Lets cut the Crap, The hype, and the Cash, and keep the performence

[Noober]

I bought a skimmer a while back, I didn't have all the money saved up that I really needed to. It was an eshopps skimmer I believe, it dosnt have a name brand on it, and It was like 120-150 bucks. I think it was an early prototype of the skimmer because it dosnt have several features that I still need to install on it to make it operate better that i had seen on similar models that are now for sale online, but none the less I can get a cup 2 inches full of foamy clear bubbles a day out of it if i want to. If I set it a little bit lower, I end up getting a very dark greenish black liquid out of it that is half an inch thick every day depending on bioload and on how much mechanical and chemical filteration if have setup in my sump. That being said I do need some good test kits to test for everything so I can actually watch what it does to my tank. Why would I want to spend 300-400 dollars on a skimmer if this one is pumping out foam. Will a more expensive one chop the bubbles up in a way where it will produce more foam and collect more dissolved organics than the one i have now will? Or are they Just easier to setup and use and less likely to crack or break?

Ok now on to waterflow. I have 5 maxijet 1200 powerheads on a cheap wave maker that two of the three timed outlets have alternate on/off patterns with adjustable periods of 20 seconds to three minutes. The third outlet has a double cycle of 40 seconds to 6 minutes. Anyway on the two alternate sockets, I have two maxijets, one on each side of the tank with no nozzle on them what so ever. They just shoot a stright blast across the tank back and forth. The third one is on the back wall in the middle and it has an oscallating attatchment on its output.This attachemnt is called the HYDOR FLO DEFLECTOR, it considers itself a wave making device. here is a link to one online http://www.drsfostersmith.com/produc...m?pcatid=11363

Anyway the third timed slot is in the middle of my tank and i have 2 more maxijets with these installed on them, one on the left side and one on the right side of the back wall facing the front glass.

Is this enough random flow in my tank, i notice all my polyps are always moving different directions and I cant spot any dead spots. For sps and some other corals would it be better if I had more burst patterns in the tank.

What is the difference between this setup I am using and a tunze turbelle stream kit, or a tunze wave box, or some seio superflows hooked up to a timer. I was wanting to upgrade my current flow system because the looks of my reef and I wanted a little bit higher and more dispursed flow, instead of as much of a stream, what do you guys reccomend. I have a 120 gallon starphire rimless tank, I have SPS, LPS, and Soft coral. I want to grow primarly SPS in the end though. I was considering a redsea wavemaster pro with some hydro koralia powerheads. I was looking at their new ones that are pretty high GPH and supposidly have better flow than the old ones. here is alink to the wave maker -http://www.drsfostersmith.com/produc...83&pcatid=4783

How much current is too much for a tank my size, does it all have to do with a mixture of currents so the water dosnt stop moving, or does it need calm nights, bursts, and rolling waves all mixed in. Do I need a tight burst stream or a gentle wide rolling one? Please shed some light, I spend enough cash on this hobby as is ahah! Not much room left for errors when it comes to cash~

So, should I spend a god awful amount on the tunze wave box or some seio's or keep what i got, or go with the middle grade system? I also need help designing the flow pattern in my 48 long x 24 x 24 inch tank. I can draw a picture if someone wants to help hehe . Mabe once i get more of a grasp on how it needs to be done I will see the difference in the different flow setups and why one is superior to the other. Thanks again guys and girls!