AquaMaxx skimmers -- anyone use them?

nly04 said:
Do you take a look at the Nyos quantum serries skimmer? Look nice too.
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I looked at a smaller model at Aquatic Collection. For the price I was hoping for better construction. And I really don't like the pump mounted inside the body.
 
How about Aqua Medic aCone, german made with long history and pump outside the body ;)
drfosterandsmith Selling 3.0 at good price now, I think worth looking at if you have enough room at your sump.
 
miralami said:
How about Aqua Medic aCone, german made with long history and pump outside the body ;)
drfosterandsmith Selling 3.0 at good price now, I think worth looking at if you have enough room at your sump.
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Waaaay too overpriced. It's more expensive than the ATB!
 
Reefer_Addickt said:
I'm with you man, I'm over my pump in body skimmer.
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I know why companies are doing it -- for a smaller footprint. But for the space-savings comes the big drawback of less contact time. Isn't that the reason for a skimmer in the first place?

I still haven't purchased anything. I decided to move my 840 from my reef over to the other system. If it works well, I will probably just get another 840.
 
They do it for space saving but moving a pump out of the body does not mean a better skimmer. A skimmer has to be well designed to begin with.. My RLSS skimmer will out perform allot of skimmers with external pumps. Open volute skimmers can perform nearly as good as skimmers with external pumps. Really comes down to design. A external pump does increase contact time and should out perform but does not always.

I am going To say this too about the comment about the Aquamaxx priced cheaper than the same rated ATB. Skimmer ratings mean nothing and the ATB is far closer to its actual rating than a Aquamaxx. Almost all skimmer can not handle what they say even at normal loads.

Another example the RLSS R6-I is rated for up to 150 gallons.. The coneS Co-1 is rated at 175 gallons. The RLSS pulls 960 l/hr and the ConeS 360 l/Hr. Both are well designed skimmer but really the coneS is rated more than the RLSS skimmer.. I own both and not even a comparison. The CO-3 is rated 500 gallons, come on. I guess it could be very little load. My point is skimmer rating mean jack.

You need to look at the design of the skimmer, the air pull, size of the neck, size of the body, type of pump, the height of the skimmer, where the pump is located etc.

Size of tank means nothing either. I have seen tank at 75 gallons with more load than 150 gallons.
 
shred5 said:
They do it for space saving but moving a pump out of the body does not mean a better skimmer. A skimmer has to be well designed to begin with.. My RLSS skimmer will out perform allot of skimmers with external pumps. Open volute skimmers can perform nearly as good as skimmers with external pumps. Really comes down to design. A external pump does increase contact time and should out perform but does not always.

I am going To say this too about the comment about the Aquamaxx priced cheaper than the same rated ATB. Skimmer ratings mean nothing and the ATB is far closer to its actual rating than a Aquamaxx. Almost all skimmer can not handle what they say even at normal loads.

Another example the RLSS R6-I is rated for up to 150 gallons.. The coneS Co-1 is rated at 175 gallons. The RLSS pulls 960 l/hr and the ConeS 360 l/Hr. Both are well designed skimmer but really the coneS is rated more than the RLSS skimmer.. I own both and not even a comparison. The CO-3 is rated 500 gallons, come on. I guess it could be very little load. My point is skimmer rating mean jack.

You need to look at the design of the skimmer, the air pull, size of the neck, size of the body, type of pump, the height of the skimmer, where the pump is located etc.

Size of tank means nothing either. I have seen tank at 75 gallons with more load than 150 gallons.
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I completely agree with you. I played the skimmer game for a while... I started with a turboflotor (back when AM only had one model), then ETSS, then Euroreef, then a break from reefing, then ATB and Vertex Omega. Through each generation of skimmer I saw an increase in efficiency, better designs that offered better air/water mixing, better pumps, and better construction. I also saw the rise of knock-offs and crappy skimmers where ratings became arbitrary.

