In Sump Skimmer or External Skimmer?

I hope that wire isnt metal.. that could be bad

 

1. Yes, you want to take total water volume into acount including volume in your sump and your plumbing (you may subtract for the volume displaced my live rock. Skimmer rated for 360-400 is probably a good choice for you. A challenge exists in that some manufacturers notriously overstate what there skimmers will handle and apparently a few (BubbleKing, Deltec come to mind) are said to actually be pretty conservative with their ratings. I've heard from many BubbleKing users that those skimmers run best if at their rated capacity i.e. don't run a skimmer rated for 450g on a 200g tank. If you are still thinking Vertex Alpha Cone, the Cone 250 is 23.6" tall and rated up to 450gal (seems like a sign to me).

2. I don't have my Vertex in hand yet but everything I've seen in pics and read from owners is that they have just amazing quality construction and great performance to match. I know that Jason Makenzie (one of the mods here) is running one of their BubbleKing cousins and is pleased. Ultimately though is there is no one right answer for everyone. $1000 spent on a skimmer might mean $1000 that you don't have to put corals or fish in your tank. Then again, $1000 won't even come close to getting you a Gem Tang so you might as well have a sexy looking, high performance skimmer.

 

look into those new cone skimmers - like I-techs - , i've seen some amazing skim pulled from those things. they have a 400 that is 24" tall, not sure if 400 is the gallon rating or model number (or both?) but that might work for you.

~Will.

 

hello,please put some photo with yours skimers in sump.because i want to have some ideea.

ex.chamber for skimer i want to know how long and large will make