Tunze Vs Berlin

[newreefbishop]

Some of you my know Im in the market for a new skimmer, I have weighed some options and because of the size of my sump (chamber wise) I am limited. I was wondering what are the thoughts between a TUNZE DOC Protien Skimmer and a BERLIN CLASSIC?

Apart from price.....which just flat out works day in and out, without much fiddling.

 

[redbug1]

go with a deltec turbo there the best you can get for the price and berlins suck i had one and it was horrible, as for the tunze ive nver had exp[erience with one but there name speaks for itself.

 

[newreefbishop]

Anyone else?

 

[ReefWreak]

I've heard nothing but great things about the Tunzes. The berlins are supposed to be nice, but they apparently need to be overdriven like crazy to be effective. I'm having good luck with my Euro-Reef 8-2, and I had nothing but great luck with my old LifeReef VS2-2.

 

[Flamehawk]

The Berlin doesnt enen compare to the smallest Tunze DOC's. The Berlin requires a pressure rated pump to work best, something like a Mag 5 which automatically makes it consume more energy than any of the Tunze's. The triple pass feuture the Berlin has makes the inner part of the skimmer a PITA to clean. The venturi on the Berlin also requires regular cleaning as it will occlude with time and make the skimmer draw less air. You also need to add the price of the pump the the Berlin skimmer since it doenst come with one (unless you buy some type of combo). This will brng the price closer or abve other nicer skimmers.

What is your budget and what kind of space do you have? Like already mentioned above, they are much better skimmers out there.

Right off the top of my head, how about a DAS BX-1?

The pump on my DAS EX1 skimmer is the SAME exact pump as the Aquabee 2000/1 my H&S skimmer uses. Incredible little pump and even more impressive skimmers!

Hope this helps, JOHNNY

 

[truth954]

Newreefbishop ive got a Berlin Turbo you can use. I replaced it with the Deltec Turbo 1250 and it works like a champ. Like Johnny says the Berlin inside chamber is a pain in the butt to clean effectively. PM if interested in the Berlin.

Gerald

 

[gasman059]

http://www.michiganreefers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=46293

 

[bawla47]

johnny

have you used any of the DAS line at all? i heard the pumps they use is an older design to what deltec currently uses and arent nearly as good. i was looking at an h&s or deltec for a while, till i found out about DAS 5-6 months ago( im a slow saver)

 

[newreefbishop]

Well the reason I was looking at those was specifically because of the sump space I have. My return section is 7 x 12 so Im pretty limited unless I plumb it outside of the sump which I really dont want to do. I actually got my grubby little mits on the 9005 and the thing is really small, Im curious as to how well it really does. The concern now is should I drill the cup and run a hose incase it overflows.

I am also planning my growout/isolation system, which will have 2-3 29 gallon tanks plumbed to a 50 gallon sump, depending on how well this skimmer does I may get another one 9010 or something similar for that system. With that being said its safe to say the Berlin has been ruled out, but how good are these Tunze skimmers, and should I be looking at something else. I want to stay 300 and below....as small as possible, with the least amount of power draw and heat pollution possible.

 

[A.T.T.R]

go tunze... they rock. i use one

 

[A.T.T.R]

and fwiw at work iv used. the berlins on a large large system (extreamly undersized skimmer so it had plenty to pull out) and i hate it.. its better then the kent nautaulus but not much.

iv also used
coralife ss
bakpack
prizm
seaclone
sealife
and a few others

 

[Flamehawk]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9999339#post9999339 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by bawla47
johnny

have you used any of the DAS line at all? i heard the pumps they use is an older design to what deltec currently uses and arent nearly as good. i was looking at an h&s or deltec for a while, till i found out about DAS 5-6 months ago( im a slow saver)

I would never give an opinion on a product i' havent actually owned/used. Currently in front of me, i have the pump of a DAS EX-1 and an H&S 150-F2001.

The two pumps, including the needle wheel impeller are identical. The DAS is labeled "DAS 2000/1", the H&S is labeled "Aquabe 2000/1". They both draw 38watts. Remember, aside from this Aquabee 2000/1 DAS uses, Deltec and H&S also use other size Aquabee, im pretty sure they use the 2000 on their smaller skimmers as well.

Hope thi shelps, JOHNNY

 

[ReefWreak]

That external DAS that Gasman linked looked pretty sweet, and if you don't have in-stand room, you can use it externally as it's an external recirc anyway.

I bought my 8-2 with an upgraded pump (didn't know that when I bought it) for something like $260-280. It's a great skimmer, and it pulls out more than my LifeReef did, but the lifereef was a simpler skimmer, as it just worked, regardless of the water level and such.

 

[Bullredchaser]

Berlins are about as bad as a skimmer gets.Most of my customers that had them pulled less than a cup a week on systems larger than 100 galons.They blamed it on there system being clean.However after the customer was convinced of switching where amazed how a good skimmer on there system pulled sometimes up to a galon in the first couple of days.So much for there system being nutrient poor.Funny thing is the Berlin skimmer is the number 1 sold skimmer in the World.As far as Tunze they offer lack luster performance IMO.In the World Most Beautiful Aquariums book I used to take care of the 500 gal in Key Biscayne which was using two of the larger Tunzes and an Eco System refugium.I used to work on the tank once a week with PASSA and the skimmers usually had less then a 1/4 of cup of gunk.The tank was fully stocked but was dependent mostly on the refugium and Miracle Mud for filtration.We had no room for a decent size skimmer so at the time we swapped them for two G1X ASM skimmers and was amazed at the difference of output.I say this because the ASM G1X skimmer is a very basic skimmer with lack luster performance.IMO Tunze makes great effecient pumps but the skimmers are not work horses.