Skimmer Q&A Thread

[sirreal63]

The only problem I see with the Shark pumps is the Fisher-Price sized venturi's on them. They may be ok for a tiny skimmer with the pump inside the body and a small amount of actual water volume, but on your full bodied 6" skimmer that little venturi will pull big air and tiny water, that isn't balanced. That isn't going to be good on your body, to get the performance you currently get you need to match the pump with what Jeff uses, doesn't have to be the same pump but the air/water needs to be close to the same. The Shark pump will be ok, it is just a modified Sicce, but make sure and use your venturi as it is designed to pull the right balance of air and water for that body. I tried a bunch of different venturi's to find the one that worked best when I put the PSK1000 on the Vertex IN-180 body.

I won't have time to pull specs on these things for a while, too many projects for the weekend. In overly simple terms, match the water pull of the old pump with the new one, and make sure you can use the old venturi. Not all pumps will have the same strength so it isn't an exact science but it will be close.

 

[bernie lyons]

skimmer

skimmer

Rd has their almost $400 eheims which do perform much better vs the Eco/Sandra pumps.... Jeff does state every few months the pumps should be serviced/cleaned..... And yes they are expensive! My biggest issue with buying their stuff

If you don't want to caugh up the dough for a new eheim check out the sicce and tuze pumps listed above.


I am skimmer shopping for my tank.... Been debating for a few months and need something soon... my 10-15yr old euro reef is to small for my 475g fowlr. I am leaning towards another reef dynamics skimmer, any thoughts on their xrc750 or xrc1000? Very heavy bio load and I might add a bio pellet reactor as well to the tank thus further increasing the load.

How about a external mazzei (recirculating) skimmer that will handle up to 1000gallons with a proper recirculating pump set up? Such as this from marine technical concepts : I've seen this "puppy" in action and is the best built and best performing skimmer that I've seen.

 

[mhsmith]

How about a external mazzei (recirculating) skimmer that will handle up to 1000gallons with a proper recirculating pump set up? Such as this from marine technical concepts : I've seen this "puppy" in action and is the best built and best performing skimmer that I've seen.

My only concern about that skimmer is the recommendation that the Venturi pump be turned off several times a day in order to flood the pump and wash away salt buildup. I know placing it on a timer is an option, but it seems like an extra step and slightly complicated.

 

[phk36]

What about two skimmers ? Find the best skimmers and use two I have been thinking about this , but what are the best skimmers ?

 

[viggen]

How about a external mazzei (recirculating) skimmer that will handle up to 1000gallons with a proper recirculating pump set up? Such as this from marine technical concepts : I've seen this "puppy" in action and is the best built and best performing skimmer that I've seen.

You can keep pushing those mtc skimmers and I will keep stating I don't want a big noisy power hungry skimmer a few feet from my head in my front room We swapped Pm's a few weeks back if I recall. Nothing wrong with a good pin/needle wheel just like nothing wrong with downdraft/mazzei....

I did think about running two skimmers for my tank which could then be set for both dry and wet skimming vs just one or the other. However my take is a larger skimmer would do a more thorough job of skimming due to longer dwell time and probably be easier to adjust. Having two would allow hopefully for one to always be running when the other is down for cleaning.... For me its also room. I only have room for one internal skimmer up to 30in and have a bit more room for a external skimmer. I was thinking of the sro6000 which is 1/5th the price of the reef dynamics that I am also considering. Just worried that wouldn't be big enough for my tank and doesn't pull enough air and also have large enough of a body to work.

I am kinda leaning towards their xrc1000 which is overkill..... And would allow me to run 100% of my overflow box water directly into the skimmer. Then the exh of the skimmer would go to my fuge and sump. I figure this might be the best way to keep my water clean and fish happy. Also debating on a bio pellet reactor which would also be plumed so the exh of haven't reactor goes directly I the skimmer.

 

[bernie lyons]

mtc

mtc

You can keep pushing those mtc skimmers and I will keep stating I don't want a big noisy power hungry skimmer a few feet from my head in my front room We swapped Pm's a few weeks back if I recall. Nothing wrong with a good pin/needle wheel just like nothing wrong with downdraft/mazzei....

I did think about running two skimmers for my tank which could then be set for both dry and wet skimming vs just one or the other. However my take is a larger skimmer would do a more thorough job of skimming due to longer dwell time and probably be easier to adjust. Having two would allow hopefully for one to always be running when the other is down for cleaning.... For me its also room. I only have room for one internal skimmer up to 30in and have a bit more room for a external skimmer. I was thinking of the sro6000 which is 1/5th the price of the reef dynamics that I am also considering. Just worried that wouldn't be big enough for my tank and doesn't pull enough air and also have large enough of a body to work.

