I added an ASM G2X skimmer on 10/20/04.  My EcoSystem refugium/sump had no room for a skimmer, so I partitioned off my future frag tank, a 20 gallon long tank, with acrylic baffles and put the skimmer there. The tank is fed by a T off one of the Gen-X PCX40 return pumps and drains back into the sump through a bulkhead in a drilled hole at the other end of the tank.

I originally planned to complete the MyReefCreations trifecta (calcium reactor, Nilson reactor, skimmer), but space and energy efficiency considerations got me looking at Euro-Reef, which naturally led to ASM. The ASM skimmers were originally built under contract for Euro-Reef, but they decided not to sell them, so ASM decided to produce them anyway and sell them under their own name. They are very reasonably priced and are literally plug-and-play. The footprint is pretty small, too, only 11”x10”.

The G2X is probably undersized for my tank, but with the EcoSystem filter, I think I have sufficient nutrient export paths. As of now, it is not a major issue because my bioload is pretty light.

1/19/2005 - I had been having problems getting reliable foam. Not enough air was getting sucked into the pump. I tried cleaning everything, but it didn’t help. What cured the problem was to restrict the water intake of the pump, which I did by jamming a spare barbed fitting into the end of the venturi fitting. This increased the suction on the air line and lengthened the dwell time in the skimmer body.  It also reduced the amount of microbubbles escaping the standpipe.