Sump Setup on the RedSea Reefer 350 - looking for high end narrow skimmer

[garybigley]

I have the RedSea Reefer 350 which has two 225 micron socks that filter the water coming from the DT into the sump. That compartment is also the refugium, which is 6 1/8 inches wide by 14 inches long. It then flows into a bigger compartment (about 10 inches wide by the same 14 inches long) where I have a RedSea 600 skimmer. From there the water flows over a wall and through a course sponge (the sponge is both an air bubble filter and a sound baffle) before entering the return pump compartment. I have a few questions:

1) I hear that the best location for the refugium is after the skimmer and before the return compartment. Is this true? Does the skimmer skim out some copepods headed for the DT?
2) Will the course sponge in this RedSea system block the flow of copepods from the refugium to the DT anyway? It's a pretty course sponge.
3) I am thinking of reversing this setup and making the first compartment in the sump (after sock filtration) the skimmer compartment and moving the refugium to have more space - another 4 by 14 inches of space. That would give me much more space for additional substrate and room for more chaeto - and upgrade my light.
4) Would the Tunze Comline DOC skimmer 9012 DC work as the skimmer in that narrow compartment? I would have it sitting in the water (it looks like it's normally external mounted)???
5) Can anyone recommend any other (maybe ever better) high end skimmer that can work in a width under 6 inches all in? What's your high end dream skimmer that can fit in a space that narrow? The reason I see in doing this (ok - I admit getting some new gear is always a good reason) is that this moves the skimmer to the front compartment where hopefully it makes for easier maintenance, better copepod flow to the DT and a bigger overall refugium for the benefit that brings.
6) Also, what would you all recommend for a super high end refugium light? I want something that can be controlled by the Apex Neptune system. I do only have 1 inch of space for a clamp (between the refugium glass and the stand wall).

Also, I recently introduced myself on the newbie post where several people asked for a tank pic, so here it is. I'm fighting some green hair algae now, and starting things back up after fighting dinos...

 

[Keen4]

HI! I have the same exact tank and set up- I have the sump set up just like you with the refugium in the front and a rsk 300 in the mid compartment. Ive been wondering too if this set up prevents my copepods from staying alive and going into the skimmer. There still seems to be a bit of copepods multiplying. My water seems a little cloudy in the DT though. How will you get rid of your skimmer after you upgrade? I have the Kessil h160 light. Its a refugium light and seems to be doing great so far. I love how it spot lights exactly where I need it and not too much spread like my other light that I was using. I suggest the goos neck to get better control of direction of the light so that algae doesn't grow on the skimmer or reactors. Doesn't sound like you have a reactor. I have the Nyos Troq 2.0 next to my skimmer in the middle compartment. I also took out the course sponge filter and cut it into a thinner layer and placed an x port bio brick in that slot with the thinner slice of sponge on top. For a while I was using a little filter floss top help with the debris going into my DT but I think I just need to siphoned it out for a water change. Im just now cycling my tank into week 6. How long have you had your tank for ? You have hair algae and Dinos? A tang and a red bristle star would help with that and more copepods in the DT. I have a 20 gallon that had a little hair algae and my tang eats at it. My red bristle star was a hitchhiker on my chaeto. Luckily- and he eat Dinos. So IM a bit concerned because your tank had algae growth in the DT and you have a refugium. Im curious if this is because we have the refugium set up before the skimmer.

 

[garybigley]

I found a slim skimmer setup from Deltec. They're German, so I'm hoping it will be high quality. Check them out at www.deltecdirectusa.com. I chose their 600ix model, which has a width of 5.5 inches, so it will fit. You could go to their 1000 model as well - it will fit too. I'm running the RSK 600 skimmer today and I think it's a bit over powered. I will swap the compartments when the Deltec comes in - hopefully this coming weekend. I also have the Kessil A160WE Tuna Sun on order to upgrade the light - I'm running a Fluval Nano now, which is ok, but I think the Kessil will be an upgrade to it. I'll clean and resell the RSK 600 if I can - it's only a year old. I do have a BRS reactor for carbon and that I used a bit with GFO as well - just carbon now. My dinos came in and I had to do a couple of blackouts to solve them (I followed Dr Tims). One thing that can happen is something else takes over. People sometimes actually force that to happen and to help starve out the dinos, and they force a diatom bloom as the diatoms outfeed the dinos. I think that is what happened to me, but it was GHA and not diatoms that starved out the dinos. I had a little GHA and there was some left following the blackout. It took off and the dinos did not come back - this is a good thing. The odds of you not getting GHA at some point is probably zero. My tank is about a year old and I I dealt with the dinos for about 4 months. I think I'm going to leave the course sponge as I do need something there as a sound baffle, and hopefully it won't stop the pods from flowing out - I'l focus on the swap first. Also, I have a bunch bio balls in the chamber that the water comes into before it flows up and through the socks - you can add bio media there. I also have substrate in the current refugium. I will move that over to the bigger area and add more there. I think a bigger refugium is a better use of the space if I can swap, and the skimmer I found seems like it will allow this. I'll send an update when I finish.

