Skimmer. Sick of it

[Bmgrocks]

Have a Coralife Super Skimmer65 on a 29
its fine, but everytime i top off, i have to twerk and tweak.....half the time its producing skimmate and then its not

its redicilous.....i had to tweak and mod it before i put it in my tank..like an hr after i got it...

familiar with the break in period, but its unreliable.....

Don't want to spend a whole lot of money, because i don't have too much lol..... but what do u think of the CPR Bak Pak skimmers, it looks like the same build of the AquaC Remora....are they just as good....they are also in my price range....

 

[Crackerballer]

Everyone I have talked to has recommended the Bak Pak. I plan on getting that for my 40 gallon.

 

[sir_dudeguy]

while i would not put one on a 40g tank, i think it would be a fine skimmer for 29. Never had one, but thats what i've read from a good number of people on here.

But no, they are not just as good as the remora. They're a bit different i believe, but either way...remora is better. I have a remora and recommend that over any other HOB skimmers if you can afford it. I couldnt afford a new one so i bought one used off of someone on here for like 70+ shipping.

 

[Poorcollegereef]

I know it is tough but buy the better skimmer first because you will waste the $ on cheaper products until you finally buy the right skimmer. I would also look into a tunze skimmer as well. I know it is difficult to ration this out but "the bitterness of cheapness lasts long after the sweetness of price is forgotten"

 

[Doglover_50]

2 things--I have a bak pak and a Super Skimmer (125 on my 70g) and I like both.
However, here is what I've found with my super skimmer. You must top off the tank to the maximal level, adjust the flow, then do NOT touch it again. If you adjust it as the water drops, when yo top off it will flow like crazy.
Also, it's a very sensitive skimmer and you will notice that when you feed the tank it will bubble over (a bit) for up to 30 minutes--but the bubble over quantity is not a problem.
Hope that helps.
Finally, here is the level I would recommend---when you fill up the tank, adjust the skimmer so bubbles are 1/2 way up the inner tube in the collection cup.
I've found that my skimming drops to a problematic level but ONLY when I don't top off daily--if I keep up with topping off, the skimmer works fine.

 

[charlesgage]

Auto top off will solve your problem.

 

[J-Bass]

Keep an eye out for a used Remora. I see them go for cheap on e-bay. Do the wet paper towel over the inlet trick to quiet it down. There's a thread or two on here about it on here somewhere.

 

[Grey Reefer]

I have a Remora on my tank now and it sucks. Here are the Skimmers I would get for that tank. From least to most expensive. Deltec is the best

D&D typhoon $68
Octopus BH-100F $150
Deltec MCE300 $280

 

[sir_dudeguy]

i would like to know how the remora sucks grey. I've had mine on a 55. Did great. Had it on my 40 breeder...did great. And now have it on 29 and again...still doing great.

What pump do you have on it and what size tanks were you using it on? And if i may ask, what was the flow in that tank (like how many times turnover, and was it heavy flow or just a couple areas getting all the flow)?

 

[lgoins]

just get an auto-top off then you don't have to worry about the level fluctuating. This is the same situation for every skimmer.

 

[vsnsofadrgn]

i just sold my remora, i honestly wasnt as happy with it. i just dont think it performed to what i expected.

i just got the css 65 and im having problems getting it adjusted to work properly. any sugesstions?? (sorry to hijack)

 

[FLricordia]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9282167#post9282167 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by charlesgage
Auto top off will solve your problem.

Agree. Solves many problems, especially variations in salinity & ph.

 

[hammerswinger]

Remoras will skim poorly if you let the pump get dirty. The pump needs a bi weekly cleaning to skim at optimum levels. I have owned both a remora (have 2 now) and 2 bak paks plus a prizm and some others and the remora workks the best.

 

[kzooreefer]

i have the bak-pak 2 on my 15 gallon nano and it works great. bought it for $117 at the lfs. i took out the bio-bale media in the return chamber to keep bacteria from colonizing it. also recommend some type of bubble trap, i cut down the external one cpr sells to fit in my tank better and it still works. it is just a cup that the return flows into and then the cup over flows into the tank. there were also some issues i had with initailly getting the collection cup set right to produce skimmate but i did a mod with a coralife limewood airstone and now i just leave it alone and it works great, no more tweaking.

 

[herostar]

I've got the Bak-Pak 2R on my 10g and it works great. My buddy used it on his 29 for a while and it made his tank look much better. I ended up using a rubber band to hold the collection cup in place, but besides that it's been nothing but helpful.

 

[Domboski]

I also had a Aqua C Remora that was terrible!!! From what I was told, the performance may vary because they are hand made?????? Weird if you ask me. I was told that after I upgraded the feed pump and that didn't help much.

Sorry, I have no better alternative for a HOB. I went to external skimmers (mostly ETSS).

 

[Poorcollegereef]

really, no hang on is going to do as well as a quality made sump or external skimmer. Thats the trade off within the skimmer world.

 

[oldreefer76]

Tunze Nano Doc less than the Remora and will outperform it many times over

 

[Bmgrocks]

vsnsofadrgn

to answer ur question...on UR CSS

i had to use the small 1/2" clear tube to connect the rio pump to the skimmer intake, so that the two are touching eachother. It creates a stronger flow

The Rio Pump is almost too low in the tank to be used successfully, but by using the 1/2" vynl tubing, it increases the power and suction

I also cut my Outake tube, that goes into the Bubble trap, because it was simply too long. my outake is only about 1/2" now into the Bubble trap

Hope these adjustments help. The CSS takes alot of tweaking but im still learning from it..

I'll have to take the advice of not tweaking it every time my water level falls, and keep up on my Top Offs but

when it works smoothly, it really works

 

[vsnsofadrgn]

thanks for the reply. ive attached some pics for some help. (i also posted a new thread in the reef section). i just got this thing and i really dont want to have to send it back to dr f and s. ive read some awesome reviews, thats why i went with it. i just cant seem to get it tweeked right.... its either too wet or too dry it seems.

(on the remora, i found that by cutting the tubing as short as it can go and still attach the pump, it preformed better)