Electrokate Posted July 13, 2011 Share Posted July 13, 2011 Dropped the pump for my Euro Reef skimmer last night and broke the impeller and shaft. It never was very good anyway so am going to replace it, but am having trouble picking a replacement. What I need is something that will not have a huge footprint, accept locally available plumbing parts/pumps (not glued on metric like the ER) and no riser tube, that thing splashed water everywhere. Prices seem much lower than a couple years ago which is good, would like to stay under 350. Tank is a 120 with 2 tangs, 2 clowns, 2 chromis, 1 anthias, i 1gramma and 4 wrasses, and probably will not be adding more fish. Mixed reef fed 2-3x a day, not going for ULNS here (:. Also I don't want something with super fragile parts as I am a klutz. So no ASM. With all the choices out there am mystified. How do you guys pick? I could go with what is on sale, what is on the PNW classifieds (saw 2 ETS downdraft skimmers recently), can't trust some other boards' advice where shills tout their employers' products... I looked at a bunch last night. Precision Marine Redline 225 is on sale somewhere, the Vertex look sorta good, the Octopus Extreme XS 200, Bubble Magus... I like the idea of the pump under skimmer for the small footprint but I don't like that it might be really hard to get the pump out for cleaning. If it's too annoying to take care of I will procrastinate. I like to go with the lowest wattage possible, too, I think the ETS skimmers need a pretty burly pump? I am going in sump as I have an aversion to leaks. So what do other people use on a 120 with satisfaction? Kate Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dustin Posted July 13, 2011 Share Posted July 13, 2011 i dont have a setup but i have researched skimmers a little bit and reef octopus seem to b really well liked and u can get one for up to 150 gallons for under 200 new i believe not sure about footprint or wattage Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NoobtoSalt Posted July 13, 2011 Share Posted July 13, 2011 I'm running a ruben bubble max skimmer on my 120 and love it. You might also look into the sxc units. Very small footprint and skim like crazy Sent from my SCH-I500 using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nate213 Posted July 13, 2011 Share Posted July 13, 2011 i dont have a setup but i have researched skimmers a little bit and reef octopus seem to b really well liked and u can get one for up to 150 gallons for under 200 new i believe not sure about footprint or wattage X2. Reef octopus are a good value and work great. The BRS group buy is coming up and you could get a deal on something like this: http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/store/reef-octopus-6-pinwheel-in-sump-skimmer.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Electrokate Posted July 13, 2011 Author Share Posted July 13, 2011 X2. Reef octopus are a good value and work great. The BRS group buy is coming up and you could get a deal on something like this: http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/store/reef-octopus-6-pinwheel-in-sump-skimmer.html That did look good but what do they mean by "metric plumbing parts"? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
impur Posted July 13, 2011 Share Posted July 13, 2011 SWC 160 cone FTW!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Electrokate Posted July 13, 2011 Author Share Posted July 13, 2011 I'm running a ruben bubble max skimmer on my 120 and love it. You might also look into the sxc units. Very small footprint and skim like crazy Sent from my SCH-I500 using Tapatalk I have seen Ruben's skimmers, they do work. What is an SXC, is that one of his? I can't find that but did find SWC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Electrokate Posted July 13, 2011 Author Share Posted July 13, 2011 SWC 160 cone FTW!!! That does look good. Do you have one? If so with the Sicce or the Atman pump? Think it would take any other pumps if I have another emergency like today? Also if you do have this, does the mesh in the impeller tend to break down? Suppose if I get a Sicce with it I can order a Sicce pinwheel if the stock impeller bugs me or breaks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