 

[melanotaenia]

I have had the 600ix model for over a year; great skimmer once dialed in.

 

[garybigley]

I have had the 600ix model for over a year; great skimmer once dialed in.

Just curious - what size tank are you running it on?

 

[canadianeh]

I have the RedSea Reefer 350 which has two 225 micron socks that filter the water coming from the DT into the sump. That compartment is also the refugium, which is 6 1/8 inches wide by 14 inches long. It then flows into a bigger compartment (about 10 inches wide by the same 14 inches long) where I have a RedSea 600 skimmer. From there the water flows over a wall and through a course sponge (the sponge is both an air bubble filter and a sound baffle) before entering the return pump compartment. I have a few questions:

1) I hear that the best location for the refugium is after the skimmer and before the return compartment. Is this true? Does the skimmer skim out some copepods headed for the DT?
2) Will the course sponge in this RedSea system block the flow of copepods from the refugium to the DT anyway? It's a pretty course sponge.
3) I am thinking of reversing this setup and making the first compartment in the sump (after sock filtration) the skimmer compartment and moving the refugium to have more space - another 4 by 14 inches of space. That would give me much more space for additional substrate and room for more chaeto - and upgrade my light.
4) Would the Tunze Comline DOC skimmer 9012 DC work as the skimmer in that narrow compartment? I would have it sitting in the water (it looks like it's normally external mounted)???
5) Can anyone recommend any other (maybe ever better) high end skimmer that can work in a width under 6 inches all in? What's your high end dream skimmer that can fit in a space that narrow? The reason I see in doing this (ok - I admit getting some new gear is always a good reason) is that this moves the skimmer to the front compartment where hopefully it makes for easier maintenance, better copepod flow to the DT and a bigger overall refugium for the benefit that brings.
6) Also, what would you all recommend for a super high end refugium light? I want something that can be controlled by the Apex Neptune system. I do only have 1 inch of space for a clamp (between the refugium glass and the stand wall).

Also, I recently introduced myself on the newbie post where several people asked for a tank pic, so here it is. I'm fighting some green hair algae now, and starting things back up after fighting dinos...

View attachment 1684762

Check out my build thread. Your sump is V3 exactly as mine. Newer Red Sea reefer system comes with V3 sump. The one that @Keen4 has is V2 sump so it is not the same as yours. I did exactly what you are thinking to do. I reversed the skimmer and refugium area. I also mod the filter socks area and used clarisea filter roller instead. The skimmer that fit in the area after the filter socks is Nyos 120 skimmer. This is what I am using.

 

[melanotaenia]

Just curious - what size tank are you running it on?

Red Sea Reefer 170

I will say that the Deltec take a few weeks to dial in correctly, but after that little to no maintenance

 

[garybigley]

Check out my build thread. Your sump is V3 exactly as mine. Newer Red Sea reefer system comes with V3 sump. The one that @Keen4 has is V2 sump so it is not the same as yours. I did exactly what you are thinking to do. I reversed the skimmer and refugium area. I also mod the filter socks area and used clarisea filter roller instead. The skimmer that fit in the area after the filter socks is Nyos 120 skimmer. This is what I am using.

I looked at the NYOS and decided on the Deltec instead. What was involved in the Clarisea sk-3000 mod. Did that go in easily?

 

[Keen4]

Check out my build thread. Your sump is V3 exactly as mine. Newer Red Sea reefer system comes with V3 sump. The one that @Keen4 has is V2 sump so it is not the same as yours. I did exactly what you are thinking to do. I reversed the skimmer and refugium area. I also mod the filter socks area and used clarisea filter roller instead. The skimmer that fit in the area after the filter socks is Nyos 120 skimmer. This is what I am using.

Yes totally different sump!! Not sure if this set up that I have is going to work- its seems messy. But the skimmer after the refugium seems to be cleaning up the dirt before going into the return. Isn't this triton method? Refugium before the skimmer?