Planing new Tank upgrade - Overkill on filtration?

[Oggiewok]

Hello there. In the process of planning an upgrade from my current 130L Boyu Tank (first saltwater tank, kept it for 5 years and loved it) to a reefer 250 G2. I've picked up some bits and bobs second hand, including a great deal on an RSK -300 skimmer. I had also planned to fit a reefmat 500, not having to mess about with filter wool again seems like a no brainer - and was the primary reason I went for the g2 tank.

However, the more I thought about it, the more I think that I may be completely overdoing it on filtration, to the point where phos and nitrate may very well read 0.0, especially at the start, since I'll only be moving over a Royal Gramma, 2 clowns and 2 cleaner shrimp.

SO, am I best just running the skimmer for a few hours a day, or not at all for the first few months while I add more fish - OR am I better simply downsizing the skimmer altogether. I do plan on having around 10 fish in total, so figured the bigger the better as far as filtration went - but am doubting myself now.

Thanks for any input you can give!

 

[wculver]

Hello there. In the process of planning an upgrade from my current 130L Boyu Tank (first saltwater tank, kept it for 5 years and loved it) to a reefer 250 G2. I've picked up some bits and bobs second hand, including a great deal on an RSK -300 skimmer. I had also planned to fit a reefmat 500, not having to mess about with filter wool again seems like a no brainer - and was the primary reason I went for the g2 tank.

However, the more I thought about it, the more I think that I may be completely overdoing it on filtration, to the point where phos and nitrate may very well read 0.0, especially at the start, since I'll only be moving over a Royal Gramma, 2 clowns and 2 cleaner shrimp.

SO, am I best just running the skimmer for a few hours a day, or not at all for the first few months while I add more fish - OR am I better simply downsizing the skimmer altogether. I do plan on having around 10 fish in total, so figured the bigger the better as far as filtration went - but am doubting myself now.

Thanks for any input you can give!

I like the idea of the larger skimmer (It's also what I did). As it turns out, the issue that I came across wasn't what I expected. My setup is 250 gallons total water volume and I have a 500 "rated" gallon skimmer reef octopus.

The skimmer works great so no problems there. What did eventually happen though is nitrate started creeping up over time eventually getting to the point that water changes wouldn't cut it. So I still have the same skimmer but I also added a bio-rector and now I'm glad I have a large skimmer because you really need one with the reactor setup.

That said, if the nitrates get too low you can add nitrates directly to keep things aligned. From my experience though as you scale up with the fish and perhaps some coral feeding you'll end up with the opposite issue you're anticipating over time.