sump-less skimmer

[Lance]

Hi There. I am new to this site and need some help please. I have a 90 gal. corner, (1/4 cylinder), tank with stand. Up and running for 2 months (75lbs. crushed coral, 150 lbs. live rock, Coral Beauty Angel, Pajama Cardinalfish, Foxface, Scarlet Skunk cleaner shrimp, snails, hermits, mushrooms and a few softies). I would like to slowly add more fish, corals, etc. Water parameters right now are good, but I should have a skimmer for the extra load. The problem is the stand has a central support divider that leaves 2 small triangular spaces that are too small for a sump. The tank fits quite tight to the wall and looks funny if pulled away from the wall, therefore a hang-on skimmer won't work. My question is this: D & D Marine Enterprises makes a sump-less kit for their Terminator II skimmer. The kit functions like a canister filter. Is anybody out there familiar with this set-up? I'd like some advice before I go shelling out the money for this unit. Really appreciate any help.

[dsaundry]

Is there room under your tank to install a wet/dry filter. If so you might be able to use that with an overflow and run the skimmer on the wet/dry. How tight is aquarium to wall..3"-4"??

[marie]

Hi lance http://mazeguy.net/happy/wave.gif
Check out this thread, according to Doug the tunze skimmer sits inside the tank and looks just like an overflow box

http://www.canreef.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=30063

[Lance]

Hi Marie. I checked out the thread you gave, and that is an option. I e-mailed D & D Marine Ent. for more info on the sump-less skimmer, and also placed a thread on reef central. I'll wait a couple of days to see if I can find some answers. Thanks for the help.

[argan]

why not use a hang-on-tank skimmer, on the side instead of the back?

[kwirky]

are any of the walls against the tank adjacent to a room that could house a sump? You could run a remote sump with pipes going through a wall behind the tank? It'd be nice and quiet too then :)

[Drock169]

Deltec MC-500, i'm pretty sure you can hang inside the tank, and it has rather slim dimensions

[b-diddy]

I just bought one of these on Ebay (New in the box.. hopefully arriving this week) for $75.00 and it's supposed to be quite slim on the back of the tank.

Not sure where it fares in the grand scheme of protein skimmers but as a newbie who's getting into this slowly I didn't want to fork out $500 for a megaskimmer!

Let us know what you decide on.

[tang daddy]

if space is an issue and you can't fit a sump into the design then why not go skimmerless just a 25% wc every week will be fine seeing that you only have softies it shouldn't be a problem, although the problem I see is surface gunk when I had a tank without sump the top surface of water was always chalky white I tried everything to rid it but with no success!

If I were you I would do a hang on over flow with a sump on the side of your tank. I would build a shelf/cabinet just to the side of the tank and fit a 33g sump that way the sump is concealed and you can put some stuff on the shelf like a tv or some flowers whatever....

[Lance]

Hi everyone! I think I finally figured out what to do. The tank is located on an outside wall to the sundeck, so I'm going to build a well-insulated box on the deck and cut a small hole through the wall to run to a large sump/fuge I'll put in the box. Our winters are mild, and with the heat from a submersible pump and the lighting over the sump, I don't think the cold will be an issue. If so, I can always put some type of heater in the box. I'm thinking a Euro-Reef or Aqua C skimmer. Thanks for all the suggestions. Any advice on this or my skimmer choices will be appreciated.

[kwirky]

I'd go with a needle wheel or mesh wheel skimmer over the Aqua C venturi skimmers. I liked my RS-135 euroreef when I had it much more than the Aqua C remora I have now. Even considering the difference in tank volumes I had before and now the Aqua C is pulling nowhere near the ammount of skimmate my euroreef pulled.

[Lance]

That's good to know. The Euro-Reef RS 135 would be a good size for my 90 gal. I think. J & L has them for about $340, pump included. I' ll start shopping for an acrylic sump in the 40 - 50 gal. range.

[kwirky]

try to get a sump with a dedicated skimmer chamber so that the water level doesn't change on the skimmer, or have an auto-top off unit. if the water level changes constantly (from evaporation) then the skimmer doesn't work properly.