Cali Kid Corals

What's the new latest and greatest skimmer nowadays?

Vincerama2

Vincerama2

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I have a bunch of ancient skimmers. Wifebane runs on an AquaC EV-120. It seems OK, but for a tank of Wifebanes size (180) and the fish it hold, I am maybe, possible, kinda thinking of upgrading to a better skimmer. However space is limited in the "sump" (ie; the plastic tub that is my skimmer section).

The EV-120 is OK, but I think it should be more full of crap than it typically is.

So might as well ask who is using what skimmer and what are the cool kids using nowadays?

I'm not expecting that skimmer tech has advanced much since I bought the Aqua-C (at the time it was AquaC or EuroReef as the top of the heap), I mean ... they make bubbles and gather crap, but maybe skimmer design has changed to be more efficient. The AquaC is equivalent to blasting a garden hose into a bucket. It works, but maybe something works better ...

Thoughts?

V
 
I'm curious to know too. Shopping for a skimmer rated for 200g or 300g tank. Quiet efficiency is a priority. Are external skimmers better than in sump?
 
They are the same. My EV-120 can be inside the sump or outside, but I run it in the sump because my philosophy is to do everything to protect the floor. So if the skimmer leaks, it'll leak into the sump. However, it obviously takes a lot of space.

V
 
I know they did cones, inverted "champagne glass", etc, not sure how muich those help. They got bubble plates, pumps under the skimmer, some don't have any pipes for the return. DC pumps seem to be a big thing too, not sure if they are actually any "better" than AC pumps, although it seems they pull more air per watt so in that sense are useful, useful to press feed mode if necessary.

Now whether the newer ones are any better than the older workhorses, I don't know. Pretty stay away from the Chinese knock offs (Bubble Magus, whatever Fish-Street sells, etc) and you'll be in pretty good shape. The really are high end (priced) skimmers and mid range skimmers (all around the same cost) and the super cheap things (stay away from those). Now whether something like a Vertex or Bubble King skimmer really is better than say a Reef Octopus, Skimz or other mid ground skimmer of the same rating I could not tell you.
 
Not that I'm looking to spend money, but the Coral Vue Reef Octopus seems to be rated quite highly, it's like $220. Or if it fits,t he larger version rated (guesstimated) for over 200g.

Meanwhile, I'll see if I can tune my AquaC better.

The problem is that I think my fish crap too for the tank and the corals are not amused.

V
 
Not much as changed in skimmer design. Important details would be pump brand/type, how much contact time there is and support.

I like skimmers with external pumps vs skimmers with pumps inside the body if I have the room.

These allow for ease of maintenance and repair as well as maximum contact time.

I have been using a Bubble Magus Mag5 on the 40b for about 4 months and it's been doing great. A little finicky to dial in and sensitive to changes in the water. If you are going that route, I would look into the SSA versions with Sicce pumps.

Not a big fan of RO. Have tried a few and still have a 150SSS on hand. They seem less reliable (had a few pumps go bad quickly) and noisy.

Another brand to look at is the Aquamaxx line. Various sizes n designs. Ran a CO1 briefly and liked it. Was way over sized for my system so I traded it.

Skimz has a good reputation n following as well. BRS is supporting the brand.

I'm sure I'm missing a few others


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I run AquaMaxx ConeS CO-1 and I have been happy with it, my only complaint is the silencer can sometimes fill up with water and can creates the water to be higher in the skimmer so it overflows. Now this issue that I have is also created by me due to the placement in my sump to be able to fit. (That will change when I get my new sump installed.)
 
Following with great interest. I, too, run an Aqua-C (EV-180) with a Mag pump and think it should be pulling out more gunk. I like that it is in my sump in case of overflow but do not love that its auto waste collector overflowed, permitting water to leak in my stand. I discovered last week that a fitting on the skimmer body had an air leak which was preventing proper adjustment so maybe that had something to do with it.
 
Well since we're sharing, I run a ATi Bubble Master 250 (not Bubble magus :D) it has 2 of the Sicce pumps. Not sure ATi even makes skimmers any more, but the pumps are nice, although they can be a bit finiky to restart which is my only real complaint. I would love to upsize to a DC skimmer personally, but it's one of those things that I can't justify the expense when I got a skimmer that works. I think if the pumps die though I'm going to use a DC skimmer pump and just plug one of the intake holes (or make it recirculating)
 
If you need something to fit in tight quarters then I'd look at the Aquamaxx line. If not, then I'd take a look at the Vertex skimmers. BK if you have money to drop, but otherwise, I'd stick to those two to start out with.
 
I also run a AquaMaxx ConeS CO-1 and it works well. I'm considering a change to the octopus or vertex mainly because realized that I don't like the pumps under the skimmer body. This design works well for smaller sumps, but getting to the pump for maintenance and cleaning is more work than if it was on the side next to the skimmer body.
 
Well, while I decide if it's worth it or not, for a new fangled skimmer, I did some tune up of my AquaC. I cleaned out the gunk filled feed like from the pump to the skimmer, cleaned up the pump's nominal "filter" (more like an anti-fish cage, which, come to think of it, I could just remove. But most importantly, I removed the injector (ie; pinched plastic tube) and noticed it was almost blocked with hardened crap. After knocking it all loose, and cleaning everything up, the AquaC is pulling a lot of "wet green skimmate", and making a great deal of bubbles (depending on how I adjust the air).

We'll see if it can keep up or not with the tank. In the meantime I'll look up those skimmers you've mentioned, though I'm wondering if new and better is really better at all.
However, power efficiency of the pump may be a deciding factor.

The AquaC EV-120 uses a Mag5 pump which uses 49 Watts/hour ... so a skimmer with a more efficient pump would what I'm targeting.



V
 
Vhuang168 said:
Not much as changed in skimmer design. Important details would be pump brand/type, how much contact time there is and support.

I like skimmers with external pumps vs skimmers with pumps inside the body if I have the room.

These allow for ease of maintenance and repair as well as maximum contact time.

I have been using a Bubble Magus Mag5 on the 40b for about 4 months and it's been doing great. A little finicky to dial in and sensitive to changes in the water. If you are going that route, I would look into the SSA versions with Sicce pumps.

Not a big fan of RO. Have tried a few and still have a 150SSS on hand. They seem less reliable (had a few pumps go bad quickly) and noisy.

Another brand to look at is the Aquamaxx line. Various sizes n designs. Ran a CO1 briefly and liked it. Was way over sized for my system so I traded it.

Skimz has a good reputation n following as well. BRS is supporting the brand.

I'm sure I'm missing a few others


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Click to expand...

The 150SSS is one of the ones I was considering... bad pumps and noisy? Hmmm....
 
The classic 150sss does not come with a silencer. That is an optional part. The pump is an Chinese ac pump. It gets louder when gunk builds up.

It is a copy of the RE Mini Bubble Kings. These come up for sale once in a while.


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