Skimmer Q&A Thread

[Mark426]

Vertex are just to touchy for my taste. Nyos is a better choice in that price range...IMHO.

 

[MadsDK]

hello there!

I am looking at a new skimmer for my 80 gallon tank. I have been sugested to buy the BK mini 160 as it is a reliable and high efficient skimmer. But now i have noticed the coral box d500 and d700 skimmers wich are DC driven and much cheaper. I dont mind spending a lot of money on a good qualitative skimmer, as long as it is worth it. But is the bk skimmers still considered the king of skimmers?

best regards Mads

 

[shred5]

hello there!

I am looking at a new skimmer for my 80 gallon tank. I have been sugested to buy the BK mini 160 as it is a reliable and high efficient skimmer. But now i have noticed the coral box d500 and d700 skimmers wich are DC driven and much cheaper. I dont mind spending a lot of money on a good qualitative skimmer, as long as it is worth it. But is the bk skimmers still considered the king of skimmers?

best regards Mads

You really need to decide which way you want to go..
You just listed one of the most expensive skimmers and best to one of the cheapest.

The BK mini 160 would be perfect skimmer and BK is still top of the chain.

I do not like many cheap skimmers.

If you want to save a little bit of money and still want higher end you could look at ATB and Deltec. With Adam at Battle corals selling Deltec I can expect good things form them again.

If you want a lower price I would look at RLSS skimmer they still build a high quality and very well performing skimmer. Best bang for the buck skimmer.

 

[beaverspork]

I am in the process of setting up a 40b with sump. I am in the market for a "reasonably priced" skimmer that would be effective and would be able to handle possibly a 120g to 160g tank in the future. Is it too much to ask? Any recommendations? I used AquaC in the past and liked their products.

Thank you!

 

[shred5]

I am in the process of setting up a 40b with sump. I am in the market for a "reasonably priced" skimmer that would be effective and would be able to handle possibly a 120g to 160g tank in the future. Is it too much to ask? Any recommendations? I used AquaC in the past and liked their products.

Thank you!

Yea that is pretty far apart.
Go with a Aquamaxx CO-1. Pretty cheap in price and they sell pretty easily latter.

AquaC Skimmers are pretty old and can use a update, they require pretty power pumps.. Worked well but they are just not as efficient as some skimmers nowadays.

 

[beaverspork]

Yea that is pretty far apart.
Go with a Aquamaxx CO-1. Pretty cheap in price and they sell pretty easily latter.

AquaC Skimmers are pretty old and can use a update, they require pretty power pumps.. Worked well but they are just not as efficient as some skimmers nowadays.

Thanks Dave, I will look at them. I was looking at Reef Octopus, Bubble Magus, and Eshopps, but it seems they have a lot of mixed reviews

 

[travis9791]

Help me decide on a skimmer

Help me decide on a skimmer

I posted on a separate thread and then found this one. figured I might get more feedback here


DT=150
sump= 30
eventual heavy bioload expected, maybe future size upgrade.


My current available choices are

simplicity 240 dc new=200 1 year warranty on pump 2 on housing
reef octopus int 150 new= 200
reef octopus sro 2000int used 200
Asm g4 used 225

I really like the power usage and footprint of the simplicity. However they are new and I am not finding A lot of reviews.

The SRO 2000 int seams like the next best option. However I am worried about it being used. Not sure how long the pumps last.

The ASM g4 seams good but will require major sump modification and draws the most power.

The reef octopus 150 seams nice but is the lowest rated skimmer.

 

[jason2459]

If you go with the simplicity may as well get it cheaper as its the jebao line relabeled. I would skip it.

Reef Octo classics are safe.

The sro line has some balance issues but the 2000 the least issues and is solid.

ASM line are basic but performers. And if you go that route I would get one modified from seaside aquatics as they are distributors for them now and swap out the pump with a much more efficient a day reliable sicce pump.

 

[travis9791]

Thanks for the input. I scored what I think is A good deal on a good skimmer. I picked up a sro 2000 int with neck cleaner used for 225. My only issue is getting the skimmer to the 6" recommended water depth with the added height of the next cleaner. Has anyone had any luck running these deeper. The only way I can get mine at 6" is to either not use the cleaner or change my baffle height.

 

[jason2459]

I would change the baffle height. You maybe able to push it to 6.5" but the SRO line does much better in the shallower water.

 

[ReefK]

Hello there,

Need your suggestion, Have a DT & Sump combined volume of 150g. It is moderate to highly stocked FOWLR tank. Will be moving to a Reef tank in future. I am planning to upgrade my skimmer. What is your recommendation between Reef Octopus NWB 150 or NWB 200.

Apart for the volume difference. NWB 150 is fitted with Aquatrance 2000s pump which I guess is the updated model and the NWB 200 is fitted with OTP-3000 (Hailea). I know Reef Octopus updated it to Aquatrance 3000s pump but I am not able to find that here.

