Are you OVER or UNDER Skimming your Zoa / Paly Tank ?

Yes,
Another Trick Question.

Under Skimming
For Example:
Your return pump is rated for 1500 g/h and your Skimmer is only rated for 500 g/h.

More Nutrients are going back into your tank than are being filtered.
or
Dirty Water.

Over Skimming
For Example:
Your return pump is rated for 500 g/h and your Skimmer is only rated for 1500 g/h.

Less Nutrients are going back into your tank,
Better / More Mechanical Filtration.
or
Cleaner Water.

I like this one, curious to see what will be posted from those that are more or less successful with the z's n p's.
In the mean time I need to go double check what my pumps are rated for!

This is a good question. I think I have about 700 gph on the return. I went to look at how many gph my skimmer pump is rated for but cant read it any more its a sedra 5000. ( I think its 600gph)

Personally I think it's a moot point, no skimmer is pulling ALL return water anyway it's only flowing a portion. I think it's far more important to make sure the skimmer is big enough for your water volume rather than trying to balance your skimmer to your return pump.

I'll have to concur with Rick on this one. Maybe a better question would be equating LPH of air your skimmer draws, to the volume of your system.

This way, you have a quantifiable measure. Now, I can tell you that my skimmer pulled 1150LPH of air and I had about 100G of water. Zoa's HATED my tank, but SPS growth was off the charts...

When I crashed my tank, and the SPS were disintegrating, the Zoas and Paly's I had, EXPLODED in growth. My Gobstoppers went from 15-20 polyps, to like 60 in 2 weeks. :eek:

I am over skimming per say-

My return pump is running about 150 GPH, and my skimmer pump is running 500 GPH, but, my drain into the sump drains between the return and the skimmer, allowing some nutrients to pass a time or two before they get exported out of the system by the skimmer.

Like Rob, I'm gonna have to check the rating on the skimmer. I bought it based on the water volume of the system rather than the GPH.

Quote:

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Personally I think it's a moot point, no skimmer is pulling ALL return water anyway it's only flowing a portion. I think it's far more important to make sure the skimmer is big enough for your water volume rather than trying to balance your skimmer to your return pump.

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This question has a couple of different direction it can go.

First Direction:
Yes, the Skimmer should be rated for at least the water volume of your system.
Some Hobbyist like to run a larger Skimmer because they are planning on having a LARGE Bioload.
or
Plan on upgrading in the near future and just buy a bigger Skimmer now instead of later.
or
Got a great deal on one and it is a little bigger than they really needed.

Second Direction:
If your return pump is the main source of flow in your tank and not just to get water to & from the sump for filtration.
It is probably a Large Energy Consuming Beast than will cost more to run than say, a smaller pump with a closed loop or power heads.

Smaller tanks may not be affect ( Energy Consumption ) as much as larger systems.
But, may not have the additional room to house the extra equipment in the Tank or Cabinet.

Quote:

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I'll have to concur with Rick on this one. Maybe a better question would be equating LPH of air your skimmer draws, to the volume of your system.

This way, you have a quantifiable measure. Now, I can tell you that my skimmer pulled 1150LPH of air and I had about 100G of water. Zoa's HATED my tank, but SPS growth was off the charts...

When I crashed my tank, and the SPS were disintegrating, the Zoas and Paly's I had, EXPLODED in growth. My Gobstoppers went from 15-20 polyps, to like 60 in 2 weeks.

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This is one of the points I am trying to make,
In these Informational Gathering Threads.
That the System you set up may work Great for one type of Coral and Terrible for another.

These Thread were started in the Zoa/Paly Forum.
Maybe there should be one in every Coral Forum.
To find the best equipment / practice for any given Coral.

i dont skimm at all just once a week water changes

i am almost dead even for my system.

mag 5 return, superskimmer 65 skimmer

mag 5 at my height is approximately 325gph and i just looked up a superskimmer 65 and it is also 325gph so i am almost right on the money! never thought of it this way lol