Skimmer Q&A Thread

[RGibson]

Tunze

Tunze

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.

Tunze will have a large exteral skimmer late this year,12in dia -24in high and you can clean the cup and you do not have turn the skimmer to do it.

 

[n-kleine]

alpha skimmers

alpha skimmers

I honestly never cared for the alpha's. Just not that well balanced. The 250 is huge and is too big. The 200 model is the best balanced of the group of alphas. That wwould be a better bet over the 250 for sure.

I had the first 250 that came into the us and then a 170. Had many issues. with both. They have made improvements. Just too large of a neck and too small of a body for my liking.

To start I enjoy reading your reports on products Mojo. I was looking through this thread and found negative and false information. I have used Deltec, ATB, Super Reef Octopus and others in my 11 years in this hobby. By far the Royal Exclusive Bubble Kings and Vertex Alpha cones are better built, quieter and out perform the brands listed above. I now own an Alpha 170. What balance are you referring to? The picture speaks the truth. This is after cleaning the cup just 5 hours before. If the neck is too big why does my Alpha work so well? Why buy less quality when you can have a bubble king at a similar price? Just my opinion. Thanks.

 

[mojo~]

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.

the skimz is good as well as the SRO3000. The octo xs 250 and the aquamaxx am 250 would be a great choice too.

I would ditch the g3 and upgrade

 

[mojo~]

To start I enjoy reading your reports on products Mojo. I was looking through this thread and found negative and false information. I have used Deltec, ATB, Super Reef Octopus and others in my 11 years in this hobby. By far the Royal Exclusive Bubble Kings and Vertex Alpha cones are better built, quieter and out perform the brands listed above. I now own an Alpha 170. What balance are you referring to? The picture speaks the truth. This is after cleaning the cup just 5 hours before. If the neck is too big why does my Alpha work so well? Why buy less quality when you can have a bubble king at a similar price? Just my opinion. Thanks.

Dont really care to debate this as I have over and over already. But I can say that they have made soem improvements on the pumps now to help dial them in. The adjustable venturi was not available when I got the first ones to hit the US. The 170 pump used to surge a lot and the 250 didnt pull enough air to fill the neck. The adjustable venturi now allows you to balance it out to meet your needs.

I see in your pick you have a foam head. same results can be made at a cheaper price. I do like a well built skimmer. The alpha's did have some improvements to be made when they first came out.

here is a picture of the alpha 170 next to the atb 840. the neck is much bigger on the 170. Not a huge issue but the bases are the same. This means the 170 requires more air to fill the neck. Something it did not haveat first. Even now it hsa to run more turbulent than a 840 for example

Now I did get it to skim for me but I had to make my own venturi tube and mods to get it too work. here is my 170 as well after some machining

here is the 840 on the same tank

bk mini 160 runs well too I really like it as well..

and just for fun here is a BM NAc 7

All pull great.and range from $200 to $900. It about balance of the pump to the body and neck to the tank load.

My opinion is still the same. I still think there are better options. Thanks for sharing.

here is a video of the 170 when I first got it and you can see it surge.



here is another video of how the water comes out where the airline went into the tube. Now I was able to make something to correct this.



now grant it. I had one of the first ones in the US but as you can see. I did have legit issues.

Glad you like your skimmer. Thats all that really matters anyway.

Mojo~

 

[n-kleine]

Thank you for all the research you do. I did not find it hard to set this up at all. It seems to have more options for different installations. I had issues with the first ATB I had. Thanks for the explanation on neck size but it seems aimed at larger tanks. Anyway I love this skimmer so far. I think the mods they made fixed all the issues you had. Maybe you should try another review. Thanks again.

 

[Clownin Aroun]

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.

I think that the SRO 2000 or the JNS SK2 would be the best fits out of those however i am curious as to why you did not mention the AquaC ev 180? Which of these three would you run and for what reason?
I only have a height of 25 inches to work with otherwise i would love to run the aqua ev 240.

If i am going with the super reef octopus i would like to maybe go to the 3000, is that going to be really overkill? My tank has 20 fish and lots of coral, softies, lps, sps and a huge nem.

 

[mojo~]

I think that the SRO 2000 or the JNS SK2 would be the best fits out of those however i am curious as to why you did not mention the AquaC ev 180? Which of these three would you run and for what reason?
I only have a height of 25 inches to work with otherwise i would love to run the aqua ev 240.

If i am going with the super reef octopus i would like to maybe go to the 3000, is that going to be really overkill? My tank has 20 fish and lots of coral, softies, lps, sps and a huge nem.

the 3000 will actually pull less for you than the 2000. you would be hurting yourself IMO.
The 2000 is more than enough. I would not got to the 3000 until you have a 180 display. The 2000 int or xp would both be great.

