Skimmer Q&A Thread

[mojo~]

Hey,

Ill be setting up a 150 gallon system, with a heavy bio-load and a bunch of NPS so feeding is going to be a lot..

I was thinking of getting the Super Reef Octopus 5000, would that be overkill or should i go for something smaller ?

yes way over kill, you could get away with a 2000 but a 3000 int would be a great fit. I wouldnt get the 5000

 

[mojo~]

Looking for a pump to replace two sicce 2500's on an ATI bubblemaster. I am willing to mod the skimmer to use one pump instead of two. I am seeing that bubble blaster or Askoll may do the tricl, but have had trouble finding accurate specs to know which exact model to use.

you could get two of the sicce syncra psk 1000's they would do a great job, they are much better than the older psk 2500's

 

[mojo~]

So the octo xs 160 rated up to 160g and the skimz SK181 rated up to 320g will both work the same on a med/heavy bioload 90g?

I have a hard time justifying the octo xs 160 because the 200 is only $30 more. But I would have to change my sump since the 200 is quite a bit bigger.

I can make a skimmer and rate it however I want. You have to really know about the pumps in order to size them. You can get tons of air but with out the skimmer moving much water it just doesnt rate that high. The skimz sk 181 is about the same size as a atb 840. The es 2000 pump will not move enough water for 320 gallons. the 181 will handle more than the 160. But its not all about how big it is either. If the neck is too large you will not be able to pull that much on your smaller tank. The xs 200 would work on a heavily stocked but I think it is a little on the large size.

 

[mojo~]

One question regarding the tunze. I have seen the Tunze 9010 & 9011 with and without the sump pipe kit and was wondering does it have to have it in order for it to work or can it be used without it.
What is the difference.

Anyones help would be greatly appreciated

you dont have too but then it has to sit in deeper water. consistent level is key as well.

 

[mojo~]

The bm 180 ex is a pretty good skimmer. THe pump is a cheaper atman pump. They do perform fine and are cheep to replace. It would be a fine fit for your 120. it will have a better water turnover rate than the smaller atman 2500 pumps and still pull 1050 lph of air.

good price point as well.

Now with that said the 2000 int would be good as well as the atb 840. The skimz 181 is right there as well. nice small footprint too.

 

[BPro32]

I can make a skimmer and rate it however I want. You have to really know about the pumps in order to size them. You can get tons of air but with out the skimmer moving much water it just doesnt rate that high. The skimz sk 181 is about the same size as a atb 840. The es 2000 pump will not move enough water for 320 gallons. the 181 will handle more than the 160. But its not all about how big it is either. If the neck is too large you will not be able to pull that much on your smaller tank. The xs 200 would work on a heavily stocked but I think it is a little on the large size.

Looks like I have a lot more to learn about the details of how skimmers work. Thank you very much for the help I appreciate it.

 

[TheFishMan65]

FYI our club had Ken Feldman as a speaker last week end. He researched (in what seemed a good method) several skimmers (10 or so). His finding was that the expensive ones don't pull stuff out any better than the cheap ones. I sort of got the opinion that they are only needed for air exchange. I don't know if he has any paper online, but it might be worth some research.

 

[Clownin Aroun]

Hey mojo-
I have a 120 gallon very very well stocked system currently running a coarllife 125 skimmer. I want to upgrade to the aqua ev 240 but i am hearing that there might be something better out there for that kind of money. am looking t spend around $500 but can be persuaded to spend more if it is worth it. Please let me know what you think.

 

[tehmix]

I have a 55G tank and im tryin to decide on a protein skimmer. From what i could grasp from the forums i think the Reef Octopus BH1000 HOF skimmer would be a good choice.
I noticed the BH2000 was only 20 dollars more. Would that be a better choice? Any advice/input would be appreciated thanks. I've got ~200 to spend.

Also if you would recommend maybe a different skimmer over the one mentioned above in the same price range that'd be helpful too.

 

[bamf25]

you could get two of the sicce syncra psk 1000's they would do a great job, they are much better than the older psk 2500's

Is the psk 1000 or the psk 600 closer to the old psk 2500 in performance though. I see the psk 600 is rated at 661 GPH and the psk 1000 is rated at 880 GPH. The original psk 2500 is rated 660 GPH (I have the red demon pinwheels on my pumps). So which is the better match?

I was also looking at replacing the pumps with the new bubble blaster and possibly modding the skimmer and moving over to one pump using either the hy-3000 or the hy-5000. A sales rep kinda said this was a bad idea, and said I would do better just to replace the skimmer (an ATI bubblemaster 250), but that is a sales rep trying to sell me a new $500 skimmer as opposed to selling me one $225 pump. He claimed basically any bubble blaster would overflow my current skimmer or it would run very wet. My current skimmer skims just fine, it is just loud and has startup issues. So, is it possible to mod the skimmer and use one of the bubble blasters?

