I can't decide which skimmer!

The Somatic is by far the most capable and the most value for your money. It utilizes a Sicce pump which is one of the most reliable pumps in the industry.
The claims made by Eshopps are ridiculous IMO.
 
IMO, this is a hard skimmer to beat for the money. If looking for a budget skimmer for a tank under 100g, this should be a consideration.

Somatic 60s
http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/60s-space-saving-protein-skimmer-somatic.html

On my new 60g cube after looking at lots of skimmers this is the one I went with. That air flow for the price, awesome. Pretty much a vertex 130 but space saving. BRS was having 10x points on it so was like $20 off too. Quite frankly for me, nothing else was even close once you figure performance for the money.
 
The Somatic is by far the most capable and the most value for your money. It utilizes a Sicce pump which is one of the most reliable pumps in the industry.
The claims made by Eshopps are ridiculous IMO.

What claims? You can rate a skimmer for whatever rating you want, it's not about water volume, it's about load. If you compare their ratings to Nyos or IceCap or Skimz or whatever, they seem in line.

If the Somatic is using the same Sicce's as Vertex, it is using a custom impeller and is much more expensive to replace (and harder to find) than a standard impeller.
 
What claims? You can rate a skimmer for whatever rating you want, it's not about water volume, it's about load. If you compare their ratings to Nyos or IceCap or Skimz or whatever, they seem in line.

If the Somatic is using the same Sicce's as Vertex, it is using a custom impeller and is much more expensive to replace (and harder to find) than a standard impeller.
So you mean to tell me you find it acceptable to rate a 6" cone skimmer for a tank up to 220g? I ran a 10" skimmer with 3000 lph of air on my semi successful 225g. I would never recommend a 6" skimmer be used on a 220g tank. Worst part is due to that rating, one might be confused into thinking that that is actually acceptable. It is clear that the OP felt the Eshopps was capable yet the Somatic was not due to the rating an nothing else. If other companies are rating a 6" skimmer up to a 200g tank, I certainly don't agree with that practice.

Also the Sicce used in the Somatic does not use the custom volute so most likely it is off the shelf.
 
So you mean to tell me you find it acceptable to rate a 6" cone skimmer for a tank up to 220g? I ran a 10" skimmer with 3000 lph of air on my semi successful 225g. I would never recommend a 6" skimmer be used on a 220g tank. Worst part is due to that rating, one might be confused into thinking that that is actually acceptable. It is clear that the OP felt the Eshopps was capable yet the Somatic was not due to the rating an nothing else. If other companies are rating a 6" skimmer up to a 200g tank, I certainly don't agree with that practice.

Also the Sicce used in the Somatic does not use the custom volute so most likely it is off the shelf.

I assume you are talking about the X-160 which is rated for 100-225g.

Again, it depends on load. If you only have 30" of fish in that 200, it will handle it without a problem. If you have many more fish, well that's why it's rated all the way down to 100g. The next size up X-220 they rate from 200-325, so that seems more suitable for a loaded 200g tank.

RO 150SSS, 150INT and 150EXT are all 6" body, all rated to 210g
IceCap K2-160, 6" body, rated to 200g
Skimz SC165 and SM163 has 6.3" body (160 mm) rated to 310g
Aquamaxx Cone SQ-2 has 6" body, rated to 250g

I'm sure there are more but that was a quick search. It seems to me if they wanted to sell more expensive skimmers they would rate them for smaller tanks, not larger.
 
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Worst part is due to that rating, one might be confused into thinking that that is actually acceptable. It is clear that the OP felt the Eshopps was capable yet the Somatic was not due to the rating an nothing else.

You're mostly right. I discounted the Somatic off-hand because it was rated for 50-80 gallons while the others are rated higher and didn't give it a second look until I saw your further comments. Maybe Vertex doesn't want the Somatic competing with their higher-end options, so they underrated it. Who knows?

Based on the recommendations, I looked at the Somatic 60S as a real possibility, but the size won't work. I'm going to have to raise any of these skimmers (except the Avast Pegleg) 3-4 inches because my skimmer chamber has about 12" of water. And I have about 27 inches of vertical space for the skimmer under my cabinet. For the Somatic, that would leave me about .5" to work around, which I feel would make maintenance a pain in my wrasse.
 
I'm in the market as well but looking larger (planning my 240 now). I don't see many suggestions for the My Reef Creations skimmers. When I was last in the hobby that's what I used and had good luck with them. Any thoughts?


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Im currently looking for a replacement skimmer for my triple pass berlin, on a 90g, with 20g sump. fish load is very light atm, 2 clowns, and a lion. Lion is getting moved out, but i plan to have many more fish in 3 months, so i want a decent skimmer.

My price range is around the same as yours, so ill be following, and inputing any ideas i have.

Currently looking at the axium x-120/160, bubble magus curve 5, Reef Octopus Classic 202-S
 
I'm in the market as well but looking larger (planning my 240 now). I don't see many suggestions for the My Reef Creations skimmers. When I was last in the hobby that's what I used and had good luck with them. Any thoughts?


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I think Lifereef skimmers has taken the lead in venturi(beckett?) type skimmers.
 
I bit the bullet today because DFS has a 25% off coupon and it applies to Eshopps skimmers. Just ordered the Eshopps premiere S-200.
 
So you mean to tell me you find it acceptable to rate a 6" cone skimmer for a tank up to 220g? I ran a 10" skimmer with 3000 lph of air on my semi successful 225g. I would never recommend a 6" skimmer be used on a 220g tank. Worst part is due to that rating, one might be confused into thinking that that is actually acceptable. It is clear that the OP felt the Eshopps was capable yet the Somatic was not due to the rating an nothing else. If other companies are rating a 6" skimmer up to a 200g tank, I certainly don't agree with that practice.

Also the Sicce used in the Somatic does not use the custom volute so most likely it is off the shelf.

The curve 5 is for my 90g, sump has limited space.
Curve A8 for my 210g.
Yes the size does matter.
 
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