Has anyone ever tried this skimmer??

zeroalpha

New member
Hi all,

Please see the attached link here.

My skimmer recently broke or went insane I don't know. :crazy1: So I went to my local fish store and the owner was telling me that I could remove the skimmer and just do large water changes every 2 weeks. I've noticed that the water is getting murky. It's not murky exactly, just cloudy I guess. I tried doing another water change, but it didn't do anything. So I'm looking at getting a new skimmer. I've recently lost my job so I'm on an extremely tight budget now. I checked craigslist and eBay and found the above skimmer on eBay for $45. Has anyone ever used it? Thoughts? I have a 90G tank and it's rated for 125G.
 
Hey thanks. I did that and found a review done a while back right here on reefcentral. Looks like its junk. Thanks again!
 
No thanks, lol. Trying to save a couple of bucks now. I actually am thinking of making a cheap overflow system and making a DIY sump. if I do that I shouldn't have a need for a skimmer right?
 
Nah that's waaay over my budget. I'm trying to stay under $75.00. Doesn't look like there is anything out there that is HOB that's worth using unless its $150+. So even if I have a sump/refugium, I'd still need a skimmer? Doesn't the sand and cheato and other stuff u put in refugium eat up all the stuff a skimmer would remove?
 
The skimmer removes the fish poop from the water that would normally just stay in the water until you do a water change, but even then the poo is still in the water. The micro bubbles are what cause the poo to come back out of the water. Macro algae is good for nitrate and phosphate control but does nothing for fish waste. The link you provided to the skimmer.... Don't buy it. It's a waste of your money and will do little to no good.
 
Climbing aboard thread. Just got done with my own "to skim or not to skim" thread. Interested in where this goes.
 
Unless it's a small tank (under 50 gallons) I think you'll be hard pressed to find a successful (long term) skimmerless reef tank. It's probably the most basic piece of equipment on a saltwater tank and pretty essential on a reef tank.
 
whosurcaddie, that's the best price I've found but it is currently out of stock on that site. It also wont tell me what shipping would be. This is what I've found. Can anyone give suggestions on them?

1: Bubble Magus NAC5E. Cheapest I could find. Also, how trust worthy is that site?

2: CoraLife super skimmer. It'd be the one rated for 125G. I've heard a couple of people use this site so I guess it is trustworthy.

3: SeaClone Skimmer. It looks kind of junky on the pic but I don't know.

So Let me know guys. Thank you.
 
I have used the Seaclone 100 forever. I used to like it, and when I set up my new 56g I bought a new one. It's a hunk of junk. I hate it so much I tore it down. Micro bubble madness.

Saving for a new one. I'm looking at the aquamaxx. By far my favorite so far. Very little issue with micro bubbles, and very quiet. Plus the pump is in the skimmer. I like that.
 
Perhaps I should do a more objective review.

It's a fine skimmer for the price. It has worked for me for the 7+ years I ran my old one. There are a few design changes in the new model that make it a bit more difficult to clean. What I don't like about it is the breaking in period is long, and the micro bubbles never really go away. In my experience, the only way to get it to work is to open up the air valve all the way and go full tilt, which is loud and seems like it's not running right. Any other setting though, and the micro bubbles get worse and the cup won't fill with crud.

It worked for me for a long time, but I would not buy another one.
 
If there is one place to not skimp in the hobby it is the skimmer. I do 15% water changes every week, no exception, and you should see the crap that my skimmer pulls out. IMHO, water changes are no substitute for efficient skimming.

Look for a used one if you have to, but buy the very best you can afford. If your budget is $75 for a skimmer for a 90g, keep saving up.

Right now do you have not filtration running on your tank at all? What is your bio-load like?
 
whosurcaddie, that's the best price I've found but it is currently out of stock on that site. It also wont tell me what shipping would be. This is what I've found. Can anyone give suggestions on them?

1: Bubble Magus NAC5E. Cheapest I could find. Also, how trust worthy is that site?

2: CoraLife super skimmer. It'd be the one rated for 125G. I've heard a couple of people use this site so I guess it is trustworthy.

3: SeaClone Skimmer. It looks kind of junky on the pic but I don't know.

So Let me know guys. Thank you.

out of those 3 I would go with the bubble magus, the seaclone and coralife skimmers suck IMO
 
Right now, I am just doing water changes and I have a small sponge filter in there for when I setup a quarantine tank. I know in my 90G it isn't doing anything at all. Those are my only two forms of filtration.
My livestock in the tank is as follows:
1 small coral beauty dwarf angel, ~40 small dwarf Cerith snails, ~20 small Nassarius snails, 11 quarter-sized Nerite snails, 2 peppermint shrimp, 1 dwarf blue leg hermit crab and 1 very tiny brittle starfish.
 
out of those 3 I would go with the bubble magus, the seaclone and coralife skimmers suck IMO

Ellis above stated to save up more money for a skimmer. I'm fine with that. Although I'd like to get it taken care of sooner rather than later and even though I'm on a tight budget, I might just put it on a CC. Would the bubble magus count as a higher end skimmer? If I buy that one will it solve my cloudy water issues?
 
Oh and also, I forgot to mention one of the irritating things I had with my cheapy old skimmer was the constant micro bubbles it spewed out into the DT. Will the bubble magus do that? Is there one in that price range that will not shoot out micro bubbles into the DT? That's actually one reason I haven't just built one on my own from the vids on youtube. Most of them have micro bubbles.
 
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