Recuirc. vs. Non for In sump

[SHill]

I am building a new tank and decided to try and venture away from ASM skimmers (currently have a couple). I am looking into the Octopus skimmers, as they seem to be made with better materials, etc.

My big question has to do with recuirculating vs non, for an in-sump skimmer. From what I gather, a recuirculating skimmer is much more efficient due to its design. I don't mind paying more for a skimmer that performs better.

What do you think? Should I go ahead and get the recuirculating model, even though I don't need the ability to put the skimmer externally?

I am ok with the ASM skimmers, but I really don't think they perform as well as I want. In the mid-price range of the Octopus skimmers, are there any others I should consider? It looks like it's hard to beat their price though... I'm surprised more vendors haven't jumped onto the lower price bandwagon. Afterall, there really isn't that much to most of these NW skimmers. I like Euroreef, H&S and Deltec, but not sure they are worth the extra $$ over the Octopus. I may be wrong...

Thanks,

[UCanDoIt]

http://archive.reefcentral.com/forum...readid=1042506

[hahnmeister]

I prefer recirculating. I know you will get arguments on how much people feel the extended dwell/contact time really helps vs. a higher throughput and skimming more water (recircs only need 1.5-2x the tank volume per hour to go through them, so they get more time to extract the proteins from the water but they process less water volume), but there are other reasons...

Ind. control of the throughput from the mixing pump means you can have a much larger capacity pump on that same skimmer body compared to a single-pass skimmer. The throughput is lowered then so that no microbubbles get out.

The ability to direct feed these skimmers from your overflow rather than a feed pump is one major bonus for me. That way, you can skim from the water that has been skimmed from the top layers of the tank and are richest in proteins. In a way, the surface of the tank/overflow is a sort of 'prep-filter' for the skimmer. Doing this instead of feeding the skimmer from in the sump has resulted in some extra nasty poop in the skimmer for me.

The last benefit of recirc over single pass is much like the first, in that you can use a larger pump, but also, for whatever size pump, you get less head-loss because the water level that the mixing pump is drawing from and pumping into is the same... so you get more air intake vs. that same pump in a single-pass setup.

[SHill]

Thanks for the quick replies folks! After reviewing many threads and opinions, I am certain it is worth it to go with a recuiculating style skimmer. As hahnmeister mentioned, it runs at a slower rate and thus more is exposed to the skimmer and more garbage is removed (i.e. more efficient).

Also, I've been reading up on H&S, Deltec vs lower end Octopus, and it seems like I coule either a) get the smaller H&S or a larger Octopus (since I don't want to spend a fotrune). I'm worried if I go with the smaller H&S (even though it is rated for my size tank), it may not be as efficient as going with the larger octopus.

This new SPS tank I'm building is a 55/60g with a 40g refugium. I could go with the H&S A110-F2000, which is rated for this size system (but barely). Or I could go with the Octopus DNW 150 for less.

Here are my choices at this point:
- H&S A110-F2000
- Octopus DNW-150 or DNW-200
- Octopus DDNW-150

I am interested in the Dual pump Octopus DDNW-150. Would that be the best of this list? Just curious what you all think.

Thanks so much.. I really want to get the best I can afford because I do believe this is the most critical part of the system. I've read from most experts that if you get a very efficient skimmer, it greatly reduces the amount of biological filtration you need (i.e. Live rock).