Aqua c remora - How good is it?

R

RyanPaDe

[I have been told that i could run my entire system off of an Aqua C
Skimmer for my 29 gal. What is the advantage of using a sump? Would it honestly be a good idea to run my whole tank off of just a skimmer?? Would it be safe??]
 
[A sump would be a waisted exspense on such a small tank. Realistically, the largest sump you could do is a 29gallon. I personally wouldn't waste my time the baffles, return pump, and skimmer area would take up pretty much the whole thing. For most the key idea behind a sump is a refugium...for macro algae. I'm sorry but, I just don't think you have the room for a refugium.

Pretty much every skimmer I can think of except for a mini is rated for a 55 gallon or more... So an Aqua C would be over kill. I think that would be ideal in your circumstance.

Of course I know people that do water changes frequent enough they don't need a skimmer. But in the long run that is really exspensive and time consuming (though nutrient wise the best way to go).]
 
[I see 2 reasons for a sump even if you dont want to do baffles and a fuge. It a tank that small a sump would almost double your water volume. We all know the more water you have the less likely you are to make a mistake that dooms your tank. Larger water volume also makes earier to keep your calcium/alk up (more water= more calcium in the tank) Also more water makes it easier to control the temp.
The second reason is surface scum. Without an overflow you are going to get a funky scum on top of your water that can reduce the light penetration buy up to 50%.]
 
[This might help....

AquaClear 500

I converted a aquaclear500 filter into a fuge and it added a gallon of extra water volume, refugium, and surface skimming for $35. You can't beat this it offers so many advantages for the money.]
 
[A CPR Aquafuge is also an option in addition to the protein skimmer. It adds water volume and allows you to grow macro algea. It hangs on the back with no plumbing necessary. You can get a surface skimmer with the two larger models.]
 
[Bill,

Where does the surface skimming come into play on your Aquaclear? I didn't see anything that looked like it would do surface skimming in your pics.


Doug]
 
[It's an attachment the plugs into the drop down intake.

It's an $8 attachment... :)

You can see it here:

Link]



Edited By blide on 1095285015
 
[Man do I ever agree with Matt and Mitch. The sump would allow you to double your water volume, reducing the chances of bad things happening. Dilution is the solution! You could run a 20 long as a sump and have in the intake portion a bubble trap / skimming area, a decent sized fuge, and a nice sized return area . PLUS you could run a mag7 as a return pump on a SCWD. Youll have a place to run carbon , do water changes / top-offs without messing with your display.Places to cure some LR and the added benifit of a good " time - out " area for any bad actors! - like my evil Zebra hermit! Im setting up a 29 gallon in my sons room that I was running as a QT and its going to have a 20 gal sump w/ a mag5 return :).]



Edited By Maldivan on 1095289099
 
[I think somewhere someone missed read my post I put "A sump would be a wasted expense on such a small tank". I never said it didn’t have perks.

I agree with Mitch it would increase water volume. But, work this equation buy a new 29 gallon sump add the baffles, live sand, return pump, lighting (if you include a refugium), etc... and you just doubled your investment.

For an experimental tank which earlier today you told me was a temporary set up to get use to the idea and concept of a marine aquarium... "you live in an apartment and plan to upgrade to an in wall tank when you move into a home".

Don't waste the money on an extra 29 (14 or so gallons after the baffles and all) it is not worth double or even tripling the cost of that tank.

If you want to go large sell that tank and buy a 55 gallon aquarium. You can even get one with a built in over flow and sump... it will be more expensive but the fruits are worth the added labor.

Again, I agree with Mitch’s statement and the best reason if you should choose to add a sump is the extra water capacity...but, let me reiterate it will not be enough to significantly improve the water conditions!

As I mentioned during your visit the primary reason for a sump is to hide all your “toys”. By adding an overflow you automatically defeat that purpose!]
 
[yeah this is basically my educating tank. On a scale of 1-10 as far as knowledge goes, I am at about 1.5. Once i get this down and feel more comfortable ill upgrade, which is why i dont wanna spend an obsurd amount of money on this 29 G. My basic question was, can i run my tank off of just a skimmer?? The answer was yes right??]
 
[Yes you can run the tank with just the remora and your LR.