I didnt suggest the ev 180 because they are noisey imo. Not as fine tuned as the newer skimmers. Big steps up to the neck where a smooth transition is wanted. just a bit dated.

 

[SunkAA]

Hey Mojo I have read a ton on your skimmer reviews and have enjoyed it thoroughly. I purchased an ATB Elegance 200 Pro for my 90 gallon, the thought process was that I am heavily stocking the tank (planning on SPS mainly) and thought that the skimmer would be a good choice for that. I am now thinking that this skimmer may provide for some rather inconsistent performance (which is what I am currently seeing in my low bioload state of things as my tank matures). Should I consider moving "down" I guess would be the term, and pick up an ATB 840 2.0? BK mini 160/180? There's just not a whole ton of information from user feedback on the Elegance 200 to see how people are mostly utilizing it for me to tell. I am not getting very much skimmate and have a lot of turbulence below the bubble plate. Thanks for you help.

 

[levischilz]

Mojo do you think the sro 5000 is too big? I have the room. The skims seem to have huge bio load ratings in compare, I think the 201 internal was saying something like 500 ish g but that seems bloated.

 

[Offshore357]

Mojo,

Or anyone that may have this skimmer.

Would you have the air pull number from the SRO 2000int running at the rec. water level (not the pump spec number)?

Thank you, -JOHN

 

[mojo~]

Hey Mojo I have read a ton on your skimmer reviews and have enjoyed it thoroughly. I purchased an ATB Elegance 200 Pro for my 90 gallon, the thought process was that I am heavily stocking the tank (planning on SPS mainly) and thought that the skimmer would be a good choice for that. I am now thinking that this skimmer may provide for some rather inconsistent performance (which is what I am currently seeing in my low bioload state of things as my tank matures). Should I consider moving "down" I guess would be the term, and pick up an ATB 840 2.0? BK mini 160/180? There's just not a whole ton of information from user feedback on the Elegance 200 to see how people are mostly utilizing it for me to tell. I am not getting very much skimmate and have a lot of turbulence below the bubble plate. Thanks for you help.

the 840 is about perfect size for your setup. the elegance is too large really.

 

[mojo~]

Mojo,

Or anyone that may have this skimmer.

Would you have the air pull number from the SRO 2000int running at the rec. water level (not the pump spec number)?

Thank you, -JOHN

I have had a couple and they pull 40 to 44 scfh depending on the body of the skimmer it is attatched too. On the 2000 in it will pull about 40 to 42 scfh

 

[mojo~]

Mojo do you think the sro 5000 is too big? I have the room. The skims seem to have huge bio load ratings in compare, I think the 201 internal was saying something like 500 ish g but that seems bloated.

I would stillgo with what I suggested. The 5000 I think will be a little large after it gets caught up on your system. You would be happier with the 3000 long term.

 

[thornious]

Mojo,

Newbie and my first post to the forum. I am new to saltwater and trying to avoid making another costly mistake. I am trying to determine what protein skimmer to use and I have read a majority of this thread and it is quite informative. Now if at all possible I would like to stay under the 300.00 mark, preferably under 200 but that may not be an option.

Right now I am starting 75 gal with live rock and plan on using an old 20 gal as a sump. I have not placed the baffles in the 20 so space is still available. The biggest issue is it must fit under the tank. I was hoping that I could find a skimmer that would sit outside the sump and only the pump would be in the sump. Any suggestions?

thanks
Rich

 

[Offshore357]

I have had a couple and they pull 40 to 44 scfh depending on the body of the skimmer it is attatched too. On the 2000 in it will pull about 40 to 42 scfh

TY!

Wow, sounds like a lot of air for a 6" body. Do u think it is over powered?

-JOHN

 

[biecacka]

hey everyone i have a custom geo built skimmer on my 220 and im curious where ppl are keeping the water level in the skimmer to maximize the gunk pulled
corey

 

[RGibson]

call George

 

[biecacka]

i will he lives 20 minutes from me i was just online and thought id ask while here
corey

 

[cykenp]

Hey Mojo!

Thanks for all your efforts and input!!

I am starting up a new system that will total up to 200gal in capacity, so with BRS rock/sand, it should roughly be 175 maybe? Looking to stock med to heavy load. Will be running biopellets.

My first choice was the Octo Xs 200, but don't know if it would be enough or if I should move up to the octo Xs250? The other skimmers I was considering was the Skimz Sk181, Vertex IN250 or SRO XP2000. What do you think? THanks!!

 

[BPro32]

Ok, now looks like I may be picking up either a 120 or a 150. What is a good "budget" skimmer for either of these? I'm thinking an octo xs200 but what are other options? I can spend about $300.