Protein Skimmers

[SBreef]

What is your opinion of different skimmers?
Who makes the best?
Who makes the "Best Bang for the Buck"?
I will be setting up a 100gal tank, with 100lbs. + live rock, 4" sand bed, minimum 30gal. sump, and a 10gal. refugium (hopefully above the main tank).
Any thoughts would be appreciated!!

Thanks,
Roy
acclaim96

[Dyncaus]

well, from my research online, i have seen that people mostly recommend to stay away from prizms and seaclones. i myself have a prizm, and as soon as i get some money i am scrapping it. since you have a sump, you probably don't want either of these anyways, since they are HOB types. from what i have read, the euroreef skimmers seem to be nice if you have the money. hopefully someone with more experience will chime in.

[manny]

Yep, I'd try out a Euroreef skimmer if you have the money Roy. I would've gone with one of them if I had researched a little more. A used AquaC is a good choice also unless you wanna go with a brand new one, which are reeeaally expensive. My used EV90 is working great!!

[ryanrichter]

Yeah I have heard that Euro reef is a very good brand but does cost quite a bit. Also, I have heard that on MAAST, someone named Matt makes one of the best.

[alexwolf]

I have an Aqua C EV-90 if you want to buy it, PM me if intereted.

[capntom]

IMHO, I believe Precision Marine Bullet 1 or 2 will exceeds all your needs. These are great skimmers, built like a tank. A Bullet 1 with a mag 12 is an awesome combo. Skimmer and pump will run you around $400. Euroreef is real proud of their skimmer and it shows in the price. www.superfishstore.com has the cheapest price on the bullet one and it's located in Austin

[RobertG]

Theres a thread going in For sale/ Trade . Check it out the guy has a Euro reef for sale. Might swing you a good deal on it . I've only had one skimmer. DAS in sump model works great on 120. Will see how it works on 240 next.

[matt]

Okay, I'll bite. The new ones are a little different, though. Cast acrylic injector housing instead of PVC, injector tube is now directly attached to the skimmer box instead of the threaded fitting. This one is 48" tall and is being used on a professional coral propagation system in Arizona.

[Richard]

I was happy with my EV120 and the Precision Marine skimmers look nice also, although I have never used one. Just saw Matt's monster over at wkopplin's place. He did not have it running yet but the craftsmanship was VERY impressive!

[capntom]

Matt, That's an amazing looking skimmer. How much water can that baby handle there .What does that blue valve near the top do? You need a wall plate back there :D

[matt]

The valve is the air inlet adjustment. I don't really know how much of a system this skimmer could handle. Currently it's on a 250 gallon grow out system with supposedly a very high bioload. Skimmer manufacturers' "ratings" are basically wild guesses, usually based on how much money people with systems of a given size are willing to spend. And, tank size is hardly an accurate representation of bioload. The most rediculous of these I've seen is the berlin's claim to be appropriate for a 300 gallon system.

[mkengr45]

All I can say is dont get a seaclone. I bought one of these without researching, and regret it. It does pull out some nasty juice but not anything like a really good skimmer would do. I have heard nothing but good things about skimmers made by "Matt".

Randy

[wkopplin]

Matt makes the best skimmers. I have a monster he made and it really works well. The craftsmanship is significantly better than any commercially made skimmer and it literally rips the organics out of the water. I would not trade this skimmer for anything. I cannot say enough good things about it. Not to mention all the help Matt gave in setting it up and making sure it worked properly, which it did from day 1. My skimmer is 55" tall and will be operating on a 500+ gallon system. I know it will be more than sufficient to handle that, especially if a Berlin can handle 300 gallons. ;)

His CA reactors are just as good as far as the quality goes.