 

[Falcao]

The bm 180 ex is a pretty good skimmer. THe pump is a cheaper atman pump. They do perform fine and are cheep to replace. It would be a fine fit for your 120. it will have a better water turnover rate than the smaller atman 2500 pumps and still pull 1050 lph of air.

good price point as well.

Now with that said the 2000 int would be good as well as the atb 840. The skimz 181 is right there as well. nice small footprint too.

Thanks Mojo, I think I am going with 2000 int, just hope the noise level of the pump isn't bad. I read different stories with the pump, but it does have a 3 year warranty.

 

[cougaran]

Any choices for a 300G w/ a 40 gal sump to start, later 300g rubbermaid sump(no livestock) FOWLR prob heavily stocked, poss a few corals that survive butterflies and angels..lol.. I have been contemplating a Super Reef Octopus XP 5000 EXTERNAL. A skimz was mentioned for someone else in another thread, but I'm not real sure of anything about them.

 

[mojo~]

FYI our club had Ken Feldman as a speaker last week end. He researched (in what seemed a good method) several skimmers (10 or so). His finding was that the expensive ones don't pull stuff out any better than the cheap ones. I sort of got the opinion that they are only needed for air exchange. I don't know if he has any paper online, but it might be worth some research.

I agree with him. You pay more for design features, better material and better pumps. But just because it costs more doesnt mean it will skim better for sure. A slight difference can make a huge difference though.

 

[mojo~]

Hey mojo-
I have a 120 gallon very very well stocked system currently running a coarllife 125 skimmer. I want to upgrade to the aqua ev 240 but i am hearing that there might be something better out there for that kind of money. am looking t spend around $500 but can be persuaded to spend more if it is worth it. Please let me know what you think.

A SRO 2000 int, Vertex in 180, Octo xs 200, jns sk2. Those are all great and all under budget. Take a look at those.

 

[mojo~]

I have a 55G tank and im tryin to decide on a protein skimmer. From what i could grasp from the forums i think the Reef Octopus BH1000 HOF skimmer would be a good choice.
I noticed the BH2000 was only 20 dollars more. Would that be a better choice? Any advice/input would be appreciated thanks. I've got ~200 to spend.

Also if you would recommend maybe a different skimmer over the one mentioned above in the same price range that'd be helpful too.

those would work fine I would suggest the aquamaxx h1. i think it is a little bit nicer and performs better.

 

[mojo~]

Is the psk 1000 or the psk 600 closer to the old psk 2500 in performance though. I see the psk 600 is rated at 661 GPH and the psk 1000 is rated at 880 GPH. The original psk 2500 is rated 660 GPH (I have the red demon pinwheels on my pumps). So which is the better match?

I was also looking at replacing the pumps with the new bubble blaster and possibly modding the skimmer and moving over to one pump using either the hy-3000 or the hy-5000. A sales rep kinda said this was a bad idea, and said I would do better just to replace the skimmer (an ATI bubblemaster 250), but that is a sales rep trying to sell me a new $500 skimmer as opposed to selling me one $225 pump. He claimed basically any bubble blaster would overflow my current skimmer or it would run very wet. My current skimmer skims just fine, it is just loud and has startup issues. So, is it possible to mod the skimmer and use one of the bubble blasters?

if it were meI would get 2 psk 1000's There are the psk 2500 replacement and they are quiet. the ati psk 2500's were meshed out and pulled about 800 to 900 lph of air. the newer psk 1000's pull around 850 lph of air on a pinwheel. They are more quiet and no mesh to worry about.

As far as one pump its a little harder to match the water input and air input. The bb 2000 or 3000 would both work.

 

[mojo~]

Thanks Mojo, I think I am going with 2000 int, just hope the noise level of the pump isn't bad. I read different stories with the pump, but it does have a 3 year warranty.

I have had a couple of these pumps now and they were all the same. A slight hum but nothing could be heard once I closed my cabinet door. great little skimmers.

 

[mojo~]

Any choices for a 300G w/ a 40 gal sump to start, later 300g rubbermaid sump(no livestock) FOWLR prob heavily stocked, poss a few corals that survive butterflies and angels..lol.. I have been contemplating a Super Reef Octopus XP 5000 EXTERNAL. A skimz was mentioned for someone else in another thread, but I'm not real sure of anything about them.

I would stick with the sro 5000 for now. it would be about the best bang for your buck. with this larger volume of water and wanting a external you may even consider a beckett style skimmer.

 

[cougaran]

I would stick with the sro 5000 for now. it would be about the best bang for your buck. with this larger volume of water and wanting a external you may even consider a beckett style skimmer.

Thanks!

 

[levischilz]

Im currently running a 210g with a 75g sump. I currently have a asm g3 and plan to run a medium bio load but hope to build it into a sps tank.

Im not sure if the g3 is even enough of a skimmer and currently I just had a surge protector fry and it shorted out the pump for my g3. Trying to decide to replace the pump or purchase a better skimmer for my tank.

Skimz any good? kinda of liked the 201 i think it was. Also looked at some SRO series. let me know what you guys think.