sapphire skimmers

ssimon15

New member
Hi everybody, before i spend approx. 150.00 ,i would like to get some opinions on the sapphire skimmer for my 24g ap . Tank has been running approx. 5 months ,with 5 gal water changes a week , every thing is running great , but would like to cut back on water changes to every other week. Do you think it is worth the expence. thanks in advance Stuart. p.s. I have a a pretty heavy load in tank with 4 small fish and a bunch of corals soft,lps and 2 sps frags up high in the tank. Tried the fission skimmer (what a piece of crap).
 
I've been using one for 2 weeks and am happy with it so far. The skimmate is a little wet for my taste, but I made an adjustment last night, so we'll see what happens. It fits in the back compartment, can't ask for any better than that.

On another note - some people report micro bubbles. I've not had an issue with them. Only the first day or two.
 
I have a one in my 24G nano cube and I've had it running for 3 months. It works good and I have no micro bubble problems. I've only got tea colored skimmate from it and I have a pretty heavy bio load. I just bought a Deltec MCE300 for a 20G Nano. From the reviews I read the Deltec is the way to go, but it's going to cost you. Check out the pictures and review in the Deltec sponser forum. Also check out the nano tank of the month. EZ has a deltec on his AP, but it's an open top tank.
 
I have a sapphire in my 29 gallon Biocube. I was one of the first to purchase one when it came out and I love it! It is one mean skimming machine!. The micro bubbles go away after a brief break in period. The collection cup can be adjusted for either a wet or dry skimmate. I empty my collection cup a couple times a week. Hope this Helps.
 
I would not consider a skimmer to do anything that would reduce the amount of water changes you need to do. They do remove some waste, true, but they also remove trace elements, food for corals, etc... so doing water changes is still needed, and the waste that they do remove would otherwise be handled by the live rock. Sure, on larger systems, doing 20% or more monthly water changes might be too expensive, so skimmers are employed, and so are refugiums, but on a tank less than say... 40 gallons, I find them useless. UNLESS you plan on overstocking the tank with critters and fish to the point where the bioload is too much for the rock to handle, but this is hard enough to do in larger tanks, and near impossible to do in a nano because of fish temperment and territories being so much larger in comparison to larger tanks.

At that, if you insist on a skimmer, you can make your own pretty easily with a maxi jet pump and some 1/8" acrylic...
http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=58540
8bubblespreaderinaction2.jpg

3bubblespreaderskimmer.jpg

9bubblespreadercollectioncup.jpg

2bubblespreader.jpg
 
thank you everybody

thank you everybody

thanks alot your post's have been very helpful.I'm not a fix-it person , so building my own skimmer is out of the question. Iwill probably go with the sapphire, because it will fit under the canopy without having to mod anything,plus most of the reviews have been favorable, Stuart p.s. I know how important water changes are , just thought i could change 2.5 g a week instead of 5g with the help of a good skimmer.
 
I just started a Biocube 29 as well and was looking to get one of these skimmers too.

Does this specific skimmer use the stock pump that came with the biocube?

I had also heard that it was a good idea to put live rock in the back tank instead of the bioballs. Will there be room back there for live rock as well as the skimmer?

PM me if anyone still has one of these for sale.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9778150#post9778150 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by NoxAeternus
I just started a Biocube 29 as well and was looking to get one of these skimmers too.

Does this specific skimmer use the stock pump that came with the biocube?

I had also heard that it was a good idea to put live rock in the back tank instead of the bioballs. Will there be room back there for live rock as well as the skimmer?

PM me if anyone still has one of these for sale.

No it doesn't use the stock pump, it comes with a Rio 600. The skimmer is the only thing that will fit in chamber 2, so you won't be able to use live rock there.
 
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