I have a hard time believing that the short skimmers I've been seeing with a pump mounted inside -- even with unique features like bubble plate with custom diffusers-- will perform better than a similar skimmer with an externally mounted pump where the water enters lower in the reaction chamber. For example, the Aquamaxx ConeS Q-series versus the regular ConeS. Originally I liked the Q-series because it was shorter. However you can quickly assume that the ConeS is a better skimmer:

ConesS CO-3:
22.9" x 8" reaction chamber at 1020 LPH (rated up to 450 gallons @ 27 watts) - 22.9" is actually the total height of the skimmer so the reaction chamber is probably 21"

ConesS Q-3:
19.7" x 8" reaction chamber at ??? LPH (rated at 420 gallons @ 27 watts) - the problem with this is the total height is 19.7" and the pump is on the inside, which technically means the reaction chamber is really only about 15"

Both use the Shark 3.0 pump so we can assume that the LPH for the Q-3 is the same, but the reaction chamber is smaller.

Moving on to the ATB:

19" x 8" reaction chamber at 1200 LPH (rated at 260 gallons @ 16 watts)

Of course, the ATB is a few hundred dollars more. This is taking into consideration ratings given by the manufacturers and I tend to believe ATB's ratings as you mentioned.

Yes, there is a lot to take into consideration, but it's really hard to compare skimmers based on what's on paper. My gut tells me to go with an ATB because the one I have has been rock-solid.
 
D-Nak said:
I completely agree with you. I played the skimmer game for a while... I started with a turboflotor (back when AM only had one model), then ETSS, then Euroreef, then a break from reefing, then ATB and Vertex Omega. Through each generation of skimmer I saw an increase in efficiency, better designs that offered better air/water mixing, better pumps, and better construction. I also saw the rise of knock-offs and crappy skimmers where ratings became arbitrary.

I have a hard time believing that the short skimmers I've been seeing with a pump mounted inside -- even with unique features like bubble plate with custom diffusers-- will perform better than a similar skimmer with an externally mounted pump where the water enters lower in the reaction chamber. For example, the Aquamaxx ConeS Q-series versus the regular ConeS. Originally I liked the Q-series because it was shorter. However you can quickly assume that the ConeS is a better skimmer:

ConesS CO-3:
22.9" x 8" reaction chamber at 1020 LPH (rated up to 450 gallons @ 27 watts) - 22.9" is actually the total height of the skimmer so the reaction chamber is probably 21"

ConesS Q-3:
19.7" x 8" reaction chamber at ??? LPH (rated at 420 gallons @ 27 watts) - the problem with this is the total height is 19.7" and the pump is on the inside, which technically means the reaction chamber is really only about 15"

Both use the Shark 3.0 pump so we can assume that the LPH for the Q-3 is the same, but the reaction chamber is smaller.

Moving on to the ATB:

19" x 8" reaction chamber at 1200 LPH (rated at 260 gallons @ 16 watts)

Of course, the ATB is a few hundred dollars more. This is taking into consideration ratings given by the manufacturers and I tend to believe ATB's ratings as you mentioned.

Yes, there is a lot to take into consideration, but it's really hard to compare skimmers based on what's on paper. My gut tells me to go with an ATB because the one I have has been rock-solid.
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Yea.. There is no doubt a external pump should perform better but for most in a space issues. I upgraded sumps size and the ATB still barely fits. To me the biggest disadvantage for SS simmers is cleaning the pump but most the venturi's still comes off without removing the skimmer and that is what is needs to be cleaned really the most.. I dont think ATB is high priced, I think it is somewhere between middle of the road skimmer and the higher priced skimmers like bubble king. Bubble king does have the best pumps but comes at a price or Abyzz ehich is really expensive.

Open volute skimmer like the Reef Life Support Systems DB6-i Internal though should perform pretty close or as good for those who need space. Water and air come out the bottom.

What size tank do you have?

I am not ripping on the aquamaxx skimmer mine performs very well for its size, amount of air and water it processes and price. I just think their rating are extremely high compared to other companies comparable skimmers.

Edit: I think when companies over rate their skimmers it can hurt thier reputation. Like the co-1 which is rated 175 gallon and I honestly dont think it could handle over a 75 unless lightly loaded tank maybe up to a 90. Someone with a large tank sees the rating that does not know better buys it and has issues because it can not keep up. They then assume the skimmer is junk. It may handle larger tank if someone has another means of exporting nutrient like algae filter but skimmers should be rated as stand alone.
 
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There is a used 840 v2 with sicce pump dirt cheap in the FS forums..

I have seen a few available lately.
 
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