

I got the last one made. MTC-MVX

Sad that they are gone. I've known the Wojcik brothers since they started MTC in the late 1980s/early 1990s (I don't recall exactly when). Good news is that your MVX will probably outlast you. My Pro-Cal shows every intention of outlasting me.

 

[S-t-r-e-t-c-h]

There's a kick butt MTC skimmer up on ebay that I've been watching for a few weeks...

https://www.ebay.com/itm/50-MTC-Ski...h=item33ff6c5a33:g:X6AAAOSwhwlb04uQ:rk:1:pf:0

 

[ca1ore]

There's a kick *** MTC skimmer up on ebay that I've been watching for a few weeks...

https://www.ebay.com/itm/50-MTC-Ski...h=item33ff6c5a33:g:X6AAAOSwhwlb04uQ:rk:1:pf:0

Nice, you don't see the HSA3000 come up for sale very often (mainly because MTC didn't sell that many of them). $400 seems a bit steep though. I recently picked up an HSA1000 for $100. BTW, a buying tip with their stuff - if it uses blue acrylic for the non-clear parts its old; if it uses black acrylic its newer.