Skimmer: In-sump or in-line?

[Jamba]

I am seeking words of wisdom.

Is it better to have a protein skimmer in-sump model or in-line?

In-Sump
+ Takes less room
+ Needs less plumbing
- Performance varies as water rises and falls
- Sump water level may need to be at a specific height (like 8 inches for Euro-Reef), so your sump needs to support that level


In-Line
- More plumbing, which means more possible points of failure.
+ Not sensative to the water leve in sump


Any thing else that needs consideration?

 

[nunofs]

- Performance varies as water rises and falls
- Sump water level may need to be at a specific height (like 8 inches for Euro-Reef), so your sump needs to support that level

In practical terms, these shouldn't be a concern... when you design your sump, just size the baffles so that the water in the skimmer compartment is kept at that level... the only time it will raise is when the power goes out, and in that situation you have more to worry about than skimmer performance

Personally, I haven't tried a plumbed skimmer, but I like the idea of an in-sump skimmer better, for the reasons you summarized so well.

Nuno

 

[Reef55]

Depends on your setup in my opinion. I have a plumbed model, and am going to run water from my display overflows directly into the skimmer, so it is getting the surface skimmed water directly.

 

[NateHanson]

With an external skimmer, if it goes berserk when something dies or is added to the tank, it will overflow outside the system, and remove water from the system. An in-sump model will just dump that water back into the sump.

 

[Jill & Brian]

I like in sump for the reason that Nate mentioned. If it overflows, or leaks in any way, it goes back into the sump. I.E. No big mess to cleanup on the floor.