dual skimmers

[reeferJ]

I have been running 2 Berlin XL skimmers powered by Mag5 pumps on my 175 gallon tank. The skimmers both seemed to be doing a decent job. Recently one of the pumps quit on me and the reamaining skimmer is skimming ALOT more than it did with both skimmers running. What is a more effective method of skimming? One skimmer doing a great job, or two skimmers doing an OK job?

Thanks for your help,
reeferJ

 

[SnowManSnow]

If for some reason the 1 skimmer is skimming more than BOTH skimmers did together, then I would think that the 1 is doing a better job. I'm not sure why it would, but hey...

b

 

[leftovers]

the answer is ...depends....

depends on location of skimmers in relation to each other - how much unique water each processes

depends on what you feed your tank....

that you now see 2X the crud or more in one would make sense as its now processing 100% of the load.

Some will say having dual skimmers is a waste as you are running 2x the pumps etc when usually one will do just fine. If the skimmer is sized appropriately and is tuned appropriately then it should process all the waste for the tank its on just fine without need for a 2nd. You will find you are in the minority when it comes to running dual skimmers on a tank.

Having a 2nd however can reduce issues for many a skimmer...if one overflows/breaks or jams the other picks up and keeps processing till you have time to fix the other.

Usually in a chained sequence the 2nd skimmer doesn't do much. In a side by side it will vary but usually balance out. In a very heavily fed tank 2 skimmers can be beneficial through increased export.

so....it depends...

 

[reeferJ]

The skimmers were running side by side in the sump. I'm not feeding real heavy right now, as I'm battling (and appear to be winning) a cyano outbreak. I have 1200 gph return line, and the Mag's pump about 500 gph I think. I figured two would be better than one because I have heard that the Berlins are not great skimmers. I cracked the inlet of the first one which I replaced and then eventually fixed the old one. So I figured what the heck, I'll run both of them.

 

[Anonymous]

One skimmer is more efficient than two. This is the case for energy, space and initial cost.

Two skimmer is better if you want redundancy. If everything will die within 6 hours if the only skimmer failes, then having the second skimmer will be a great assess for backup.

Most just use one skimmer since water condition does not change that quick without skimming.