I have a friend (no really...) who has right now a (submersible in refug) "Coralife Cone Skimmer" and is looking to replace it with an "Aqua EV-240 External with Mag Drive 12 Pump (AC240M)". His concern is if and when the current skimmer he has goes "haywire" it will pollute the refugium. Ideas? Suggestions? Set ups? Schematics? Any / all will be helpful. Thank you!
-
Folks, if you've recently upgraded or renewed your annual club membership but it's still not active, please reach out to the BOD or a moderator. The PayPal system has a slight bug which it doesn't allow it to activate the account on it's own.
External protein skimmer - 270 gallon - fowlr
- Thread starter GEEGOBAL
- Start date
Looks to me like he is looking to replace the in sump skimmer with an external because he is concerned about the internal polluting the water.
If it were me? I'd stick with an internal skimmer. The little bit that will get dumped back in the tank is of less concern to me than the water spewing all over the floor if the external goes nuts. Just my two cents.
If it were me? I'd stick with an internal skimmer. The little bit that will get dumped back in the tank is of less concern to me than the water spewing all over the floor if the external goes nuts. Just my two cents.
+1 Matt you bettor have it dial in right or you could have a big mess.
or just use a waste collector with auto shut off (i.e. ping pong ball). Works great and no mess.
http://www.marinedepot.com/Precisio...immers-Precision_Marine-PM2111-FIPSAC-vi.html
The ping pong rises with the skimate level and eventually closes off the vent. Which cuts the air flow to the skimmer and shuts down the foam production.
The ping pong rises with the skimate level and eventually closes off the vent. Which cuts the air flow to the skimmer and shuts down the foam production.
Depending on the location of the display tank (meaning, depending on whether he has the space for it, or is willing to let something unsightly to be seen), what I did was run a small tube from the bottom of the waste cup to a 5 gallon bucket on my hang on skimmer downstairs. Upstairs in the display tank, I stuck with the in-sump skimmer for exactly that reason. No matter how much you get it dialed in, they always seem to get fickle on occasion and go nutso. So, the small amount of "gunk" that gets dumped back into the sump may slightly raise nitrates a bit, but it will be diluted in the tank. That's much better than letting the skimmer empty your sump onto the floor outside your tank.
If he's concerned about the reliability and efficiency of the simmer, there are alot of good internal skimmers out there right now. Especially some of the cone skimmers.
woohoo another middletown reefer
I have run both internal and external skimmers. With both types I’ve also used a collection container that sits in a cut down salt bucket that has a float switch that will turn off the skimmer pump if the collection container overflows.
Love the float switch! That's awesome! Never even considered something like that. Since I'm already using a 5 gallon bucket, I suppose I could just skip the smaller container and just use the bucket with the switch.
Either way, great idea Paul! Thanks for sharing that!