Scammed? =/ Protein Skimmer

S

Samcorp

New member
Hi everyone. I made a post earlier about how I am buying the "Coralife SuperSkimmer 150 Gallon with Needlewheel Pump"" off a person on craigslist. However, when I bought it I decided to google the product and there was no such thing as the 150 gallon version of the skimmer. The person told me he bought it about 1 year ago (its 1 year old).

I measured it and the heights something around 20 inches (I didn't get very specific measurements) and the guy told me that my sump should not be any higher than 10 inches because the water level shouldn't go higher than this "point" in the skimmer.

The guy has a 65 gallon tank and he told me the skimmer was for a 150 gallon tank. So now I looked it up and I'm suspicious because the 65 gallon tank version of the coralife is 20 inches high and the 125 is something like 24?


Can anyone confirm this skimmer if its truly a 150 gallon version or not? Did coralife used to have a line of these skimmers last year or something?

Thanks,

Sam
 
I would suggest not buying it at all. Save the money and put it towards another skimmer. Have you looked at the "Octopus" skimmers. They are a "cheaper" skimmer, but they will blow the coralife one out of the water. I ran one on my 75 for a year and loved it. I'm not knocking the "super" skimmer, but i have seen more people unhappy with that unit than people who are happy with it. But if this is your only option, something is better than nothing. Sorry i can't help with figuring out your question.
 
Ya I haven't seen the 125 version either. I doubt you were scammed, the Coralife skimmers are somewhat of an entry level skimmer so its a good possibility the guy didn't know what he was talking about.
 
If the guy told you it was a 150 you were scammed. They dont make a 150...or he didnt know.....

I have the 125...bought it , used it for a month put it in closet and bought a euroreef...the coralife was a turd...the coralife was 24 inches tall....
 
+1 on you being scammed or the guy did not know what he was talking about. coralife makes the 65, 125, and the 220. i have the 65 and it is 20 inches tall my friend uses the 125 and it is bigger but i dont knowi the exact dimensions on the 125. i recently upgraded to an octo skimmer and is much better. ie... more reliable. i could get my coralife to really pull some nasty skimmate out but almost everyday i would have to tweak it to get it to consistantly skim good. and also every once in a while if would overflow for no reason and i would have water all over my living room floor because i was using it as a hang on the back. if i were you i would save my money up and just by a good skimmer of the used equipment forum. trust me i have spent alot of money on upgrades because i did not buy the right equipment the first time and it ends up costing double what you would have paid and not to mention all the frustration with trying to get subpar equipment to work properly. spend your money on good equipment and then spend your time enjoying your reef instead of tinkering with equipment.
 
Dangit! Well.. I paid only $50 for it.. actually, could someone verify if this was a good deal? The guy had to sell his whole tank and he offered me this for 180$: (By the way, he has a 65 gallon tank.. reef)

Temp probe + TDS meter
Phosban reactor plus 2 new packages of phosban
Protein skimmer.. coralife (argh)
Surge protectors plus GFCI plus 4 light timers
50 gallons worth of salt.. nets.. aqualifter pumps.. powerheads, etc.

He told me a lot of these items add up and he really worked with me. He originally charged around 250 but we worked out it out to 180$

Also, I'm in a VERY LOW BUDGET right now and at the moment (I don't even have water in the tank yet!.. I have a 90 gallon tank) I can't buy another protein skimmer.

Will this one do? Its around 20 inches high. I don't know which model it is though.
 
Also, regarding overflow, how much water could it take out of the tank? Would it be safe to put the skimmer in a rubbermaid or something of the sort? This is really annoying.

Maybe I'm better off for now without a protein skimmer. What do you guys think?
 
People have been successful without any skimmer at all so it certainly could work. It's going to be less forgiving with excess nutrients though. You're going to want to add your stock very slowly and keep it light overall.
 
Thanks ludnix. This makes me feel a little better at least :)


By the time I even get enough live stock to mean anything (with my budget) I'll probably be able to get a skimmer.
 
Also ludnix, will that limit me to getting live rock? I want a large amount of live rock in my tank, so could that cause excessive nutrients? I'm looking at at least 120 lbs overall.
 
Your live rock wont produce any nutrients at all. It actually houses the bacteria the break down all the decaying waste into less harmful nutrients.
 
no it would actually be best to have as much rock as you can (still leaving space for fish) i too have a 90 gallon and have about 150 pounds of rock in my tank. if you have a sump and you want more swimming room you can put some rock in your sump(if it is big enough) also i would run that skimmer instead of running no skimmer. like i said before i could get this skimmer to really skim well it just takes alot of tweaking and keeping an eye on it daily. more work than having a reliable skimmer. there are also a couple of easy mods that i did to mine that really beafed up the performance so pm me if you are interested. you could always sell it and save up some money to get a different one. there are alot of nice skimmers for sale here for the 100-150 range that would work great on your 90. just something to think about.
 
FWIW the coralife skimmer isn't the worst skimmer IMO.
I use the 220 for a while, it worked w/out too many headaches compared to some others.
Sounds like you got the 65, easy to tell, that model has no drip on cup.
That guy could have been parroting info when it was sold to him, who knows.
The more rock the better, 120-150lbs would be my choice for a 90g.
Stay on WC's
 
Davocean, whats a WC?

Thanks for all the info everyone! By the way, I know this is a little off topic, but I don't believe its worth starting a whole knew thread about.

When I get all this live rock, is it best to glue it together or use foam to put it together or is it better to simply lay it/stack them?
And what about a wall? Does a foam wall look better than a plain glass wall with a blue background (the ones you get from a petstore)?

Thanks,


Sam
 
A WC is a water change.

All of my rock is just stacked on top of itself just make sure that it is very stable. I have never seen a foam background so I can't comment on how they look but I like a black background. You can just spray the back (outside) of the tank with Krylon Fusion spray paint that is found at Walmart.
 
If I decide to get a black background, I think I will stick with the stuff you get at petstores. The reason is because the tank right now is at a 6 inch gap between the wall and it would be very hard to spray paint it. Plus, I'm simply not a very big fan of spray painting. :)
 
Hey mg426 I don't think that helps the OP very much as the skimmer has already been purchased. Any skimmer is better than none. Yes there are better ones but the coralife isn't the worst out there, I have a prizm skimmer and I guarantee it is worse than a coralife but I used it for probably two years before I got a euro-reef. As far as the background goes if the tank is already setup then I think that your best option would be one of the backgrounds from the LFS.
 
check the diy forums for doing your own background
the skimmer is fine
its just out of fashion in the hobby now
use it for a while and sell it later to buy you a new better skimmer
its a good learner skimmer newho
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

C
New Protein Skimmer
Replies
4
Views
114
ironwill723
ironwill723
D
Can I use Fiji 12 Sump skimmer compartment for cheat fuge?
Replies
7
Views
160
griss
griss
B
Chemiclean & protein skimmer
Replies
9
Views
198
bcwalz
B
M
Please critique my Equipment/Tank post for sale.
Replies
2
Views
79
reefing102
reefing102
D
Yellow on Rock
Replies
5
Views
99
griss
griss
Back
Top