Skimmer Q&A Thread

[dogstar74]

Well, I did read all 13 pages of this thread. It's comming at a good time. I am vascillating between building a half a--ed skimmer and just biting the bullet and buying one.

Tank setup will be moderate to heavy load.
29 Gallon display with 10 Gallon glass aquarium sump. (so small footprint would be great)

Here's what info I've gleaned, but I'd like your input.

1)
Ocean Force 100
Pros: Small foot print, Gate valve adjustment.
Cons: Highest priced of options.

2)
Reef Octopus DNW 110. Not a lot has been said about this skimmer, and with it's pedigree, I wonder why not?
Pros: Good pedigree, decent footprint.
Cons: Requires feed pump, Octopus pumps get hot.

3)
Vertex IN 80 or IN 100.
Pros: Good pedigree, Good construction quality.
Cons: Tons of bad pumps shipped and bad out of the box.

4)
MSX 160
Pros: Small footprint. Users appear to love the family of skimmers.
Cons: Occasional reverse start for the pumps, and one complaint of noisy pump. Another c/o noisy air draw. But that can be silenced with a little DIY.

So there, I've laid them out. And with pictures to help stimulate that part of our brains that moves our fingers to type out responses. :lol:

Help with the decision making process please!

Thanks in advance,
Aaron

 

[joncat24]

Out of choices, I would go with the MSX 160. I owned one before I upsized my tank and it was awesome. Very reliable, and was pretty much "set it and forget it". The msx pinwheel is a perfect match for this skimmer,IMO. No mesh required for the msx 160.
I sold it to a friend when I upgraded, and it is still going strong.

HTH

 

[mojo~]

well you sure did pick the rigt ones for the job, And Joncat was probably one of the first to ever get one of the msx 160 in the usa I am going to have to disagree with his choice on this one.
And only becuase it is too much skimmer for that little volume. your display is only a 29 and with a 10g sump. I would pick a MSX 160 or ocean force 100 if your sytem volume was about double what you will have.
With that said. THe vertex in 80 is pretty good but there is another that you missed that I think will be even better suited for you. The Tunze 9002 would be about perfect for you. Very small foot print and great performance for a small skimmer. If you are planning on upgrading down the road you might be able to get the tunze 9005 or one of the others. But for long term skimming and still have room in your sump for anything else I would save a couple bucks and get the Tunze Nano doc 9002 here is a link to it

http://www.premiumaquatics.com/Merc...roduct_Code=T9002.000&Category_Code=TUNZESKIM

Very popular in the nano tank market. I just feel for your money spent this will give you the best consistant performance. The other will overskim and shut down.

Good luck and let us know what you think. Oh and the octo recirc skimmer you show is ok. it is more for those that need to run a skimmer external. I had the in sump model when I first got into skimmers and did fine on a 65g tank. again they are ok but much better in the market today.

Mojo~

 

[PowermanKW]

Mojo, can you expand a little on cone skimmers now that you have had the chance to play with a few. I have read the reviews.

I have a BK Mini 160 on my 90g. Lets just say it is a well made needle wheel skimmer. Now, after bubble plates, comes cone bodies. Is the "cone" an improvement, or a huge improvement? Any draw backs to cones yet?

Will the Mini 160 eventually get bumped from your top 5 for a 90g do you think?

Thanks.

 

[tdawgnjlo]

Skimmer Sizing

Skimmer Sizing

Mojo,

How do you size a particular skimmer to a tank+Sump volume? Is it more about tank+sump volume, or is it more about return pump (sump) flow rate, or sump volume?

 

[mojo~]

I dont think the bk will be knocked down anytime soon. It has many great qualities about it plus it performs really well. If it wasnt for $$ to purchase other skimmers I Would probably still have the bk mini 160. Not all cones are made the same. The big thing about a cone is it is suppose to help reduce turbulence. Some I think have taken time to make this a work and make a nice balance with the pump and body to work well together and others well. I dont think have taken the time to get this to work quite right. I think some just slap a pump on a cone shape body hoping it will sell.
The biggest drawback on cone skimmers is that people are overlooking great cylinder skimmers that will do a better job for them than maybe another just because of the shape.
So with that being said. ONe of my favorites is still the BK mini. I wish I could try the 180 gen 2 to see how it performs with the added air draw and body size.
Mojo~

 

[PowermanKW]

Thanks Mojo. I really appreciated what you do.

 

[mojo~]

NP, How many people have bought a skimmer only to get it and wonder, Oh what did I just buy. THese things are not cheap so why spend 200 to 1000 only to get something that doesnt work and have to buy something else.
Or how about those who but $1000 skimmer and are to proud to say it doesnt work as well as it should. No one wants to admit that they spent wasted money on something that doesnt perform any better than a product that cost half as much.

