Skimmers and in/out positioning

[Lord of the fish]

Hi

I'm nearly finished building my new top section for my tank after getting so far and realising id made a total mess of it and deciding to start again. I now need to start thinking about cut outs in the right positions for equipment. I already have a glass lily pipe outflow and had intended on buying a matching inflow but got reading about ones that also have a surface skimmer. I kinda settled on the evolution aqua one but can only see a set with both in and out. I phoned my local maidenhead aquatics who told me that evolution are no more and were swallowed up by D-D. I don't see anything like what I'm looking for from D-D. So my 1st question is, can anyone recommend something similar?

My 2nd query is where to position the in and out flows. Ive always had them at opposite ends in the past but now see quite a lot of tanks with them right next to each other. My tank is empty at the moment but the intention is to have an incline in substrate from left to right, with a rocky mountainous area to the far right rear corner. All planted but just hair grass or similar on the lower areas with other plants to be decided the further right you go. Meaning that in terms of obstacles for flow, it would be quite open for the most part so I feel there will be a good chance of a complete circular flow from the entry point right round the tank and back to the exit point. Having both next together would be neater and better for the design of the hood but I won't do that unless its right for the aquarium. Does anyone have any thoughts or experience of this?

Further relevant info: I will have an inline heater and inline c02 diffuser. Its a tall 90L tank.

Cheers,
David.

 

[madmark285]

I have an overflow box/skimmer which I put in the middle of the tank. My return lines (2) are only a few inches from the overflow box but they are near the bottom of the tank.

Have you thought about drilling holes in the tank and use thru hull fittings?

 

[Lord of the fish]

I have an overflow box/skimmer which I put in the middle of the tank. My return lines (2) are only a few inches from the overflow box but they are near the bottom of the tank.

Have you thought about drilling holes in the tank and use thru hull fittings?

Hi
So placing the in and out right next eachother is ok because the inflow is at the top of the tank and the out is at the bottom?

Regarding an overflow box, I don't have experience of these other than the quick Google ive just done on them. Im hoping to keep the equipment as discrete as possible, especially as its a fairly small aquarium, so not sure if this would work for me.

I haven't considered drilling into the tank. The very thought fills me with dread. Im lucky if I can cut wood in a straight line. God knows what disaster would await me if I started on glass.

 

[madmark285]

Understood. The thought of drill a hole in a tank intimidated me. Turns out it was quite easy but still. it was a bit scary.

For skimmers, I think vertical separation is key. If both (intake and return line) are on the top of the tank, you may just get strong surface currents and the lower level water rarely gets filtered.

With a skimmer, you will also need a feeding ring else the food just gets sucked into the skimmer before the fish can eat it.