Skimmer .Reasons for price.

I've been reefing since the 90s, ime which goes with the 2 ,50 gallon garbage cans full of cheaper equipment and dead coral skeletons, it it incalculabley more inexpensive to go cheap, as you will inevitably be replacing equipment and animals with sub standard stuff, also quality equipment is quiet. That alone is worth the difference for me . good luck. zsu
 
I went through a bunch of cheaper skimmers for the same reason you are thinking - they all do the same thing. I decided on my latest go-around to get a good skimmer used, and holy crow I will never go back to a cheap skimmer.

I used to have a SeaClone 150, then went to a SRO-1000int for my 40B system (65ish gallons total). Night and day difference in performance, quieter too. The bubbles were a lot finer, the time to start sucking crud from the water was drastically lessened, and it's still running like a champ 3 years later. BTW "used" meant it was already nearly 3 years old and is still running the original pump. I upgraded my 40 to a 75, got a SRO3000int for that system and brought the 1000 to work. I was running a brand new BM Curve 5, which was okay, but the 1000int ripped the water apart and really cleaned things up fast. I thought the 5 was doing a decent job.

Note to self: NEVER BUY CHEAP SKIMMERS AGAIN. Suck it up and get a good used one if you have to. But my next skimmer will be a new high-class model. I learned my lesson.

Once upon a time, someone once told me "Experience is the one thing you can never get before you need it."
 
In the long run you always end up buying the more expensive option, particularly for skimmer. Because skimmer is such an important gear for successful reefkeeping. Before you foame me...yes i know some people do have nice skimmerless tanks.
Its like buying tripod in photography. It is always recommended that you buy the most expensive tripod that you can afford. Because if you start with a cheap one even though you could have afforded a more expensive one, then you will most certainly end up with few useless ones over a certain period of time.
 
I setup a tank yesterday with dry rock and new water. The rocks were rinsed and there is no sand in the system, it's bare bottom. You should see the black crap a Bubble King Super Marin 250 pulled out within an hour. We skimmed wet and need to empty the collection cup. I've tried a lot of skimmer in the last 10 years. The more expensive ones perform better. I am not saying that a super reef octopus and a knock off of that won't do the same. however a bubble king (probably the most expensive) will outperform the rest and knock off's of it.
 
Years ago, a study was done that showed that the best skimmers could only remove about 30% of the DOC's from our tanks. While I would like to see current test because everyone making skimmers has made advancements in technology OR in pump. Some like LifeReef and MTC haven't changed a bit, but because of better pump options they are easier to dial in and get them rocking. Others like octopus and aquamaxx have taken good body styles and decent pumps to get a pretty solid skimmer. Then you have ATB and Bubble King, two of the best quality built skimmers out there and the pump on the BK is amazing. It is so easy to dial it in as the DC pump can be changed in 1 watt increments.
That being said, they all perform roughly the same I would imagine, some have better build quality in materials and or better pumps. Some are more durable, some are prettier, and some just flat out work. I believe with a skimmer we should buy the best one we can afford, whatever that may be. At the end of the day it is a pretty important piece of equipment in our systems and ease of mind is nice to have.
Another thing to keep in mind is the rating of the skimmer and its "actual" ability. I feel like most better skimmers try to rate their skimmer modest to accurate and not ove rinflate it's ability. This makes shopping for a skimmer easier on the consumer.


Corey
 
biecacka said:
Another thing to keep in mind is the rating of the skimmer and its "actual" ability. I feel like most better skimmers try to rate their skimmer modest to accurate and not over inflate it's ability. This makes shopping for a skimmer easier on the consumer.
Corey
Click to expand...
It's kind of like setting a clock 30 mins earlier than the correct time so you will be sure to get up early enough for an appointment. There is always that computation that needs to be done to get correct time
Why is it that to correctly size a skimmer for a given tank one needs to compute the real capacity by doubling the manufacturers suggested capacity?
 
For the most part you do get what you pay for. However, in reefing, I've found a lot of things are priced high because high has been the norm from day one, therefore people expect high, and the companies aren't going to change because they don't have to.
The number one reason any company charges a lot for an item is: Because they can.
The second: Because the consumer will pay it.

I rarely buy new equipment anymore because of this. I just can't afford to. And what I do buy new I usually buy off brand. But, there are a few critical things in this hobby that I just won't take a chance on, so I buy new and get a warranty.
 
tkeracer619 said:
No two tanks are the same. Can't label a bio load based on gallons.
Click to expand...
Sure you can. The bio load is limited or allowed by the size of the tank. There is a ratio between the tank gallon capacity and the bio load.
Now to put the horse before the cart.
The designers know what ratio their skimmer can process
That ratio is what the skimmer size is based on and the consumer should not have to calculate what will work for their application.
 
Pumps, proprietary modified parts, R&D, materials, labor, profit margins and import fees. Some use more expensive and higher quality equipment. Some companies cut corners to meet price points, and some use the cheapest parts and material they can find. Then there is branding, brand name recognition and marketing involved. Marketing departments will throw curves in all that so that you don't always get what you pay for. You really have to do your homework and use your brain before making a purchase these days.
 
I've got a coralife skimmer 65 modded and it works great. Just depends on how u have it dialed. 100 bucks on Amazon. 30 for the mods


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
I would recommend reading Feldman, et al, research. A couple interesting things is skimmers are pretty much the same, the skimmer industry for aquariums does not use any metric to show what thier skimmers are doing and none are good at removing the TOC (Total Organic Carbon) that occurs in aquaria. Here's the links below (the first parts of the articles can be intimidating describing some of the mathmatical models used for the research and I skip past them). Research is giving us a much better picture of the role of DOC (Dissolved Organic Carbon) on reefs and it's influence on the microbial processes the are beneficial to corals and it's influence the processes that are detrimental to corals. Best place to start is Forest Rohwer's "Coral Reefs in the Microbial Seas".

Bacterial Counts in Reef Aquarium Water
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2011/3/aafeature

Granular Activated Carbon Pt 1
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2008/1/aafeature1

Granular Activated Carbon Pt 2
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2008/2/aafeature1

Total Organic Carbon Pt 1
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2008/8/aafeature3

Total Organic Carbon Pt 2
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2008/9/aafeature2

Protein Skimmer Performance, Pt 1
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2009/1/aafeature2

Protein Skimmer Performance, Pt 2
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2010/1/aafeature

Skimmate Analysis
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2010/2/aafeature
 
Very good stuff Tim. Thanks for posting it, ; but disappointed to see at best, a skimmer can remove only around 20% of the TOCS
 
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