 

[PowermanKW]

Well there are plenty of knowlegable folks in all kinds of hobbies that have a lot of experience. However, in the hobbies I have been in, it is pretty rare to have someone go out and costantly test equipment under the same situations and compare them all. You are a valuable asset here. I'm not trying to give you a big head, but seriously.....

 

[rob020880]

Hello Mr. Mojo,

I am currently running the Ati BM200 with the Sicce pump. I was wondering if I put that new ATB pinwheel on the pump if my performance would increase.

I realize everyone complains about startup issues with the Sicce but I have never had any problems at all with the pump. So I am trying to rationalize the purchase. If it pulls more air and increases skimmer performance I will go for it, if it just fixes startup issues I won't. What do you think?

 

[mojo~]

well the ATI Bm use two layers of mesh i believe. I think if your happy with it. Dont spend the $$ I dont see a performance gain from mesh to pinwheel. Just my two cents. So save a couple buck there.

 

[tdawgnjlo]

Re: Skimmer Sizing

Re: Skimmer Sizing

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15075972#post15075972 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by tdawgnjlo
Mojo,

How do you size a particular skimmer to a tank+Sump volume? Is it more about tank+sump volume, or is it more about return pump (sump) flow rate, or sump volume?

Mojo,

Any feed back on quote above?

 

[rob020880]

Mojo everytime I feed I lose my foam head and it doesn't come back for several hours. Is this normal and does it happen with all skimmers ?

 

[mojo~]

Re: Re: Skimmer Sizing

Re: Re: Skimmer Sizing

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15078855#post15078855 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by tdawgnjlo
Mojo,

Any feed back on quote above?

I go by overall system volume. Although you have to feed it enough waste to keep it running. But there are some that run the water too fast through there filter. It doesnt have enough time to get all the organics out.

 

[mojo~]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15079533#post15079533 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by rob020880
Mojo everytime I feed I lose my foam head and it doesn't come back for several hours. Is this normal and does it happen with all skimmers ?

Some skimmers react a little different. It depends on the food you feed. I lose my foam head for a while too. Some even rinse their food to help reduce this. I d not. I feed and loose the foam head. Some foods like Rods actually make mine overflow.
I shut mine return pump and skimmer off for a half hour while feeding. this helps reduce downtime for me.
Mojo~

 

[Buganddoug]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15077678#post15077678 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by mojo~
NP, How many people have bought a skimmer only to get it and wonder, Oh what did I just buy. THese things are not cheap so why spend 200 to 1000 only to get something that doesnt work and have to buy something else.
Or how about those who but $1000 skimmer and are to proud to say it doesnt work as well as it should. No one wants to admit that they spent wasted money on something that doesnt perform any better than a product that cost half as much.

Mojo I am proud to say I spent good money on my Old MRC-2 skimmer and pump.
The pump I never had any problems. But that MRC-2 skimmer was a real pain in the A$$ to keep skimming it was the worst skimmer I have used in over 14 years of reef keeping.
Daniel

 

[mojo~]

things have come a long way. Thanks for your honest opinion.
mojo~

 

[vanillagorila]

I had a MRC MR-2 and I got really good performance out of it. One thing with mine is, I had to let the neck get dirty before it would start producing a good amount of NOG. My only draw back was the pump, lots of watts and lots of heat. I had to get a chiller after I added the skimmer. I changed skimmers and now my chiller almost never comes on.

 

[ryanjiang]

Mojo, a question on 24 hour skimming:

I am thinking of switching from Aquac EV120 with MAG 5 to MSX 160 with PPW on my light bioload 75G mix ( 4 fishes: 3 clown, 1 blenny). This is not out of performance consideration, my EV120 produce greatly in my tank . I have been reading a lot in MSX club thread, from the post of MSX owners (for example picture of amount of skimmate produced in how many days) and my experience with EV120, I don't expect MSX 160 to produce much more than my EV120.

The reasons for the switch is that I have to time off my EV120 at night for 8 hours due to the noise of MAG 5 and water splash sound from exit gate. My tanks sit in living room, the loud lever is OK in day but very annoying at night. I would expect MSX 160 performs quieter with PPW with on par performance with EV120.

So how important is 24 hour skimming? I have worry on DOC built-up (and conversion to NO3/PO3) in 8 hours at night, even I know that my EV120 will catch up in the morning.

Do you think this switch worth wise for the sake of 24 hour skimming?

 

[ryanjiang]

BTW, I plan to add more fishes and SPS in future, if everything goes well, it will prob. become heavy bio-load