I am kinda leaning towards their xrc1000 which is overkill..... And would allow me to run 100% of my overflow box water directly into the skimmer. Then the exh of the skimmer would go to my fuge and sump. I figure this might be the best way to keep my water clean and fish happy. Also debating on a bio pellet reactor which would also be plumed so the exh of haven't reactor goes directly I the skimmer.

120 watts of power from a recirculating pump on a external dual mazzei skimmer too much power for you...just curious? It's not noisy as i've sold one to a client who also has an surround sound theater literally in the room !

 

[viggen]

That's how my room is setup.... My home theatre/front room/aquarium is all the same place.

Which pump at 120w? The rd are 120-160w depending on if it has 3 or 4 pumps

 

[bernie lyons]

pump

pump

That's how my room is setup.... My home theatre/front room/aquarium is all the same place.

Which pump at 120w? The rd are 120-160w depending on if it has 3 or 4 pumps

No , it's a blue line pump which is alot more reliable than the red dragon's ,however I would say having heard the pump next to my ear that it is no louder than say 3 rd's. Anyhow...

 

[bernie lyons]

My only concern about that skimmer is the recommendation that the Venturi pump be turned off several times a day in order to flood the pump and wash away salt buildup. I know placing it on a timer is an option, but it seems like an extra step and slightly complicated.

first off, you don't have to have the skimmer on a timer which is actually very easy to do :just plug the recirculating pump into one timer only and set it as you desire.However ALL skimmer design's including pinwheels require some form of removing salt creep out of the intake ! The MTC venturi skimmers have a "backwash" feature by turning the blue valve in the "off" position:very simple too use by the way,takes three seconds to do. Another option that is very easy is using warm tap water simply have the black air line suck up the water for a seconds and viola,all the salt creep is gone.I use this method on beckett skimmers once a week and it works like a charm ! Anyways hope this helps in solving any worries of salt creep build up.
Bernie Lyons

 

[bernie lyons]

two skimmers

two skimmers

What about two skimmers ? Find the best skimmers and use two I have been thinking about this , but what are the best skimmers ?

First of all, the best skimmers will be a "blood bath" of opinion's here because everybody thinks what they use is the so -called "best" !
Secondly using two skimmers on one system is not new as I've done this 15 years ago even with two different types (beckett & air stone)! However I strongly believe today to getting ONE darn good skimmer and be done with it !
Obviously I believe in certain types of skimmers because of my extensive knowledge being in the trade both retail and wholesaler,so I like beckett and mazzei venturi types that last a long time without having to replace "crappy" pumps and parts from china or one's custom made from italy (laguna) !

 

[viggen]

Sorry... Rd as in reef dynamics, they use eheim pumps ...

I had a blueline pump a few years ago and thought the Japanese eheim pumps were worth the money over the blue line mostly due to being quieter....however it's been a few years since I tried one so things might of changed. I could deal with the smaller iwaki pumps with a Japanese motor and if I recall they were the 20 or 30 series that didn't have the cooling fan on the pump. The ones with the fan on the pump just make way to much noise.

My only comparison between red dragon and blue line is my 12m3 which flows 2600+ gph & is silent..... 3 of those pumps running should still be silent.... Probably 8 years before that I had a blueline 40 and I used it for about a week before I yanked it.

 

[bernie lyons]

pumps

pumps

Sorry... Rd as in reef dynamics, they use eheim pumps ...

I had a blueline pump a few years ago and thought the Japanese eheim pumps were worth the money over the blue line mostly due to being quieter....however it's been a few years since I tried one so things might of changed. I could deal with the smaller iwaki pumps with a Japanese motor and if I recall they were the 20 or 30 series that didn't have the cooling fan on the pump. The ones with the fan on the pump just make way to much noise.

My only comparison between red dragon and blue line is my 12m3 which flows 2600+ gph & is silent..... 3 of those pumps running should still be silent.... Probably 8 years before that I had a blueline 40 and I used it for about a week before I yanked it.

Gotcha, the newer bluelines are certainly nicer than the old ones in my opinion, which are based on the iwaki design's. However , you would have to basically check out a current blueline 40 and see what you think. bottom line for me is reliability which alot of these pumps including what I have read on the "royalexclusive" thread lately that there are still alot of issue's with either the pumps themselves or parts of the of red dragons which fail.