Please suggest what is the best option to go with, NWB 150 or the NWB 200. If I go with NWB 200, is the OTP-3000 pump reliable or is it having issues. Will I be able to upgrade to Aquatrance or BB in future. Or should I stick to NWB 150 as it has the latest pump.

 

[jason2459]

Between those I'd go with the 200. I want to say you can upgrade the pump but may need adapters. Submit a ticket at coralvue.com. they are pretty good at answering questions like that and letting you know your options.

 

[unseen_clone]

Having a hard making a desicion on a new skimmer. I will be needing a skimmer to handle 200g total volume SPS dominate. My current choices are vertex vx200 alpha or Octo elite 200int. Can you guys give me any feed back or insight please?

 

[Drae]

Having a hard making a desicion on a new skimmer. I will be needing a skimmer to handle 200g total volume SPS dominate. My current choices are vertex vx200 alpha or Octo elite 200int. Can you guys give me any feed back or insight please?

What size display? Don't buy a skimmer off of your TSV. Think of it like this. Let's say you have a 100 gallon display heavy stocked but you you have another 50 actual gallons in your sump ( just hypothetical numbers) that sump volume essentially turns your 100 gallon heavy stocked to a 100 gallon medium stocked tank. There's no calculator to determine this but it makes sense if you really think about it. Buy a skimmer based on your display and bio load.

 

[unseen_clone]

What size display? Don't buy a skimmer off of your TSV. Think of it like this. Let's say you have a 100 gallon display heavy stocked but you you have another 50 actual gallons in your sump ( just hypothetical numbers) that sump volume essentially turns your 100 gallon heavy stocked to a 100 gallon medium stocked tank. There's no calculator to determine this but it makes sense if you really think about it. Buy a skimmer based on your display and bio load.

The display is 150. 48x30x24.

 

[Mr.C]

What would be the best skimmer choice for a Red Sea Reefer 250? Planning to keep a pretty heavy stocked tank with mostly lps coral.. Maybe some SPS as well. I (she) would like it to be as quiet as possible also.. Haha

 

[Drae]

The display is 150. 48x30x24.

If it were me I'd stay away from that vertex. It's too big and would require an extremely large bio load to skim consistently. The numbers and size of that reef octopus sounds perfect but personally I'd stay away from the skimmers with Chinese DC pumps. That's just my opinion on those DC pump skimmers. Out of those 2 you mentioned I'd go with the reef octopus. It would perform more consistently on a 150 gallon tank.

 

[Buzz1329]

Yea that is pretty far apart.
Go with a Aquamaxx CO-1. Pretty cheap in price and they sell pretty easily latter.

AquaC Skimmers are pretty old and can use a update, they require pretty power pumps.. Worked well but they are just not as efficient as some skimmers nowadays.

Hi Shred5,

I have a 4 year old 75 gallon heavily stocked (mostly SPS with some LPS) reef tank. I have been through 8 skimmers so far (including RO, SRO, Skimz, and Aquamaxx) and none have done it for me. So I am now looking at the Deltec SC1350 from Battle Corals. Do you think this skimmer will work for my tank? If not, what would you recommend?

FWIW, the only skimmer that has EVER met my expectations is the SRO 3000INT running on my 180 reef tank. I tried the SRO 1000INT and 2000INT on my 75 and the results were awful -- no skim to overflowing skim but not much in between.

Thanks,

Mike

 

[shred5]

Hi Shred5,

I have a 4 year old 75 gallon heavily stocked (mostly SPS with some LPS) reef tank. I have been through 8 skimmers so far (including RO, SRO, Skimz, and Aquamaxx) and none have done it for me. So I am now looking at the Deltec SC1350 from Battle Corals. Do you think this skimmer will work for my tank? If not, what would you recommend?

FWIW, the only skimmer that has EVER met my expectations is the SRO 3000INT running on my 180 reef tank. I tried the SRO 1000INT and 2000INT on my 75 and the results were awful -- no skim to overflowing skim but not much in between.

Thanks,

Mike

Yea I tried a SRO on my 75 and it overflowed.. A lot of the skimmers for smaller tanks are just putting out to much air and become touchy and over flow. The other issue is its very easy to oversize a skimmer on a smaller tank and you end up with a skimmer that skims for a while and shuts down for a bit. People think just because it stopped producing skim-mate they want to turn it up.. Once there is more nutrients the skimmer over flows because it is turned up to high..

I know Adam personally and he would know more about the Deltec line.
I always liked Deltec skimmers but I do not know the new line well enough to make a suggestion on the right size..
Thinking about stopping over and checking the new line out. That skimmer looks like it might be about the right depending on load.
The next size up seems to be a big jump in ratings for only 150 l/h air more. Seems to be some odd gap there.

I had a RLSS R6-I on my 75 and it did very well.. The new model is supposed to be even better.

The Mini Bubble King 160 is expensive but would be a perfect fit.

 

[Boggs]

Hello, my vertex in-100 gen 1 pump took a crap this week, looking to replace skimmer or just the pump. Skimmer wise Leaning toward the reef octopus 150 classic or Aquamaxx co-1.