impur Posted July 13, 2011 Share Posted July 13, 2011 That does look good. Do you have one? If so with the Sicce or the Atman pump? Think it would take any other pumps if I have another emergency like today? Also if you do have this' date=' does the mesh in the impeller tend to break down? Suppose if I get a Sicce with it I can order a Sicce pinwheel if the stock impeller bugs me or breaks.[/quote'] Yes, actually i have 2!! They both have the atman pump, its does a great job. I think you could use several different types of pumps in place of the atman if you needed to, the body of the atman is identical to a lot of rio pumps. The mesh is sandwiched between the 2 needlewheels so it doesn't break down or anything. These things come completely apart, i mean every single piece comes apart. Makes cleaning SOOOO easy. They are quiet and skim great. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bill Posted July 14, 2011 Share Posted July 14, 2011 I've been using Ruben skimmer for most of my tanks and they work great and in your case if you have a 120 I think Ruben skimmer will work out good for you and they do last at least for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Electrokate Posted July 14, 2011 Author Share Posted July 14, 2011 Ruben have a website? Wondering about specs, parts, general customer service. Do not want another skimmer that takes a specially modded pump I can only buy from some guy who went out of business. BTW, anyone want my old Euro Reef or should I chuck it? Pump works but needs impeller and shaft, but it could not push the skimmate high enough to get it in the cup. Thanks, Kate Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Electrokate Posted July 15, 2011 Author Share Posted July 15, 2011 Ordered the SWC 160 cone, thanks for the tips! Will be cool to see what that does for the 120. Someone spoke up for the euroreef, yay. I was thinking of filling it with tannerite and taking it shooting this weekend (: Kate Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nate213 Posted July 15, 2011 Share Posted July 15, 2011 I was thinking of filling it with tannerite and taking it shooting this weekend (: Kate Oh please please do that and video tape it! I love tannerite. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
impur Posted July 15, 2011 Share Posted July 15, 2011 Good choice you won't regret it! I would sell the euroreef skimmer body. Its at least $50 worth of acrylic there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
impur Posted July 15, 2011 Share Posted July 15, 2011 Good choice you won't regret it! I would sell the euroreef skimmer body. Its at least $50 worth of acrylic there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Electrokate Posted July 23, 2011 Author Share Posted July 23, 2011 The tannerite deal got vetoed, but another member traded me for it and gave me some awesome corals! Apparently we are not going to use tannerite with hard plastic because it's too hard to find all the sharp bits later, unless you go barefoot. However, someone had an old feather pillow they made look like a stuffed toy, they put tannerite in that... while it did not smell too good the feathers make an awesome mushroom cloud. But don't use more than one jar or the feathers are vaporized. Kate Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
h2odvl Posted July 23, 2011 Share Posted July 23, 2011 I might take it how much you want for it? Sent from my iPod touch using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Electrokate Posted July 23, 2011 Author Share Posted July 23, 2011 Already traded the old skimmer for frags, sorry... The new one is amazing. I put it in a bin of dirty tank water I saved from a water change to rinse off any residue from the factory, and it made tons of bubbles but no foam. Thought it would need a few days. After 12 hours figured it was rinsed and moved it to a bucket of dirty tank water, again no skimmate but the cup overflowed. Adjusted it back, dumped the cup and waited. Finally was rinsing my fish food and decided to dump the juice (1 cube hikari spirulina brine + equivalent Hikari mysis) in the bucket. Before my hand was down it had skimmed a surprising amount of dark grey matter and died back down again. Now I get it, it was not skimming before because it was already done. Threw in some greenwater, same result. This thing looks small but it rocks. Tiny footprint too. Thanks for the tip, so far pretty pleased. Kate Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Electrokate Posted August 15, 2011 Author Share Posted August 15, 2011 Still happy with the new skimmer, thought I would let people know in case they are in the market... this thing does work. It did take a few days to break in and consistently perform, and it takes getting used to the air valve, which is probably not needed in most cases. I started it wide open, turning it toward the minus direction lowers the head and increases the flow of water which may result on microbubbles getting through. I guess it has applications especially as the impeller ages and gathers slime but for now it's not needed. Definitely getting revolting black skimmate that stinks up the house when I clean the cup. It is very very quiet, too. Makes the CPR bakpak on the quarantine tank and the Coralife Superskimmer on the 55 sound loud. Kate Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arredondojason Posted August 24, 2011 Share Posted August 24, 2011 i really like the aquaC EV series they pull like crazy maybe a little big on the footprint side but you plumb it and you can choose your pump as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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