 

[androidx1]

Confirmation on Sea Side Aquatics CS-5.5

Confirmation on Sea Side Aquatics CS-5.5

Hi everyone, and Mojo too of course.

I have a a 34gal mixed reef (lps and sps) with currently only two fish, possibly will increase that to 4 fish.

I am planning a 15 gallon sump/refugium, and would like to upgrade my current tunze 9001 nano skimmer to a better, more powerful unit. I was thinking of getting one of the following:

1. Sea Side Aquatics CS-5.5 (Sicce SK400 pump)
2. Sea Side Aquatics ES-5 (Sicce SK200 pump)
3. Sea Side Aquatics Hiro CS-180S (Sicce sk1000 pump) - maybe too big but tempting to get for future upgrade to larger tank (maybe 60gal)

I was leaning towards (1) because of the small footprint, and because of the mid size Sicce pump. I am open to others, but these are the ones I was looking at based on my limited space (Would like to keep the width of the skimmer chamber at 7.5" or under to maximize my refugium section.

I would appreciate opinions on using the CS-5.5 on my set-up. or any of the three options I have pointed out. Or any other recommendations for that matter. Am I in the ball park, or am I way off in my thinking of using this skimmer (especially the CS-5.5)

Also want to thank Mojo for taking the time to keep a thread like this running.......reading through this GIANT thread, shows how much time Mojo has put into it..........

Mike

 

[Stickboy97]

WOW, great thread. I'll throw my question out there.

I'm building a 180g (mostly SPS) w 75g sump. Due to this thread I have been looking at other skimmers than just RO. I was originally leaning RO DCS200INT, but now I am thinking the DC pumps may not be all that. So what would you suggest?
1) AMaxx Cone 2 or 3
2) Skimz SM201 (203 has the same DC pump as the RO)
3) Or just go with the RO
4) something else I haven't thought of in the $500 or less club
Thanks
Shane

 

[azjohnny]

WOW, great thread. I'll throw my question out there.

I'm building a 180g (mostly SPS) w 75g sump. Due to this thread I have been looking at other skimmers than just RO. I was originally leaning RO DCS200INT, but now I am thinking the DC pumps may not be all that. So what would you suggest?
1) AMaxx Cone 2 or 3
2) Skimz SM201 (203 has the same DC pump as the RO)
3) Or just go with the RO
4) something else I haven't thought of in the $500 or less club
Thanks
Shane

I would stay away from a RO and I own a SRO skimmer

I m o the Aquamaxx EM 300 would be the best skimmer in the <$500 price point

 

[Stickboy97]

I would stay away from a RO and I own a SRO skimmer

I m o the Aquamaxx EM 300 would be the best skimmer in the <$500 price point

You prefer the AMaxx EM300 to their Cone 3? Shark vs Sicce pumps? Which is more reliable? more quiet?

thx

 

[mfinn]

I'm looking to replace the 2 sicce psk 2500 pumps on my Bubble Master 250.
One of the pumps I was looking at is the Bubble Blaster 5000 pinwheel.
Another is 2 sicce psk 1000 pinwheel pumps.
Anyone have opinions/facts on which would be a better choice?

Any other pumps?

 

[ksed]

i also like the EM 300. Don't get to hung up on the cone thing. If you look at the EM series skimmers they all have a cone transition on top of the cylinder. That is more than enough.

You prefer the AMaxx EM300 to their Cone 3? Shark vs Sicce pumps? Which is more reliable? more quiet?

thx

 

[reeftivo]

You prefer the AMaxx EM300 to their Cone 3? Shark vs Sicce pumps? Which is more reliable? more quiet?

thx

Shark pumps are re-branded sicces. Both skimmers are good performers

 

[MstgKillr]

Ok... Back to choosing a skimmer again. I have a 360 gallon display tank that I'm setting up and I don't think my H&S A200 will be up to the task once the tank is fully stocked. It's going to be mostly SPS with some LPS and moderately stocked.

I'm open to all options within a reasonable price range. I'm considering a Bubble King 250 Supermarin, Deluxe, or Double Cone; H&S A300 with 3x1260 Eheims with an overall dimension of 24"x27"x31" and 12" diameter body; Reef Dynamics; Beckett style skimmer but I'm not sure of the better brands or where to purchase them.

I'm looking for a reliable, high performance skimmer that's going to last a long time. If something does break, I want to be able to get replacement parts without waiting for months. I want something that once it's setup, I don't have to adjust it daily or even weekly for that matter. I want an effective, reliable, low maintenance skimmer.