What size skimmer for 130g tank?

[MarsReefer]

I am in the process of setting up my first reef tank. I’ve had freshwater tanks for about 10 years but finally have the money to make the jump to saltwater.

It’s a 132 gallon custom 5’ tank with a 40 breeder as a sump. Total water volume will be about 160 gallons.

i was thinking of getting the 6” regal space saving skimmer from reef octopus. It’s rated as a medium bio load of 160 gallons. Are these ratings usually accurate? I plan on only keeping softies and LPS corals, no SPS, and I have a 4 stage mechanical filtration and a refugium in the sump as well.

I’ve read various things about downsizing skimmers when running mechanical and a regugium, but I figured with a DC pump I could always increase or decrease flow through the skimmer.

thoughts? Right size? Bigger? Smaller?

 

[Peace River]

Welcome to R2R! That is a great skimmer and a reasonable size for your system. Do you have any thoughts for the fish? The fish food and fish waste are notable sources of bioload, corals not so much so that is another factor when considering skimmer size. Good luck with whatever you choose!

 

[MarsReefer]

Welcome to R2R! That is a great skimmer and a reasonable size for your system. Do you have any thoughts for the fish? The fish food and fish waste are notable sources of bioload, corals not so much so that is another factor when considering skimmer size. Good luck with whatever you choose!

I haven't totally decided on fish yet. I know I want a:

1x white tail tang
1x yellow tang
2x clowns
1x mandarin goby
1x flame angel

Those are really the only ones i'm set on, which doesn't seem like a huge bioload, though I realize i need to figure out the rest of my stocking before I add the tangs anyway.

 

[Peace River]

Keeping few fish will create a light bioload, a refugium will reduce your bioload, a roller mat will reduce your bioload, etc. On the other hand if you decide to add more fish, remove the refugium (or it crashes), remove the roller mat, etc., then it is nice to have the flexibility to turn the DC pump back up on your skimmer. You could probably go a little smaller if you are complimenting the system with other types of filtration, but it is nice to have the flexibility and I have found the Reef Octopus skimmers to be very reliable (I currently am running six of them).

 

[PatW]

The Bulk Reef Supply rating for that skimmer is 160 gallons at a medium bio load. It looks good as long as you do not load up your system with a pot load of fish. And bio load is tricky. A bunch of small fish like dart fish would have very little load while a chunky heavy eating fish would give a much higher load. But I would think that skimmer should work well in your system.