Hang-On Protein Skimmer Recommendation

bassking16

Member
Need some advice here. I just set up a small 25 gallon tank that is in the cycling process currently. This tank will be a reef tank, and will be mostly LPS. I will probably throw a few Shrooms and Zoas in there as well. Maybe down the road a few hardy SPS too.

I had an old Prism Hang-On Skimmer sitting in my garage, so I put it on the tank. It works, no problem, but it is loud as heck. This tank is in my bedroom, so I need something a little more quiet.

I don't have room for a sump, so can you all throw some recommendations my way. I don't want to break the bank, but I don't want a piece of junk either.

Thanks for any help you could post.
Bassking
 
Thank You

Thank You

Thank you for the suggestion. That looks like a pretty good skimmer with good reviews. I like how it has a surface skimmer attachment as well. It's a little more expensive then I was expecting, but not out of the question.

Anyone else have a good HOB Skimmer that they can recommend?
 
Theres no such thing as a 'good' hang on skimmer for less than 100 bucks. Save your money and get an Octopus or similar.
 
For under a $100 you can pretty much afford only a used AquaC Nano Remora (or regular Remora) , used Octopus, or used Tunze 9002 (hang-in-tank) skimmer. I have a Remora, and it is pretty loud. You can muffle the sound somewhat with a paper towel above the injector, but from what I have read the Tunze 9002 is a quieter skimmer.

You could probably used one of these Bubble Magus skimmers as well, but it also hangs in the tank. Supposedly they have a HOB version as well:

http://www.nuocean.com/skimmers/bubble-magus-bmqq.html
 
well it's a lot more than $100, and way oversized for your tank, but SWC makes the best of the best when it comes to hang on skimmers:

http://saltwaterconnection.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=1&products_id=80

Anyways, the Prizm skimmers are noisy. I ran one for about 3 years in my bedroom and always had to mess with it at night to please the misses. I ended up doing a bubble plate mod and mesh wheel mod, which allowed me to run it with the valve a little more closed. It was quieter with the mesh also since the air was being chopped up by a soft mesh instead of the "state of the art 18 blade impeller!!!"....:) A 30gal is about the max that I would ever run a Prizm on, even with the mods.

Anyways, look for any reliable brand of skimmer where the pump either sits in the tank, or is submurged within the skimmer. The noise on the Prizm comes mostly from the pump being out in the open. A skimmer with the pump inside the tank would be the quietest.
 
Thank you

Thank you

Thank you all for the posts. That $100 estimate was off the cuff, and not really intended as a limit. I more or less just want to hear some opinions on good quality HOB Skimmers that runs relatively quiet. If it costs me $150 to get the Skimmer that I want, then so be it. At this point, I don't want to penny pinch when it comes to a skimmer. I learned my lesson with a cheap skimmer on my 75g tank.

Just looking for a good quality, quiet HOB skimmer. Price is not really a huge factor. If I can get one a low price, great. If not, no big deal.

Thank you again for all the suggestions.
Bassking
 
I can attest, spend the money on a good skimmer. The few cheapos that do perform well wind up being noisy bubble-spewers.
 
The Remora does a fair job - I have one on a 29 gallon.

You do need to keep the neck clean or it wont pull much. I find it needs to be cleaned more often then emptied.
 
Well, I have an eshopps HOT skimmer, love it, right about $150. I also have heard good thing about the coralife skimmers(also hear bad things) at around $130. I have heard the octopus is great, and have not heard anything good about any skimmers under $100.

The eshopps seems very good, but KIND of loud, although the noise is not bad(kinda like a waterfall)
 
In a 25 gal tank with mostly LPS and zoas, with regular water changes, you could get away without a skimmer. Or you might put the skimmer on a timer to turn off at bed time. Just a couple thoughts.
 
Thank you all!!

Thank you all!!

Thank you to everyone for your suggestions. I really appreciate it. I've researched and read reviews on all the skimmers mentioned in this thread. So far, I am leaning toward the Reef Octopus BH 100SS. There are a few things that I really like about it. First of all, you can't go wrong with a Reef Octopus Skimmer from what I understand. I also like the surface skimmer feature, and the fact that the power head is submerged, which should make it relatively quiet. According to the reviews that I have read, cleaning is not too difficult, and the performance is highly rated. The price isn't too bad either.

The only negative that I have read about this skimmer is that the instruction manual has alot to be desired, and that initial set-up is a little tedious. Otherwise, all the reviews that I have read give this skimmer high ratings overall.

I'm going to pull the trigger and buy one of these sometime towards the end of this week, and will post my opinion of it on this thread after a few days of use.

Thanks again to everyone who posted. I really appreciate it.
 
I recommended the Octopus BH 100ss to another poster in another thread. Glad to hear that people are considering it as an option. Don't forget to post a picture of the tank once you install the skimmer.
 
Okay, sorry for the delay, but I finally pulled the trigger on a new skimmer. I ended up going with the Octopus BH 100 for now. It will be here in a few days, and I will give a review on this thread once I get it up and running for a couple days.

I went with the Octopus BH 100 only because the company I ordered from had the SS model on back order and it will be a while. I bought it from Reefwarehouse.com. I talked to one of the employees, and he said he could order the Surface Skimmer part a little later once on the back orders catch up, and it would only cost a few dollars. I needed the skimmer as soon as possible, so I just went with the BH 100 for now, and will later order or possibly craft my own surface skimmer adapter.

Anyway, I'll let you all know how it goes later next week. Thanks again for all the advice and suggestions.

Bassking16
 
Update as promised

Update as promised

Well, I think this skimmer is starting to work itself out now. The micro bubbles have diminished greatly since first installing this skimmer a few days ago, and it is starting to pull some skim out of the water.

I think I am going to like this skimmer. So far the performance is pretty good now that it settled in. I also like how easy it is to get to and clean the collection cup, and how quiet it is since this tank is in my bedroom.

The only things that I'm not real thrilled with are the size of the pump. It is pretty big, and takes up alot of room in my 25g tank. However, I have to understand that this skimmer is rated for a tank up to I believe 60g. Therefor a pump that size is necessary. The only other things that I would like to see with this skimmer is a more detailed instruction manual. The one that was included is really vague. It is pretty much just a parts break-down. No real instruction on set-up and tuning. The last thing that I would like to see is the Bubble Elliminating Sponge changed to black instead of the neon blue that it is. I'm not crazy aboout the look of this sponge up against the black background of my tank. I plan on changing this sponge to a black one here in the near future.

Overall, I give this skimmer a 4.5 out of 5, and I am happy with it so far. I hope this helps anyone thinking of getting one of these skimmers.
 
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