What makes a "great" skimmer?

[Minnreefer]

We were talking about this in another thread and I am wondering what makes a skimmer great, good, bad or just ugly. I would condsider a skimmer great if it pulls out good thick junk, does not have any bad habbits like overflowing and is easy to tweak. Price for me is not the main reason, but it is a factor. I have heard that Euro reefs are very good but they are a lot more then some of the other skimmers.

Just want to know what everyone else thinks

Jon

[galleon]

1) Higher contact time = better
2) Very large difference in bubble size to total air volume mixed ratio
3) Large air volume mixed
4) Ease of cleaning
5) Ease of maintenance
6) High maximum flow rate through skimmer

Basically, a combination of elements that are impossible to find in one skimmer. So, of course there are tradeoffs. My main concerns are the first three and the last one.

[mjsandbe]

I have had three skimmers in my time. Bak Pak, Urchin Pro, and a Euro Reef.

The Bak Pak needed to be adjusted a little every day but pulled out a steady stream of thick balck gunk.

The Urchin Pro needs to be cleaned at least once a week to work well and seems to be moody in what it pulls out. In general it difinitly pulls out more than the Bak Pak could but not in a consistant way.

Euro Reef needs to be cleaned every couple of weeks and pulls out a steady black stream of crud with very little adjusting after inital setup.

In conclusion I agree with Minnreefer. Maintance/adjusting to keep the skimmer running well and what it can pull out. The Euro Reef was by far the most expensive but it is by far my favorite too.

[dirk griffin]

I have seen a lot of skimmers come and go and linger around. The best bang for the buck is the aqua medic turboflotor 1000. They are easy to use, pull the crap out, and easy to maintain. Granted a lot of them are set up with rio 2100's of which I don't have a problem with but that debate is for another thread.
There is a ocean runner pump version too, not sure how it works. I have 3, I use going on 4-5 yrs now, can't be beat for the price.

[mjsandbe]

Hello Dirk, nice to see you here I have not heard anything from Red Wing for quite some time. Any coral shipments lately? Anything soon?

[Big Dave]

The only skimmer I have ever owned is my CPR SR-6. I absoluetly love it. (except my Rio 2100 on it) I never have to adjust it, cleaning is a snap, and it pulls out some 'nice' gunk!! The collection cup has a drain tube that leads right to a 2-liter bottle. The top section just lifts out for easy cleaning. Plenty of room to reach inside the chamber and clean the sides - which I rarely do. But there is only a couple sponges and tube worms in there. I don't know many people who have one, but they work great. Bought it on ebay for $80- new. HTH

-Big Dave

[dirk griffin]

Hi Mike, there have been 3-4 boxes in since we talked, lots of nice corals available. Last shipment was early february.

[Rick O]

I have found that most skimmers work better when they are clean. I don't mind having to clean it every few days but I don't want to have to make adjustments very often. By cleaning I don't mean a complete disassembly, I thouroughly clean the collection cup and wipe out the riser tube with paper towels. In three years I've only done one complete cleaning of my Aqua C and that was because a tiny snail got through the pump and lodged in the injector.

[Krux]

i have a marine life aquatics aggressor and it is great. only tweaking i did was at setup, and i havent had to adjust anything since i got it.

i keep my immaculately clean with a large bottle brush, but probably do not need to. i dump the collection cup every 3 or 4 days and do a quick scrub with the brush and it is good as new.

good contact time, good gunk removal, no daily or even weekly adjustments, and very fast and easy clean up.

not sure on the larger models like the predators and what not, but the aggressor has 2 thumbs up from me.

[JennM]

That's why I like the Nautilus - wider riser tube = easy to put hands inside to clean, but by the way it's designed, I don't have to do that very often. Collection cup is drillable so if I wanted to attach a "remote" collection cup I could, but it has a large enough collection cup that I can clean the black goo regularly but not risk it overflowing. No nylon screws, no huge disassembly, and the cup is made of clear PVC so if you drop it it won't break. My rep even stood on one to show how durable it is (do not try that at home!).

Jenn

[thefatman]

my skimmer has a pretty small collection cup, probably holds about a cup of gunk, but it also has a fitting with a 1/4" tube going to a remote bottle.

naturally since the tank is only 4 days old, there isnt actually any gunk, but i am starting to get some foam ... how do you know when it's time to clean it? or is it just simply, when it gets black?

should i worry about that now or not until the tank is done cycling.

[Minnreefer]

The best way to know when to clean it is take a nice swig of the gunk , if you puke right away then you know you need ot clean it You will know when to clean it, you don't want it brand new clean all the time.

[thefatman]

cool!!!! but i'm afraid if i do that, i might be in the next jack@$$ movie!!

in case anyone didn't see the pathetic excuse for a movie.. in once scene the guy SNORTED WASABI...immediately began to vomit..then DID IT AGAIN!!!

[Doug1]

SNORTED WASABI??????????????????/
what a waste, they prolly cooked the fish

[Krux]

if your tank is still cycling i wouldnt bother running the skimmer for a couple weeks, the gunk that it pulls out feeds the cycle and will speed it along.