Two skimmers, is that over kill?

[oceanparadise1]

So in my 180 I want to have at least 25 fish! I love fish in my reef probably more then corals! Thus causing a huge bio-load! I was thinking of putting a life reef in my 100 gallon fuge and a octopus in my 80 gallon sump! Is this over kill, or will I be fine with just the octopus I have!

 

[gilmour01]

do you already own the skimmers?

 

[killingseed2000]

i would get one large skimmer for the bioload, one would be easyer to maintain then two but i have seen people with two. IMO it may be too much work or overkill.

 

[seascape]

go with one large skimmer less to take care of.

 

[stunreefer Verified Sponsor]

I'm not sure what your skimmers are rated to, but there are no problems at all running two skimmers. I know people that run two smaller skimmers over one larger one for peace of mind - in case one goes down you still have one up for oxygenation and removing DOC's. To me that's a long shot, but I've heard that justification before...

I have a 183 gal aquarium and plan on having 30-35 fish in it, including anthias that need LOTS of food, not to mention every coral is non-photosynthetic necessitating LOTS of food for them too... which is why I bought an ATB Medium with Airstar pump. The thing is WAY overkill as it's rated for 480 gals, but there will be ungodly amounts of food going in so the skimmer wil be working like it would on 480 gals