Canister Filter vs. Protein Skimmer?

I was thinking the same thing, the 180 is only rated for up to 200 gal but the 240 is rated for up to 350 gal. I may have to go with the 240

 

EV need really strong pumps. You could probably get away with a 180 if you went to the next bigger pump. At most you will have a 160-165 g of total volume. You don't need a skimmer rated for 350g. However, what you do need is a skimmer rated for 160g heavily stocked. Skimmer will only pull out what is there. After that all you have is more unused capacity. A bigger skimmer does not let you keep more fish, the oxygen in the water is the limiting factor. So look for what can handle a heavily stocked 160.

 

From what I have seen skimmers made to handle 160 gallons of heavy bio-load are usually rated for a lightly stocked 250-300 gallons.

~Will.