I can only comment on the Aqua C and the Euro Reef because those I'm familiar
with.

The EuroReef can sit in deeper waters, up to 11" I believe. It is adjusted by
lifting and lowering the tube adjascent to the reaction chamber (where the
bubbling takes place). It is pretty simple, but make sure the footprint fits
your 10g. Remember it will have a pump in there with the skimmer, PLUS you
wanted to add a return pump as well.... might get *very tight* in there... plus
you won't have much room for water volume which means either topping off very
regularly or using a top off switch.

The Aqua C is adjusted with a gate valve, and can only sit in 6"-8" of water.
It could be put on a short stand to lift it up slightly, but you have limited
room. The good thing about that unit is the collection cup only needs to be
lifted about 1/4" and it can be removed to the side or out the front. Very
userfriendly.

When you consider your wet/dry for the new refugium, and a 10g to hold the
skimmer and return pump, you have to consider two things:

How much water will the combined units hold when the power goes out and the tank
drains off the excess until the overflow box is level with the water's surface?

What will you do to reduce microbubbles in your tank?

Here are two webpages to give you some ideas and some suggestions. Both of the
skimmers mentioned above are great units.

http://www.melevsreef.com/what_sump.html
http://www.melevsreef.com/make_a_sump.html

Marc


Henry wrote:

Hello,
I have a 180gal FO tank that is running without a skimmer, currently
relying on a wet/dry and live rock. I want to add a skimmer to get the
water quality up and to help battle phosphates and algea. My stand is only
26 1/4" from the floor to the bottom of the tank. I have plumbed an
extension on my wet-dry by drilling an old 10g tank and using bulkheads. My
plan is to put a skimmer in the 10g along with the return pump, then remove
the bio-balls from the wet-dry and use it for maco algea.
I have looked at the ETSS Evo 500, AquaC EV-180 and Euro-Reef CS6-1.
What is not clear and is a concern to me is how these units might need to be
setup and/or adjusted to work properly. With the limited clearance under my
stand, the unit will have to sit on the bottom of the 10g tank and any
adjusting will have to be done via a gate valve.
Any comments/recommendations are welcome - the Grinch I work for gave me
a bonus this year and I hope to purchase something before Christmas.
Happy Holidays to all
Henry

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