Would C2C overflow reduce need for skimmer size?

[graffitireef]

Hi all!

I'm building my own acrylic tank. could not find an answer for this by searching the forums.

I'm going to utilize a coast to coast toothless external overflow for this build. display tank will be close to 300 gallons. Will using a C2C overflow reduce the need to have a skimmer rated for a 300 gallon tank? I've read how well C2C toothless overflows skim the surface of the water and improve the efficiency of the skimmer. I'm wondering if I could get away with using a decent skimmer rated for a 200-250 gallon tank. Thoughts?

Thanks!

 

[Brew12]

Hi all!

I'm building my own acrylic tank. could not find an answer for this by searching the forums.

I'm going to utilize a coast to coast toothless external overflow for this build. display tank will be close to 300 gallons. Will using a C2C overflow reduce the need to have a skimmer rated for a 300 gallon tank? I've read how well C2C toothless overflows skim the surface of the water and improve the efficiency of the skimmer. I'm wondering if I could get away with using a decent skimmer rated for a 200-250 gallon tank. Thoughts?

Thanks!

I can't say for sure, but I am not sure how it would. The surface skimming would likely send "dirtier" water down to the sump but it still needs to be removed by the skimmer. I've never seen a skimmer that actually takes a suction on surface water. I would suspect a fully rated skimmer would still be necessary.

Maybe @Lasse can offer an opinion?

 

[TinyChocobo]

IMHO, no. Surface skimming is good - but most of the organics/proteins the skimmer will be removing won't be surface proteins.

 

[graffitireef]

I can't say for sure, but I am not sure how it would. The surface skimming would likely send "dirtier" water down to the sump but it still needs to be removed by the skimmer. I've never seen a skimmer that actually takes a suction on surface water. I would suspect a fully rated skimmer would still be necessary.

Maybe @Lasse can offer an opinion?

Thank you very much. I'm always one to err on the side of caution. I figured I'd ask if it saved me from investing an extra couple hundo on a beefier skimmer.

 

[graffitireef]

IMHO, no. Surface skimming is good - but most of the organics/proteins the skimmer will be removing won't be surface proteins.

Ok. That makes sense. I kinda felt already that the proteins would not just be on the surface but wanted to get some other opinions. Thank you.

 

[Jeepguy242]

Overflow just moves water down to the sump. It doesn’t do anything to export it

 

[Lasse]

IMO - The question it’s not as dumb as it looks like. What want you achieve with the normal skimmer?

In my case – I use the skimmer mostly as an effective gas exchanger – not so very interested of exporting proteins and amino acids. A C2C overflow create a rather thin water volume running over the edge - there will be rather much of gas exchange and if it also falls down a couple of cm – it will be a rather good contributor to gas exchange. My overrun from the DT to my fuge (on the backside of the DT) is nearly C2C – it’s around 90 cm. I started with a skimmer sized to my aquarium but I have change to on a little bit oversized skimmer now.

There can be some plus with C2C - but I think that a little bit oversized skimmer will make it better.

Sincerely Lasse

 

[graffitireef]

IMO - The question it’s not as dumb as it looks like. What want you achieve with the normal skimmer?

In my case – I use the skimmer mostly as an effective gas exchanger – not so very interested of exporting proteins and amino acids. A C2C overflow create a rather thin water volume running over the edge - there will be rather much of gas exchange and if it also falls down a couple of cm – it will be a rather good contributor to gas exchange. My overrun from the DT to my fuge (on the backside of the DT) is nearly C2C – it’s around 90 cm. I started with a skimmer sized to my aquarium but I have change to on a little bit oversized skimmer now.

There can be some plus with C2C - but I think that a little bit oversized skimmer will make it better.

Sincerely Lasse

Thanks Lasse! That's my main purpose for wanting the C2C, the gas exchange. I read somewhere that the C2C would skim the surface therefore reduce the need for a powerful skimmer which did not make too much sense to me unless I took it the wrong way. But thanks for the info.

 

[fishbox]

While I can't answer the original question, I thought I'd share my experience with the Coast2Coast toothless overflow I built on my 40B. In the 1st month of running this overflow, I lost 4 fish that surfed over the wall into the external overflow and got stuck in the plumbing. I also had to consistently save snails from being stuck in the plumbing as well. So I ended up putting some plastic gutter guards around the plumbing which prevented livestock from going down the drains, but I was still consistently having to rescue fish and snails from the overflow box. So recently I built a lid for the overflow box and attached the gutter guard to it in a way that it over laps the toothless weir of the overflow. Haven't had to deploy a search and rescue mission since. I honestly wouldn't go toothless again but that's just me

 

[ca1ore]

I cannot see how a C2C skim box would have any bearing on the skimmer size or its efficiency. In fact, in a well circulated tank, I think the benefits of the C2C are over stated.

 

[Lasse]

A C2C overflow create a fast running an thin volume of water that will exchange gases with the surrounding air a little bit better compared with a normal shorter overflow. Hence the question if you could run a smaller skimmer because you will have a part of the gas exchange at the C2C. It will help – yes but IMO a oversized skimmer with lot of air is always a better choice.

Sincerely Lasse