Bowin
Active Member
I'm planning to purchase a CAD Lights 1220 for my 90gal tank +20gal sump this week. But today I found a deal on a larger model CAD 1350 for less $$. Does anyone have an opinion as to whether this will be too much for my system?
Can a skimmer be too big?
- Thread starter Bowin
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Zero Nitrates
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As far as how much it can filter the water, I think bigger is better. But I bought my skimmer so big that it does not fit in the sump where I would ideally like it to fit. I had to make some compromises. I think bigger skimmer for less $$ is the way to go. Just plan for space.
cdness
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I typically say bigger is always better, however there are a few things to think about here... On the larger skimmers, the neck is larger which requires a higher quantity of skimmate "bubbles" in order for it to travel up the neck and to the cup to be collected. The larger skimmer is rated for a 350G tank at light bioload and 200G at heavy bioload. Unless you are going to have an EXTREMELY high bioload I truly think this is going to be overkill. You will not create enough bioload for it to efficiently skim the water...
After looking at the dimensions, either one will fit in the 20G tank. The only difference is height between the two skimmers and possibly neck diameter.
Power usage wouldn't be an issue as they are only a few watts different between the two models. Not enough to be a deciding factor...
Find the dimension of the neck diameter. If they are really close or the same I don't think you will have an issue with either one. If the larger one is much larger, I would go with the smaller one. They are both oversized for the system, it's just a matter of how oversized do you want to go.
After looking at the dimensions, either one will fit in the 20G tank. The only difference is height between the two skimmers and possibly neck diameter.
Power usage wouldn't be an issue as they are only a few watts different between the two models. Not enough to be a deciding factor...
Find the dimension of the neck diameter. If they are really close or the same I don't think you will have an issue with either one. If the larger one is much larger, I would go with the smaller one. They are both oversized for the system, it's just a matter of how oversized do you want to go.
