Need a reef expert....

[oilfieldsafety]

Skimmer looks like an ASM, can you tell us what the height and diameter of the reaction chamber are and what the pump is that is feeding the skimmer for example "a Sedra 5000"

[Juicy]

So Oilfieldsafety I just had a brain fart and I looked online where I bought the darn thing and if by ASM you mean All Seas Marine G Series than you are correct. I am almost positive that is what it is. Now in your professional opinion is that a good grade skimmer or not so much. If not so much than what is a high end brand that would be a good investment for a tank of my size..... 280G....

[fencer]

I just put in an ASM G3 and took out my vertex 250. I like my vertex better but I modded the G3 and now it is better

[fencer]

That ASM is too small for a 280

[SeaHorse_Fanatic]

I would upgrade to a Bubble Magus since I don't think that ASM is big enough for your size tank.

[Juicy]

Well It says that the G4 skimmer is good for 380G. Fencer what modifications did you do that increased it's effectivness?

[StirCrazy]

my theory is you can cut the rated number of the skimmer in half and thats the max it should be used on and only if it is lightly stocked. so a 280 gal skimmer would be real good for a lightly stocked 140 gal tank.

look at a bubble king add.. they say in there general print that the mini 200 is good for tanks up to 2500gal, but in the specks they state that it is good for tanks 135 to 265. I would assume that the 135 with a deicent load and 265 with almost no fish.. I would say even this one is to small for your tank, but I am not familier with the buble kings as they are to pricey for my liking, but for a deicent skimmer regular bking 200 or a vertex cone 300 you are looking about 1500 bucks. so if you can mod what you have to make it skim better try that first.. unless you can get a smoking deal on a big skimmer. Maby ask Asmodas as he usaly has 10 skimmer laying around

Steve

[fencer]

Wheel mesh mod you can find it on you tube. and gate valve mod.

[Juicy]

I am hoping to have exact numbers on my tank here this weekend. I am going to take a water sample into my LFS to see what they can tell me. I am planning on testing both my topoff water and my tank water. I will buy new lights and few tid bits while I am there to see if that will help get rid of this stuff. Does any one know if a 400 Maxi Jet has enough power to water through my phospahte media in my reactor?

[Skimmerking]

Hey there Juicy well you are well on your way with the nutrient export. if you sont have alot of corals in there may be see if saltynuts AKA EDDIE can take them
loose the lighting period for a week.
Still run the refugium lioght tho.
bump up the phos ban the maxi is excellent for the reactor too.
as for a skimmer, if you are running a huge FOWLR then get a excellent skimmer to work against the BIO LOAD. the skimmer is going to slow down the water changes for you and help in the aid of removing hte organic's in the tank extra nutrients ETC ETC. if you can buy a good external or if you sump will allow you. these are the skimmers that I would look at.
you want RAW POWER and a huge pressure pump for FOWLR a BECKETT or a dual Beckett.
Talk to Lando at Marine Aquaria he has a huge Dual Beckett that he might want to get rid off. the key with Becketts that you need a strong pump to run them and a good spot to put them at.
for a in sump the cone skimmer from vertex the 300 J&L has them,
the Deltec AP902 AP702, AP851 are awesome skimmers
the Bubble king is a great skimmer too SM200,SM 250, SM 300,
but there is a dowen fall they are very expensive skimmer's TRUST ME I KNOW.

can your sump handle a huge skimmer or not if not get a external. then you can keep the refugium going on your sump.

HTH.

P.S test you well for PO4, and high ALK Soug on here had a huge issue with HIgh ALK, so you may have HIGH PO4