If you get interested in a sump or refgium and don't want to spend too much, you can do it cheaply with a rubbermaid tub. You could even have a fuge tub inside your sump tub if you would like and still not spend that much. The overflow inside the tank is a downside but once it is covered with coralline it doesn't matter anyway. Having the extra water volume is going to be an advantage since you are just starting out. It will help buffer any mistakes you make. I have a 20G rubbermaid fuge and a 10G sump on my 29G and couldn't be happier with this setup. But you can definitely be successful without them. Just my .02]
 
[I dont know how exactly to go about setting it up though. Are there any sites that i could check out with instructions? Also about how much would this end up costing? (just a rough estimate)]
 
["overflow" meaning a hang-on box that will siphon water from the main tain down into the sump. Plenty of flow in the main display tank is a good thing. Too little flow in the display can be a problem (cyano).

On my tank I have a Mag7 returning water from the sump to the display Then I have a Mag9.5 running a closed loop w/ a SCWD to add the additional flow needed inside the display tank.

1 thing to remember when trying add more flow in your display if you have a sump, is don't depend on your return pump to up the amount of flow as it will only make your sump louder. I have made this mistake as have others. It is better to have a lower flow through your sump/fuge (~10x turnover or maybe even less on that small of a system) and depend on powerheads or a closed loop in the main display to add the needed flow. In your case a hang-on Remora would also add to that amount of flow.

As far as adding a sump or fuge to your setup you will need the following:
return pump - Mag 5, Mag 7 or equivalent would work well
tubing/plumbing for overflow/return - a few bucks at Home Depot
overflow
rubbermaid tubs

The overflow and return pump will be the most expensive items but can be picked up for a resonable sum if you watch the sale forum. The tubs and plumbing can probably be had for $20 or less.

There are several ways you could look at setting up the tubs but the easiest would be to have the fuge tub inside the sump tub. Then allow the fuge tub to overflow into the sump tub. There are many creative ways to set this part up and playing with it a little will most likely be the best way to find what you like best.]
 
[Totally opposite of Brian on this one.

I think they are even more valuable on a small tank for all the reasons mentioned. You don't have to have anything fancy. A used 20G long would work great. glue in a few baffles which would be cheap. Bum some cheato off somebody, get a return pump and an overflow and for probably around $100 extra your done.

To go even cheaper a big 20G rubbermaid and forget the baffles put the overflow running into one side (you may need to put your skimmer on some sort of stand) and the reyrn pump on the other. Throw some Cheato in the middle and put eggcrate seperating the three sections. This would be super cheap and still give you most of the benefits.

Worth it in my view.]
 
[If i DO install a sump, should i still get the Aqua C Remora Skimmer?
Right now i have a SeaClone, but i have heard bad things about it and im thinking about returning it while i still can.]
 
[Yes, you should still get the skimmer. After that is installed you can start looking at sumps, plumbing and figuring out how it all works. IMO, the sump only provides benefits, no downsides(except for the initial cost).
The other great thing is that you will learn so much about plumbing and how all that great stuff runs together before you ever have to do it on a larger scale.

Marc's website has tons of sump info. melevsreef.com]
 
[One of the problems that occurs in various forums is the way people post. Some post like their opinion is absolutely the best and only option.

I ran my 29g for about 3.5 to 4 years without a sump, but when I finally learned how to make it work my life became a breeze. Spend some time reading my 29g page and my 29g's sump page to get a good understanding of what occured.
http://www.melevsreef.com/29g.html
http://www.melevsreef.com/sump.html

Take a look at this page as well:
http://www.melevsreef.com/what_sump.html

It isn't a waste. Matter of fact, putting a 55g or larger behind your tank (behind the wall in another room) will give you so much volume that you could have an awesome and amazing tank to show off. People would wonder how you pulled it off. :idea:

All the benefits were posted in this thread or are listed on my site on the third page I linked.]
 
[I dotn have baffles in my sump, nor any live sand. It is just a plain old 29 tall with a skimmer and return pump. I have all my "toys" hid there also.

I will also say that the remora pro surface skimmer box SUCKS!! You have to keep you water level at the perfect apex and it it gets lower it starts sucking air. The other drawback to this is a small tank (even a large one) it that box takes up a ton of space.

I had a 55 without a sump and remorapro with overflow box. I will NEVER have another sumpless reef. It was a major headache. Also if you are considering a sump you should skip the remora and buy a real skimmer. YOu should be abkle to pick up the smallest euroreef for the same price as the remora.]
 
[I put my remora on my 10g tank for awhile, I didn't find the filter box to be that much of a pain honestly. In a tank that small you want to keep it topped off and at a steady water level anyways, because with a small volume of water, your salinity etc will spike very fast from evaporation.

I am going to go sumpless on my new 75g reef. Not by choice, I even drained it and moved it away from the wall to accomodate my overflow box. The problem is after I plumbed my dual SCWD's I have no room FOR the overflow box anymore lol.

Kinda disapointing, sumps are great for adding volume and surface skimming.]
 
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