What is a good external protein skimmer for 100g volume?

[nbgen12]

I have a 75g tank with 29g sump and am currently running an aqua c remora pro skimmer which is creating a really ugly amount of micro bubbles in my sump/fuge. What is a good external skimmer so I can get rid of this thing?

 

My sump/fuge is outside the stand, so needless to say i'm already getting sick of seeing bubbles in my fuge which should be in a skimmer cup....It worked fine when I didn't have to see it, but now....

 

Neil

Edited August 7, 2012 by nbgen12

[OldReefer]

Avast CS1 peg leg. They are very affordable, fit in almost any sump, and do not create micro bubbles. They can do 159 gallons easy. They are not external skimmers, but I din't think you need to be external from the way you describe your set up.

[nbgen12]

Unfortunately I made the skimmer section very small because I thought the aqua c remora pro would be fine for my needs and wouldn't create a hideous film of micro bubbles overtop my entire fuge section. My skimmer pump area is only about 5-6" long so I don't think there's any way I could cram something in there. I definitely wish I could....too bad that $1 per gallon sale is done at petco, I would just grab a 40b...

[hypertech]

So make the skimmer area bigger. That sale tends to come around about 2x a year too.

[zygote2k]

So make the skimmer area bigger. That sale tends to come around about 2x a year too.

+1. Just use the 29g as a place for the skimmer and return. No need for a fuge or reactors or anything else in that small of a space.

[nbgen12]

So many daggers in my plan lol. I would make the skimmer area larger and just go without a fuge, but since the sump tank is outside the stand and there will be no life in it, I would not want it to be visible at all whatsoever....which brings about the next problem. The stand is too short for the 29g plus a skimmer to fit underneath. Another dagger is, I really really want a fuge with macros to get a pod population going so I can possibly have a very healthy mandarin dragonet down the road. My current fuge space is 15" long which isn't too shabby considering it is only a 29g(30" long tank). Basically this leaves me with two options it looks like...

 

A) hope because the skimmer has hardly been run since I got the tank started, that once I run it for a while and pull out a lot of gunk, there would hopefully be less bubbles floating around (this would be my preference if you guys think this is possible)

 

B) buy an external skimmer which has space to sit behind the sump/fuge (my 2nd choice unless external skimmers are outrageous in price)

 

C) try and get an extra 40b from someone and make an be able to have an internal skimmer while still having space for a fuge (my least favorite of the options because I just set up the other sump and really would like to not have to do it all over again)

 

if you guys think option A should work after the skimmer runs for a while please let me know, because I would really like to be able to not drop a load of money since I would prefer the money go towards coral and fish.

Edited August 7, 2012 by nbgen12

[hypertech]

So keep the fuge outside the tank and use the whole 29 for it. Then put a sump in the stand and put the skimmer in there. A 20L makes a decent sump for a 75. Unless you have a custom stand and planned ahead for a 40B one usually won't fit. A lot of 75g tanks use the 20L for a sump.

 

They are a great deal on the $1 sale, but they aren't that bad regular price and you can pick one up and pretty much any pet store.

[nbgen12]

So keep the fuge outside the tank and use the whole 29 for it. Then put a sump in the stand and put the skimmer in there. A 20L makes a decent sump for a 75. Unless you have a custom stand and planned ahead for a 40B one usually won't fit. A lot of 75g tanks use the 20L for a sump.

 

They are a great deal on the $1 sale, but they aren't that bad regular price and you can pick one up and pretty much any pet store.

 

That's a good idea. I'm just nervous about the plumbing to make that work since I've only been in the hobby for 2-3 years and don't have much experience with that kind of stuff outside the basics. Plumbing between 3 separate tanks kind of scares the %$#* out of me since I've never tried to drill holes in glass/install bulkheads and making something like this setup relatively flood proof. Is anyone able to post a link to a design similar to this so I could get some ideas? Hiding the ugly stuff would be awesome while getting to use the entire 29g for a fuge....

 

The 40b would just be sitting where the 29g sits now off to the side of the stand if that's the direction I decided to go...my stand is definitely a standard 75g tank stand which is too short for my liking and not wide enough to hold the 40 breeder unfortunately.

 

I'd really like to go with your idea if could figure out what it would entail to make it work successfully

 

Neil

[hypertech]

Just do what you have now for plumbing except twice.

 

Display drains to fuge. Fuge drains to sump. Return from sumo to display.

[nbgen12]

I'm assuming I will still have to drill 1 holes in the fuge and one in the sump to drain it to the sump?

 

The last thing I want is to have 2 HOB overflows on one system....talk about a disaster waiting to happen(or seems like it). If I could get some assistance from someone with a little experience drilling glass and installing a bulkhead I would definitely do this in a heartbeat(I would also like to learn how to do these things myself for future knowledge since I have no plans of ever giving up this hobby). I would prefer not to ruin a few tanks before I get it right and end up wasting a bunch of money, along with whatever else I would ruin along the way lol.

 

I definitely appreciate your guys help here

[epleeds]

do you have a pic of your current set up. I used to run a deltec MCE600 and if i did not have the bubble difuser set into the return pipe, I would have so many micro bubbles in my sump, which eventually got into my display tank.

 

By looking at pics online of the remora, you could have someone build you a difuser, or just try putting a sponge under the return area of the skimmer. That way the returning water would have to go through the sponge first collecting most of the micro bubbles.

[nbgen12]

do you have a pic of your current set up. I used to run a deltec MCE600 and if i did not have the bubble difuser set into the return pipe, I would have so many micro bubbles in my sump, which eventually got into my display tank.

 

By looking at pics online of the remora, you could have someone build you a difuser, or just try putting a sponge under the return area of the skimmer. That way the returning water would have to go through the sponge first collecting most of the micro bubbles.

I am definitely going to take your advice on the simple sponge route and see how that works first. I would really like to avoid dropping a bunch of money on a new skimmer, since I know what I have does just fine for my needs based on the coral I want to keep.

 

Looks like time to make a trip to the LFS for some sponges for now....

 

 

Appreciate all the help from you guys!