THe FAQs Of Skimmers read this BEFORE you buy one

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Jager

THe FAQs Of Skimmers read this BEFORE you buy one

Post by Jager »

Well after seeing that no one has stuck out their neck and taken the leap to do this I figured I would since I have probably used or worked with or on 70% of the skimmers in use today. As a rule all sump based skimmers out perform their HOT or HOB (HOT= Hang on Tank) (HOB= Hang on back) (basically the same thing) relatives for one simple reason. Your HOB or HOT skimmers do not come standard with surface skimmers or prefilter boxes as they may be called, and those that do are finicky ones that only work when the water is just so. A sump model gets surface scum and most waste easily as it is collected by an overflow box or the overflow/flows on the sides of the tank then brought down. Also a HOT or HOB filter performs better hung on the sump if possible since it then gets the nastier surface scum etc as well.

Rule number one. Unless using the skimmer I reference below (the air driven skimmer), Money does matter when buying. Do not skimp on a skimmer as it is one of the most vital units to a SW success story. It provides heavy waste reduction, Water purification, and keeps you, the aquarist, happier and your maintenance job requirements a lot lower, as it keeps fish healthier.

1. The counter current or air stone driven skimmer.
While this skimmer is not the latest technology nor the best technology, the right height and skimmer neck design coupled with a powerful air pump and good lime wood air stone (yep no blue or white ones got to pay for the wood for the smaller bubbles they have) the traditional Design can easily out skim any skimmer on the market below 100 dollars. Also it is the only skimmer that can be easily built by yourself and scaled to whatever size you want. While it is neither the prettiest nor the most compact skimmer it can and does out perform the seaclone the skilter and the bakpak series in its 20-30 dollar form.
If you coupled it with a tetratec deep water pump and a 4ft reaction chamber version as seen on WWM DIY skimmer, it can compete easily in the range with the aqua c remora and the euroreef skimmers for 50-100 gallon tanks. This design typically either pumps water to it and back or sits inside the tank in a corner.

2. The venturi designed skimmers.
This covers 90% of all skimmers out there except the aqua c remora which uses an air pulse style nozzle which is very effective and the euroreef which uses a similar design with several water jets. This design is limited in that most skimmers using this actually hamper the pumps power and use its impeller to mix the air bubbles into froth; most of these skimmers are not worth their cost without minor or serious modifications.

Venturi skimmers use the principles of fast moving water to literally suck air into the reaction chamber of the skimmer which is then forced through various tubing or chambers until it reaches the collection cup. Most skimmers use this technology; however the manufacturers do not use the correct pumps for them or vastly overrate their abilities to skim. Even the red sea Berlin skimmers at 150 bucks are unable to really skim without a much higher powered pump (660 gph or higher rather than the 550 recommended)
While such technology does have great benefits, it must be understood that your average venturi skimmer is really rated for around half of what it says. Examples below

seaclone 100 20 gallons 29 at most

Seaclone 150 30-40 gallons 55 at most (very low fish and invert stocking though 2 on a 55 is a lot better)

Skilter do not bother if the tank is over 20 gallons and you did not get it very cheap.

CPR bakpak one of the best venturi skimmers for smaller tanks, these guys do great on 20- 30 gallon tanks.

Red sea Berlin classic/turbo While this claims up to 250 gallons I realistically see 55 to 75 gallons. With a proper modification to a Rio 1700 or higher and or a maxi jet rated for 700 gph or so this skimmer really does begin to become powerful.

This technology in skimmers is 10-15 years old and when properly sized to a tank and doubled or modified if necessary these skimmers work great, they simply are not worth their retail pricing though otherwise. This is the mid level way to get into skimming, however being that skimmers in this category are only 50-70 dollars less than the low end of the best skimmers available I once again recommend that you DO NOT buy these unless either you get it very inexpensively, or you have a small tank that space is at a premium so outside tubing or sump is not available for air driven units.)

The venturi system is a great one for public aquariums, and is readily used in large systems where 150 GPM (gallons per minute) or more are used as the flow creates so much more turbulence that it truly can pull a lot of waste out.

3. The jet driven or combination skimmers (also the downdraft) cover the euro reef ets cts and other models as well as the aqua c remora and urchin series and the ev-120 and up group of aqua c heavy duty skimmers.
These work on the principles of forcing water and air to mix in various patented ways that increase their ability to skim. If you buy a unit too over rated for the tank it is on you can actually over skim the water and remove a lot more than you wanted to from the water. While this is hard to do it is a possibility so buy one for the tank size range you will be sticking too.

These skimmers generally are either UNDERRATED or are rated for the middle of what they can handle. While the entry into these skimmers is 150 dollars for a remora or urchin skimmer (the urchin is the sump the remora a HOB skimmer) or 250 to 300 dollars for these skimmers they pull out everything you can think of from the water. If you buy a unit rated for 100 gallons it will keep those 100 gallons as clean as possible. All the skimmers in this category are for larger tanks except for the remora and urchin series. These are the best of the best and once you own one you rarely run into the skimmer not being able to keep up with the fish you have. Only by under buying or grossly overstocking a tank does one overpower one of these.


Skimming is an essential part of a tank system. Only the miracle mud system says that skimming is not a good idea, and with their system of nutrient controls it isn’t necessary. However for the vast majority of us who keep bigger fish than they should, more fish than they should or simply hate the maintenance chores the tank demands, a skimmer helps ease the burden.

