Skimmer Swap aka Big Skimmer Bad?

[theokie]

I bought a used My Reef Creations skimmer, dual beckett, recirculating off of ebay. It arrived broken, and after spending money on acrylic and pvc and my new favorite, weld-on 40. I got it working.

It worked great for a few weeks, pulling skimmate like crazy, dark black coffee coloured gunk. And the tank reflects this change, the cyano is retreating, hair algae disappeared, bubble algae is going away, life is good.

But now the skimmer just sits idle.

I use a small Boyou Hang on tank skimmer as an ozone reactor and when the MRC skimmer was trucking along, the Boyou had no skimmate at all. Now that the big boy is idling, the Boyou has taken up the slack and produces the foulest gunk I've seen, probably due to the ozone and having only a 2" neck.

Based on this I'd say the skimmer is over sized for the tank.

And I think I know why, what I thought I bid on was a MRC-2R sized for up to 400 gallons, which is awesome for my 200 gallon with large fish. What I was shipped was the discontinued MRC 4R, rated for 1000 gallons, a big difference. This is an 8" reaction chamber, with a 4" neck and is 30" tall, with two becketts, a bit over kill.

Now before I take the time to disconnect this beast and put it into storage for the future, 10ft 1000 gallon tank, I am asking:

Am I correct in thinking this skimmer is way to big for my tank?

Based on the reaction of the Boyou skimmer with its smaller neck I'm thinking that going to one of my smaller skimmers that I have in storage might be a better option, as I have a Hydor Performer 705 rated at 200-300 gallons as well as a 30" Life Reef rated at 250-400 gallons.

Now this is my LPS system, so I'm not wanting the water to be perfectly super skimmed... or rather I think I'm beating a dead horse now, as I keep rambling on and on.

I know I should swap out the skimmer, but its just such a beast, testosterone, etc.

Thank you can reef, I know what needs to be done, feel free to comment to back me up on this difficult decision.

[Aquattro]

To keep the skimmer and testosterone running, you could add more load

[theokie]

Originally Posted by Aquattro

To keep the skimmer and testosterone running, you could add more load

Sagassum Trigger, Niger Trigger, Vlamngii tang, purple tang, magnificent foxface and melanarus wrasse currently. They are all babies around the 5-7" mark so maybe they will grow into the skimmer.

Though I have wanted an excuse to get a Harlequin Tuskfish

[Aquattro]

Feed more to grow them faster Life is unfair, I wish I had a skimmer like that for my tank.

[Aquattro]

On a serious note though, you need to have enough organics to maintain a foam head in the size neck you run, so if it works for a while then stops, while a smaller one takes over, I'd agree it's too big for current conditions.

[theokie]

Originally Posted by Aquattro

On a serious note though, you need to have enough organics to maintain a foam head in the size neck you run, so if it works for a while then stops, while a smaller one takes over, I'd agree it's too big for current conditions.

Thanks, and with the power demands of this beast, a Hammerhead gold recirculating and a Eheim feeding it, just having it idle is really a waste of money.

I guess I know what I will be doing this weekend.

Thanks.

though I will have to keep it around, just for when the big boys do grow up