Ron Popeil Posted February 20, 2009 Share Posted February 20, 2009 im looking for a new protein skimmer. i havent researched skimmers in quite a long time and want to pull from my local pool of personal experience. my system is roughly 125 gallons. i have a heavy bioload with large anemones and hungry fish. currently im running a recirc modded ASMG4. i feel like i can do better. lets say my budget is $500. pick me a skimmer that is essentially plug and play. ideally i dont want to have to get a skimmer and mod it, or fiddle with the impeller so that it burns the pump out every year. suggestions? experiences? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chewie Posted February 20, 2009 Share Posted February 20, 2009 Buy a used ER 8-2 or bigger, a 1262, and an ER pinwheel. Other than that you're gonna have a hard time beating the G4 and have pump reliability. You need to stop by my place sometime, and check mine out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ron Popeil Posted February 20, 2009 Author Share Posted February 20, 2009 the names ive been hearing tossed around on RC are still the octopus extreme and msx? dont both of those come with mesh for modding their impellers? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chewie Posted February 21, 2009 Share Posted February 21, 2009 I think that they recently stopped using mesh and are sticking with the pinwheel. They had too many customers unhappy with the mesh. Nothing wrong with those skimmers either. I just like the reliability of the Eheim. If the extreme or MSX came with an Eheim I'd be all over it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chewie Posted February 21, 2009 Share Posted February 21, 2009 Or cough up another 2-300 and go with an ATB cone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ron Popeil Posted February 21, 2009 Author Share Posted February 21, 2009 im particularly critical of the cone skimmers. are people genuinely getting results with the design or is it just a passing fad? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chewie Posted February 21, 2009 Share Posted February 21, 2009 From what I've seen they are a great design, optimizing every LPH that they can for the low amount of electricity the pump uses. The "cone craze" is evident though. I should have a cone soon, so I'll let you know. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andy Posted February 21, 2009 Share Posted February 21, 2009 There is growing evidence (http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2009/1/aafeature2) that there's less difference between skimmers than one might expect. Spending a lot more might get you little or no improvement. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CA2OR Posted February 21, 2009 Share Posted February 21, 2009 You can check WAVES for used skimmers they have quite a few for good prices. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madmike Posted February 21, 2009 Share Posted February 21, 2009 go with a MSX extreme 250... for less than $400 shipped you have a skimmer that will skim the crap out of your 125, literally! They are pre-ordering the mini cones which will be powered by the same pumps the msx 250 for $499. The cones are definately winning the skim-offs lately when they are put head to head with traditional. I haven't heard anything about msx stopping meshing their wheels. Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chewie Posted February 21, 2009 Share Posted February 21, 2009 You can check WAVES for used skimmers they have quite a few for good prices. He works for WAVES. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CA2OR Posted February 21, 2009 Share Posted February 21, 2009 oh....then I guess he already knows about the used skimmers. Nevermind. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chewie Posted February 21, 2009 Share Posted February 21, 2009 There is growing evidence (http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2009/1/aafeature2) that there's less difference between skimmers than one might expect. Spending a lot more might get you little or no improvement. I have been reading that as well. 1 thing I can tell you is that there are HUGE differences in the way a skimmer performs. My sticking point is that I want a skimmer that does a GREAT job with little to no "tweaking" to get it to perform consistently. Shoot, I have a Red Sea Prizm that works AWESOME. But it didn't come that way from the factory. I think the recent "innovations" to skimmer designs are a good thing. I don't doubt that Protein skimming is only taking out approx. 30% of protiens in any system. I just want that 30% to be consistent. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ron Popeil Posted February 21, 2009 Author Share Posted February 21, 2009 after a bit of looking around, some of the names that seem to have the stamp of reliability are the: msx 250 octopus extreme bubble king mini 180 and there seems to be growing interest in the i tech skimmers, but i think thats only because theyre a reasonably priced cone skimmer.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andy Posted February 21, 2009 Share Posted February 21, 2009 I agree. There are some really crappy skimmers out there... necks too narrow, difficult to dial in and keep that way, etc. But based on that article, there isn't much difference between a dialed-in air driven skimmer and a beckett. And if there isn't a difference between *those* two I have a hard time accepting that there'll be a big improvement due to cones. Maybe there will be; hopefully someone tests more contemporary skimmers using the methodology. But it'd have to be a hell of a big difference to warrant the cost IMO. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.