Which BK skimmer fits my needs?
 

I'm looking at a Bubble King for an insump application for my next tank. I don't have a whole lot of room in the sump for a large footprint so I'd say something 10" wide would be the max (though it can be long). Preferably I'd like to keep it in sump for ease of plumbing, fear of flooding, etc. As for height, I think 36" is the max I could get away with.

The total water volume of the tank is ~130-140ish gallons. It'll be a BB, Zeovit system and I plan on having a slightly high bioload (10-14 fish) LPS dominated reef tank.

So, which BK skimmer is for me? Thanks for all the help!

what fish are you planning to keep? if they are medium to large fish, go with a skimmer rated for twice your water volume the 200, or the 250 if they are larger fish.(From my experience I would never keep more than 6-7 fish in a tank that size. unless they are like perc clowns.) With that many fish you would struggle to keep nitrates down and your corals would ultimately suffer. what lighting are you planning to use?

isnt getting a skimmer rated for twice your water volume a bad idea? I heard it doesnt skim as well...

I know back a few years ago, the rule of thumb was to take a vendor's skimmer rating and cut it in half, but I'm not sure if this is still the case.

As for lighting and fish, I'm planning mainly small fish with maybe 2 or 3 larger ones thrown in for variation. Small fish including percs, wrasses, hogfish, etc. Nothing over 3.5" - 4" range. For lighting I have a 6 bulb Tek light fixture.

well royal exclusive is pretty good about their skimmer ratings so i would probably go with the two hundred. I guess im old fashioned but I use a 250 on my 225 gallon when it is rated for tanks up to 450 gallons and my tank has never looked better. :) The bigger the skimmer the better.

If you size if bigger than rated, the BK will NOT SKIM.

Follow suggested recommendations on BK skimmers.

In your case, a BK Mini 180 should be just about right.

Lemme know if you want one shipped :)

Hi Albert,

I'm curious as to why a BK wont skim if you use one on a smaller than rated tank.

I've always used skimmers that were rated at least 50-100% more than what I need & had good results (Tunze, Aquamedic, Via Aqua & Deltec)

I'm planning on a BK Mini 200 for my new 120-150 gallon reef so I'm interested...

(Yeah Sorry for the hijack Harv!)

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I'm curious too...

Sorry for hijacking your thread Harv.

I'm really curious as well. I can't figure out how a skimmer knows it is in a tank that is too small. I would of thought it would skim all the nasties out of the water and then stop skimming until more nutrients are produced

It's because wide necked skimmers require minimum bioloads to sustain a stable foam head.