How do you know if your skimmer is the right size?
- Thread starter Chromis
- Start date
Chromis
Supporting Member
That’s a good point - are you able to manage your pH with airflow alone or did you plumb your air intake to the outside/a CO2 scrubber?
max_nano
Supporting Member
Good question. I believe that oversized skimmer will barely skim or won’t even build enough foam to skim. I believe I had that issue with the skimmer I had on my RS 170, however that could also be a result of improper setup with either airflow or water height issues. I would get skimmate but it took a long time to build up and I believe the most of the nutrient export was the gunk that built up inside the neck vs the liquid skimmed out.
But then how would you know if a skimmer is undersized?
But then how would you know if a skimmer is undersized?
I think oversized is if you are unable to pull skimmate (assuming it's tuned properly)
Under could be tougher. You could say "unable to keep nutrients down" but if you're feeding 5 cubes of frozen a day to your clown fish in your 10g, it's not really the skimmers fault. Then again I guess you could argue if that's how you want to feed, you just need a bigger skimmer.
I think by far it's better to have a slightly undersized skimmer than over (against what has been generally said over the years). There are other export methods you can implement if your skimmer is too small, but if your skimmer is too big you're kinda stuck.
Under could be tougher. You could say "unable to keep nutrients down" but if you're feeding 5 cubes of frozen a day to your clown fish in your 10g, it's not really the skimmers fault. Then again I guess you could argue if that's how you want to feed, you just need a bigger skimmer.
I think by far it's better to have a slightly undersized skimmer than over (against what has been generally said over the years). There are other export methods you can implement if your skimmer is too small, but if your skimmer is too big you're kinda stuck.
an excuse to add more fish maybe?
Sure, but not always possible.
rygh
Guest
Opinions:
Over-sizing the body is great.
Over-sizing the neck is a big concern, since it may not skim well.
Buy a quality one. Not all skimmers work as well as others.
And some are far less noisy.
If you later have problems:
1) Overflow skimmer cup to an external container.
It is often not the skimmer that is too small, just the cup.
2) An alternative is TWO skimmers.
Assuming you have a big enough sump.
Over-sizing the body is great.
Over-sizing the neck is a big concern, since it may not skim well.
Buy a quality one. Not all skimmers work as well as others.
And some are far less noisy.
If you later have problems:
1) Overflow skimmer cup to an external container.
It is often not the skimmer that is too small, just the cup.
2) An alternative is TWO skimmers.
Assuming you have a big enough sump.
i was able to get decent pH pulling outside air, but with covid and more people working from home with the window closed, i went recirculating co2 scrubber.
ofzakaria
Guest
It really depends on the maker you are going for.
With royal exclusive as an example oversize is big no no and will lower the performance. This is out of experience.
One thing to keep in mind also is to know if the vendor is giving size recommendation based in total water volume or gross water volume.
rygh
Guest
What I really wish is that skimmers vendors sold some sort of "neck adapter"
So you could pop it in to make the effective neck size smaller, but still use the same body/cup.
Party for people that cannot decide.
But also early on, when there is little in your tank.
Hmmm. Could probably 3D print one. It would be little more than a specially shaped cylinder.
So you could pop it in to make the effective neck size smaller, but still use the same body/cup.
Party for people that cannot decide.
But also early on, when there is little in your tank.
Hmmm. Could probably 3D print one. It would be little more than a specially shaped cylinder.
Patio
Supporting Member
neck adapters is a solid idea!