Skimmer Recomendation for big tank

I took the plunge last week and ordered my new tank. It's 550gal and I plan a 125gal sump/fuge. I'm interested to hear skimmer recomendations from those with big tank experience. One of my LFS is a Deltec dealer and suggests a Deltec 1003. The other LFS says that Dletec is way overpriced and I can get a skimmer ever bit as good for a third the price. He usually recommends Octopus. Any other ideas are certainly appreciated.

 

I am curious about this as well. I have been looking around, but not many people go this big. I was thinking along these lines.

Precision Marine Bullet XL Model Two Protein Skimmer

 

I run a Bullet 3 on a 265g and I love what it has done for my water. Plus I didn't have to get a second mortgage to have it.

 

i think bubble king makes REALLY big skimmers.

 

good gawd i cant wait for the day my main tank becomes my sump. cant wait to see some pics of this beast.

~Will.

 

As a matter of fact, my old main tank is the size of my planed sump. I just had to wait 8 years to save up the money and get a spot big unough. I promise to post a build thread but right now all I have are construction pics of the room. Hopfully my stand will be ready by the time my tank is delivered (around the end of June?)

 

With a 550 gallon display and a 125 gallon sump/fuge, do you have any other equipment that would increase the water volume? Frag tank, reactors, anything? With 700 gallons of water volume, have you considered running 2 or 3 smaller skimmers instead of one huge one?
A Reeflo ORCA is rated at 800 gallons.
An MRC MR-4 is rated at 900 gallons.

Thats manufacturer ratings and it depends on how the system is stocked.

If you ran three skimmers rated at 400 gallons each, it would give you some leeway if something ever happens to one. You would have built in redundancy so that if one of them went down, the tank would still be stable until you got the third one back up and running. With one huge skimmer, you lose that redundancy. Also, as your system grows and expands, you can add more skimmers without having to ditch the old ones. Just a lot of advantages to using multiple skimmers over one huge one.

One disadvantage (potentially, depending on the skimmers) is more power draw from multiples. Again, that will depend on the skimmers and how it is built.

 

I'm thinking about the new alpha cone 300 by the guys who make Bubble King

 

Got the build thread going yet??

 

Not yet. I don't dare start it till I know how to post pictures (I haven't angered Luna yet and I don't want to start). I have a bunch of pictures on the remodel work on my rec room where the tank is going to go. The room should be finished in 2 weeks if I'm lucky and hopefully the tank and stand will be here at about the same time. I'm hoping to get some impressive pictures as my wife and I move the 550 into position. FYI, Scott was one of the first folks on 3 reef that I chatted with. I'd been thinking about a 180-250gal tank and Otty's build thread inspired me. I may have gotten a little carried away though.