Skimmer upgrade

[Thinslis]

Would it be a wise investment to upgrade my skimmer from an Octo NW-200 to a Euro-Reef RC-250?

[Kreeger1]

Probably not, there about the same size right?

[Thinslis]

No, the RC-250 is a recirc and rated for 250g+. The Octo-NW200 is a non-recirc rated for 180g

[Thinslis]

The Euroreef RC-250 is listed on SC website at $998... would I really see a $998 differance in performance?

[Kreeger1]

Absolutely not. that would be a waste of money. You also can't go by what the man. rate tank size is either.
Save your money, is your skimmer not preforming the way you'd like right now?
The skimmers are similiar in size though right? Why not make yours a rc model and save some cash if its not up to par for ya?

[itZme]

Originally posted by Kreeger1
Absolutely not. that would be a waste of money. You also can't go by what the man. rate tank size is either.
Save your money, is your skimmer not preforming the way you'd like right now?
The skimmers are similiar in size though right? Why not make yours a rc model and save some cash if its not up to par for ya?

Good advice Erik! I don't look at anyone's "rated capacity". The Remora PRO is rated for "tanks over 90g". The rating on a Berlin skimmer is 20-200 gals

If the skimmer is 8" tube and 24" high it could be made to perform just as good as any other 8x24" skimmer. Do some reading in the DIY forums on Octo mods and see what you can do yourself to improve performance.

[GSMguy]

if you want to get some extra nutrients out that eheim powered ER is going to be a nice upgrade.

i would look at the h&s skimmers they also have the eheim and might be a lil cheaper, not sure though.

[Thinslis]

I'm fighting an algae issue at the moment and I'm not sure if its because the skimmer sucks or if its the sand I used that everyone warned me about. I'll try to get some current water readings tonight.

[Thinslis]

I called up SC and they talked me into either the RS-250 or the RC-135 rather than the RC-250. I need to check my sump to see if the RS-250 would fit, I have a feeling my baffles make the skimmer section a couple inches too small. The RC-135 would run external.

[Kreeger1]

I'd check alot of other things before spending more money on a skimmer that you really don't need.
Are you using RO water?
I see it says less then one month for your reef. It could just being going through a cycle still.

Do a water change, add some carbon to clean up the water a bit too.

Running a external skimmer wouldn't be my choice either. Skimmers act funny as is with over flows and such.

Rule of thumb, nothing happens fast i this hobby, spending money to make it happen isn't always the best answer. Your octopus skimmer should be fine for your tank.

Just trying to save you money that you could spend stocking the tank with nice corals or buying a nice large powerhead such as a tunze.
Good luck.

[scottfarcuz]

I agree with Erik......How much for the octo?

[Thinslis]

Sorry, the profile was not up to date. The tank has been up for about 5 months now. I've been doing 20g-30g water changes weekly for the past 3 weeks. The algae issue seems to not be getting any worse, maybe even a little better. I have been using RO/DI water from the start 0 TDS when last tested.

[Kreeger1]

hows the flow in the tank? Could it be dead spots in the tank were ditrus can build up?

[Thinslis]

Tunze 6000 and 6100 with multi controller. Each Powerhead is at an end of the tank, one is pointed at the back wall and the other point stright across the tank. They run steady at 20% and pulse to 60%, and the sump returns about 500gph.

[CleveYank]

maybe my skim reading skills are faltering. skim...no pun intended of course.

Did anyone ask about the actual phosphate and nitrate readings?
I would 1st start there to find out where the tank parameters are exactly at.

Are your bulbs cooked?
Is there direct sunlight hitting the tank anywhere?
Are you adding a wee bit too much iodine as well?
Bioload. How many fish/snails/crabs are in it?
What kind of coral food are you adding and how much and how often? Are there before food addition and after nitrate and phosphate readings being taken just to see if there are big nutrient level jumps?

Why do I pose these questions and ignore the skimmer? Start at the input end of the equation before you start out at the output end. If it works out you're too high on the input end then maybe you need a 300 to 500 gallon capacity skimmer or change your input practices and or bioload. And then again a simple GFO and carbon monthly or bi-weekly use with the water changes already in practice might just dial it all in. Or maybe just make sure that your snail population is where it needs to be(clean-up crew). My one 90 has well over 60 small hermits and 80 or so snails. Without it I was having algae issues even with water parameters where they needed to be.

Back on the input or bioload side of things.
A 150 can hold alot of livestock. And alot of livestock produces lots of waste especially if being overfed or pushed with foods and additives to make it all grow super. Which when I setup 1st 90, way back when, after moving from lil 55 I was doing myself until I started to learn the moderation practices required. Kinda like the overwatered plant syndrome or killing it with kindness.

