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06/25/2017, 06:20 PM | #1 |
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Which skimmer for a five foot reef tank?
Hi, I am in the planning stage for my first reef tank. I am intending on a Royal Exclusiv skimmer but not sure which one.
The tank will be either 5’x2.5’x2’ or 5’x3’x2’ with about 150lb of rock and moderately stocked. Can someone please recommend a RE skimmer for me? Thanks |
06/25/2017, 06:29 PM | #2 | |
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Director Customer Support Royal Exclusiv USA For All Royal Exclusiv & Bubble King questions please refer to our Sponsor forum: http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/fo...play.php?f=745 Current Tank Info: 480G display mixed reef, 90G sump, 90G refugium, 60G display refugium. Check out my build thread: http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1783476 |
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06/25/2017, 06:42 PM | #3 |
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Thanks very much for your quick response!. What would you consider a "reasonably heavy fish load". Also, would the RD3 50w return pump be sufficient for this setup? Sump is under the tank.
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06/25/2017, 06:55 PM | #4 |
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For the larger display, I would say 30 fish would be a reasonable decent load. A heavy load is about 1/2" of fish per display gallon. The Double Cone 200 would be best suited for a minimum of a 175 gallon display with a heavy load. These skimmers are conservately rated and oversizing them will result in inconsistent performance and the need to run them really wet to maintain reasonable consistency. In doing so, you loose some fine tuning ability. You need a good supply of dissolve organics to maintain a good foam head. The bigger the skimmer, the more dissolved organics will be needed to fill the neck with foam in order to generate enough foam to fill the neck and spill over into the cup. In absence of enough dissolved organics, you won't be able to maintain enough of a foam head to keep the neck consistently full of foam which is where inconsistency comes into play. I always say.. You are better off with a properly sized skimmer that is always hard working than an oversized skimmer that hardly has to work and will be inconsistent as a result.
The RD3 50 would lbe undersized for that IMO. I have a 90 gallon display with an RD3 80 on it running at around 60 watts. For a display that size, you'd be running the RD3 80 anear 100% after head and friction loss. Thus I'd say an RD3 80 would be a much better choice.
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Director Customer Support Royal Exclusiv USA For All Royal Exclusiv & Bubble King questions please refer to our Sponsor forum: http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/fo...play.php?f=745 Current Tank Info: 480G display mixed reef, 90G sump, 90G refugium, 60G display refugium. Check out my build thread: http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1783476 |
06/25/2017, 07:00 PM | #5 |
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Brilliant! Thanks again.
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07/01/2017, 06:07 PM | #6 |
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Hello Scott, for a 100 gallon, medium-load tank would you recommend the DC130 or 150?
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07/02/2017, 08:25 AM | #7 | |
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Director Customer Support Royal Exclusiv USA For All Royal Exclusiv & Bubble King questions please refer to our Sponsor forum: http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/fo...play.php?f=745 Current Tank Info: 480G display mixed reef, 90G sump, 90G refugium, 60G display refugium. Check out my build thread: http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1783476 |
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07/04/2017, 05:42 PM | #8 |
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Sorry Scott, one more question. For a 130 gallon, medium-load tank would you still recommend the DC130 or Mini 160? Or can I go to the DC180 with RD3? Which one is quieter?
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07/04/2017, 11:41 PM | #9 | |
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Quote:
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Director Customer Support Royal Exclusiv USA For All Royal Exclusiv & Bubble King questions please refer to our Sponsor forum: http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/fo...play.php?f=745 Current Tank Info: 480G display mixed reef, 90G sump, 90G refugium, 60G display refugium. Check out my build thread: http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1783476 |
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07/05/2017, 06:10 AM | #10 |
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Thanks again, Scott.
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08/11/2017, 02:45 AM | #11 |
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Hi Scott, I ended up getting an Elos 120. Allowing for the glass thickness, substrate, rock and unfilled space at the top of the tank, I guess I have 80G of water. This is at the upper limit of the Double Cone 130. I intend on a pretty high bioload. Do you think this skimmer would suffice or should I go for the next size up? Thanks again for all your advice thus far.
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08/11/2017, 08:03 AM | #12 | |
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Quote:
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Director Customer Support Royal Exclusiv USA For All Royal Exclusiv & Bubble King questions please refer to our Sponsor forum: http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/fo...play.php?f=745 Current Tank Info: 480G display mixed reef, 90G sump, 90G refugium, 60G display refugium. Check out my build thread: http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1783476 |
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