the "What kind of skimmer should Brian get" thread

[hansmatt]

Ok, it's been a bit quiet here recently, so I'll assume everyone is staring deeply into their tanks with visions of new frags dancing in their heads? We'll how about helping our friend Brian figure out what kind of skimmer he should get. He didn't ask for help, and none of us are actually contributing to the fund, and he may already have a new skimmer for all I know. But for those of us with smaller tanks, and that means all of us (including you Jason), we sometimes have to live vicariously through the tanks of others. We all have different likes, dislikes, wishes, and deepest desires.
Guidelines...Brian's new tank will be approximately 220g, plus sump & frag tank. Though the actual water volume will be less from rock & equipment, I figure it's safe to say the volume will be around 300g. Keep in mind that Brian is starting from scratch, so he has to have some money left over to actually fill the tank with rock, light it, and maybe get a few fish and frags too. Yeah, a Bubbleking 300internal would be sweet, it may not quite be realistic. oh, and the Seaclown 150's won't do either.

My suggestions...Reeflow Orca 250, or ATB Medium with a Laguna Airstar pump. I know I just blew the budget, so maybe an Octopus PRO 300 with the Askoll pump would be better?

[condiman]

I would go with the orca 250 gold series or the Bubbleking as well. Another one he may want to look into maybe is a ASM G3 I have had great luck with mine.

[jakecaps]

Octo or bubble king would be what I would want

[taminate]

Just run like 5 or 6 seaclone 150's HAHA. Or better yet, we can all buy houses around jason and just plumb into his skimmer!!LOL

[Jrmass]

It's my skimmer (hugs his skimmer).

Personally I did a LOT of looking at skimmers before I got mine *thinks about the wasted hours spent looking them over* and I can say that everyone that I talked too said that on a system my size that anything less than an ASM G4+ would not cut it sufficiently (new they run roughly $400 *can't remember if that was w/ or w/out the sedra 9000 pump or not*). He could always look at an insump recirculator MRC (this is what I was seriously concidering for myself when I was looking). Otherwise, I was on a waiting list for one of the MSX 250's *but, didn't end up waiting the 2 months it would take to get mine in* this unit is run by dual Sicce PSK-2500. *again the cost is around the $400 mark (which is less than he paid for his octopus skimmer). He could always talk to spazz about a "payment plan" on a Volcano lol. *all you'd have to do is take out a 2nd mortgage to pay for it Brian!*

=)

Jason

[hansmatt]

Don't think spazz is in business anymore

[pogodzib]

The Reeflow ORCA is one of the skimmers that I was very temped to get last time, but I went with the HUGE Octo instead. This time around, I may be trying out a (cough) ......

Well, lets just wait a little longer and see what everyone else suggests.

[hansmatt]

glad you are taking this in stride Brian!

[condiman]

If you go with the orca get the gold pump upgrade you will be amazed at the differance that will make

[taminate]

What about a Coralife? Heard good things from the people that have them.

[taminate]

I'm sure I wont hear the end of this one!!LOL I also like my Prizm pro very much!!

[D.J.]

hey brian....you might wana have that cought looked at.....sounds nasty!!! LOL

i dont know about them corallife ones......i was lookin at one yesterday while i was out and about.......looks kinda cheap.....and not to mention the one i looked at was rated for 200g for $170?? i gota ear full on RC when i mentioned thinkin about getting one of them when i first got into sw.......


i just started reasearching skimmers more and more now that im going to be going to be upgrading my system an i myself like the MRC and the BUBBLEKING......not sure what ill end up with yet.....the cpr may be runnin on the new tank while im shopping around if i cant find something by the time i get the tank.....

[hansmatt]

The EuroReef skimmers are actually very good for the $. They don't have the cone, and mesh is a consumer modification, but for $2-300 you can get a very good skimmer for a normal sized tank. Marc (melev's reef) is a moderator on RC, has a great site, and is HUGE in helping educate people...he runs a big ER skimmer with great success. The big $ skimmers have better quality build, sometimes quieter/more energy efficient motors, but probably don't do 5x the skimming job for 5x the price. That being said, I'd love to get a BK mini because of the quiet pump & small footprint.

[D.J.]

im talking to a guy in the cities that has a euroreef 80 that im thinkin about...ive heard good things about them and he has a good price on it....comes complete and he only used it for a few months....

[hansmatt]

I have a 5-3, older model, but a bit bigger than the 80. For the right price the 80 is good. You can do a mesh modification that will really make it rock!