What's going in? How much is there? What are the nutrient readings.? Then you can establish the problem and then target the best step. Most will say and I can agree, You can never have enough skimming, but maybe you're overlooking other problems just as easy to solve.

[Thinslis]

PO4 .25 or .5ppm (was hard to tell between the two)
NO3 .2ppm

I have:
1 Fox Face Rabbit
2 Onyx Clown (very small)
1 Lawnmower blenny
1 Green bubble tip Nem
2 Frogspawn
and a zooa rock

Nassarius Snail - Small 20
Trochus Snail 10
Cerith Snail 30
Margarita Snail 15
Scarlet Reef Hermit Crab 10
Skunk Cleaner Shrimp - Small 2
Camelback shrimp - 3 (These were suposed to be pepermint shrimps but I've since found them to be little devil shrimp IE: Camelback shrimp)

Every other day I feed the following:
1 silverside to the GBTA
I thaw 1 cube of frozen mysis, and a small chunk of Rod's and feed most of this to the fish and corals but not all of it. Prior to this past Saturday I had not been rinsing the frozen foods. I've heard this can add lots of Phos to the tank so I am now rinsing with RO/DI first then mixing with tank water and feeing with turkey baster. for the corals.

In the past I was also adding some clip on seaweed for the Foxface every other day but I've since stopped doing that since more times then not I would find the seaweed in the grill to my powerheads.

I've bumped up to weekly 20g water changes.

I also have a Phos reactor but I don't have it hooked up because I'm not sure it was hooked up properly in the past when was running it.

I don't dose anything else.

Thanks for any input.

[Thinslis]

Also, as for the light, its a 48" 8 bulb T5 fixture that I picked up used. It only has 6 bulbs in it and I think the bulbs are about 8-10 months old.

[Aadler]

Bulbs may not be helping, if you got used, who knows how trustworthy the prior owner was.

But that you have a detecable phosphate level is a concern. id suck out the crushed coral i assume you reffered too and replace it with agra sand (dont bother with the live stuff). This will sandstorm you, but wont really hurt anything if you rinse it well and maybe even put it in a 10 gallon tank and let it settle out a bit first then put it into the DT.

also, feed as little as possible twice a day. maybe only use the rods food---this should not need rinsed. im suspicious of 'cubes' ive used several different kinds, but never in large quantities, if you use them def rinse first (tap water is fine if you dont want to use RO).

Look into the skimmer mods, and possibly the upgrade. I love my ASM, just get the biggest you can fit.

[Thinslis]

I've been reading up on Octo mods and unless you can monitor the wattage the pump is pulling the mods can burn up your pump. Not to mention the dremel usage on some parts, my luck I would sand right through the parts =(

Replacing the sand would be a giant pain, I'm not sure the corals would like it either. Would I need to move my fish and corals to another tank until the sand settles and the LR put back in place?

As for the bulbs, I've been holding off replacing them because I'm not sure if I want to stick with the T5 fixture or go with a MH fixture. But I suppose I should just go ahead and replace the bulbs.

[Thinslis]

CleveYank your PM box is full. Here is my reply to your PM.

Thanks for the advice, I appreciate it.

I am not dosing anything at this time. I'm not sure how to drip kalk, is there a reactor for that?

I've heard that if you have your Phos reactor setup wrong you can actually leech Phos back into the tank, so that is why I took the reactor down. I'm sure I had the flow setup properly but I'm not sure if I had the correct amound of media in it and the proper flow. Water was barely moving through the thing which didn't seem right to me. I have another one for carbon which I also took down.

Another note: No direct sunlight hits the tank.

[Aadler]

sandstorm shouldnt hurt anything long term, jsut would make a few guys unhappy for a day. Because your live rock is alreay full of bacteria, the sand will be seeded quickly and fall much faster than sand in a sterile tank. also running a filter or two with carbon will help clear it up in hours most likely.

mike

[Aadler]

Also adding just a few pounds at a time would make it even safer.

[Thinslis]

Well in order to get the old sand out I would need to take down all my rock work, suck out the old sand, then add the new sand, so I would think that it would take the better part of a day to do maybe even two?

[CleveYank]

Sorry, cleaned out inbox.

Sent you email of simple Kalk drip I will send in email reply. I did not write it. It is not my pic and I lost the source link. So unfortunately due to this error in saving for my own info database I cannot/will not post someone else's work here. But I'll send you copy of it in reply.

[CleveYank]

How coarse and how deep is this "crushed coral"?

Got a pic of how coarse or fine it is?