Skimmer for the Future

rooneyj889 · Oct 4, 2020

Hey all, I am currently in the process of upgrading my filtration and would like to hear some thoughts and opinions from more experienced people.

The current tank is a 75-gallon tank that is currently fish-only because it has been up for just over a month. I am only running a canister filter on the tank, but am looking to install a sump in the basement to allow for better nutrient export and to allow myself to upgrade the tank in the future. However, because of the amount of weirdly placed doors and windows in my house, there is nowhere to fit a tank bigger than 4 feet long, so any upgrades would go in the basement, and the 75 gallon would stay up and running.

Due to this, I have settled on a 150-gallon Rubbermaid tub as the sump and a 30-40 gallon tank as a refugium. However, I want to know what to do with the filter. My preference would be to spend the money on a filter I can keep through upgrades, but I know that may not be feasibly just due to the current system size, and the potential size of the future system. Could I go with a DC option such as the Reef Octopus Regal 250 INT? Or should I perhaps get a cheaper, used option, and then go with something like the Red Sea RSK 9000 when I upgrade?

Also, here is some background, stats, and my plans:
- 75-gallon tank, Sump will be 75-100 gallons of volume when I install it, and fuge will be 30-40 gallons. So, the total system volume currently will be 180-225 gallons
- I currently have 7 medium-small fish, with plans for 5 medium-large fish to go into the tank when filtration is finished. Feeding 2 cubes of mysis a day currently
- Future Tank is planned to be between 200-300 gallons, so probably around 475-500 total system volume when finished, though much of that will be in the sump
- Timeline is late next spring (May or June) for the tank upgrade

Rit6942 · Oct 4, 2020

If you want a truely upgradeable skimmer.......and you want a no nonsense unit........there is basically Lifereef........and then there is everything else on the market sadly. I know needlewheel skimmers are the current rage right now being that they are super energy efficient......but over the years the trend has been cheaper materials and pumps and parts replaced with prettier colors and absolutely unecessary designs and marketing jargon.

When it comes to skimming the name of the game is air volume and water/air contact time and gas exchange. Needlewheels just dont pull in the air volume a venturi skimmer does. The lifereef SVS3 series skimmers are a commercial cell cast keyholed flange design allowing for full disassembly and future upgrading by allowing you to add extension height pieces and a larger pumps of your choosing. Its a self cleaning venturi design(which can also be upgraded)......the stronger the pump that you run.......the more air you can pull into the chamber and the higher the turnover rate the skimmer is capable of. Another overlooked feature is that they are set and forget......they are tuned by an output gate valve....... fluctuating sump water levels will not affect tuning like is the case with many other units.

So you could start off with a basic SVS3-24 in sump with a magdrive 9 pump with Lifereefs in house venturi design and down the road upgrade the skimmer with a 36" body extension, run externally with a Mazzei injector and run a Mag 24 or Sicce ADV 10.0 or Iwalki pump, run an ozone generator to the unit and more than quadruple the performance of the unit you originally purchased.

But regardless currently there are Lifereef venturi skimmers.........and then there is everything else......and its not even close.

www.lifereef.com

Breadman03 · Oct 4, 2020

My Lifereef SVS 3-36 has been with my system from 75-150 gallons of display, and will soon be serving about 400 gallons of display comprised of a 220 upstairs and a 180 in the basement, along with probably using a 150 gallon stock tank (my current "display" thanks to a tank leak) as my sump. The 50 gallon stock tank currently serving as my sump will likely become a frag tank.