I highly recommend to you to please use this guide while comparing testimonials from actual users of the skimmers I mention. Most of this knowledge and opinions I have either learned over my 11 years in saltwater or through the complaints of numerous WWM emails about skimmers or tanks crashing, algae issues and general unhappiness over their tanks due to poor skimmer purchases or uses.

I hope this helps and if a Mod would sticky this if it’s helpful that be great.

Also if you would like the modification ideas I used on my skimmers I will be glad to pass them along.
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Post by Mek0ng »

Good articale, few things I wanted to add.

About the surface skimming / sump thing, Bakpaks and remoras and a few others have surface skimmers that you can add on. I have a remora pro with mag7 and surface skimmer, it does a wonderfull job on my 80g with 55g fuge. The problem is that they need to be adjusted daily due to varring water levels from evaporation. Also not all in-sump skimmers are better, there is plenty of crap out there.

airstone skimmers are good for the sub 20g tanks, and mostly just provide more 02 in the water. As for removing skimate they hardly do much even with mods.

Venturis are dated tech that is decent for the sub30g tanks.

Skimmers that use either needle wheel pumps or air injection are vastly supperior, such as the euroreef, precison marine, aquac and a few others.

As for the mud systems, their effectiveness is questionable at best. They have alot of flaws that are not addressed, see http://www.reefcentral.com and do a search.

Hope this helps!
Jager

Post by Jager »

Mekong did you simply SKIM the article:lol::shock: since all of your points are well coverd in the forst reply. I have cut them for easier reading since the article is fairly long for a post.
Mek0ng wrote:Good articale, few things I wanted to add.

About the surface skimming / sump thing, Bakpaks and remoras and a few others have surface skimmers that you can add on. I have a remora pro with mag7 and surface skimmer, it does a wonderfull job on my 80g with 55g fuge. The problem is that they need to be adjusted daily due to varring water levels from evaporation. Also not all in-sump skimmers are better, there is plenty of crap out there.
Ill simply cut and paste from above since i coverd that already.
Jager wrote:As a rule all sump based skimmers out perform their HOT or HOB (HOT= Hang on Tank) (HOB= Hang on back) (basically the same thing) RELATIVES for one simple reason. Your HOB or HOT skimmers do not come standard with surface skimmers or prefilter boxes as they may be called, and those that do are finicky ones that only work when the water is just so. A sump model gets surface scum and most waste easily as it is collected by an overflow box or the overflow/flows on the sides of the tank then brought down. Also a HOT or HOB filter performs better hung on the sump if possible since it then gets the nastier surface scum etc as well.
MekOng wrote:airstone skimmers are good for the sub 20g tanks, and mostly just provide more 02 in the water. As for removing skimate they hardly do much even with mods.
I disagree since any large air driven skimmer similar to the one shown on WWM DIY skimmer is great with the right pump. I had a lee 20 dollar one strapped to the biggest tetratec deepwater pump that they make (it pushes tons of air enough to filla 90 gallon with bubbles easy) on our display 90 gallon and it pulled gunk I did not know existed. The pump makes the air driven skimmer as does the lengeth of the neck etc. a well made one from lee with the tetratec deepwater pump was dead even with the aqua c remora and had a darker tint to the skim. the reason i chose it over the aqau c was 2 fold, one no prefilter box to buy extra (20 bucks) and the whole air skimmer cost 20 bucks retail here in the US and the pump cost me 50 bucks for our store so half the cost for the same skimming.... also our 800 gallon closed sytem of tanks uses 2 6 ft air driven skimmers since the only ones able to handle such a load are the 300 dollar or more euroreef ets/cts or the ev series aqau c ones... the 6 ft skimmers cost 100 a piece or less (i am counting the time to build them out of pvc piping.
MekOng wrote:Venturis are dated tech that is decent for the sub30g tanks.
Skimmers that use either needle wheel pumps or air injection are vastly supperior, such as the euroreef, precison marine, aquac and a few others.
I belive i said that in my previous post as well about the benefits of the higher priced skimmers, and the venturi only downfall being its overrated tank volumes. as for the aqua c and euro reef i gave them their own section which if read does expalin that they are the best designs.
Jager wrote: however the manufacturers do not use the correct pumps for them or vastly overrate their abilities to skim. Even the red sea Berlin skimmers at 150 bucks are unable to really skim without a much higher powered pump (660 gph or higher rather than the 550 recommended)
While such technology does have great benefits, it must be understood that your average venturi skimmer is really rated for around half of what it says.

This technology in skimmers is 10-15 years old and when properly sized to a tank and doubled or modified if necessary these skimmers work great, they simply are not worth their retail pricing though otherwise. This is the mid level way to get into skimming, however being that skimmers in this category are only 50-70 dollars less than the low end of the best skimmers available I once again recommend that you DO NOT buy these unless either you get it very inexpensively, or you have a small tank that space is at a premium so outside tubing or sump is not available for air driven units.)

3. The jet driven or combination skimmers (also the downdraft) cover the euro reef ets cts and other models as well as the aqua c remora and urchin series and the ev-120 and up group of aqua c heavy duty skimmers.

These skimmers generally are either UNDERRATED or are rated for the middle of what they can handle. While the entry into these skimmers is 150 dollars for a remora or urchin skimmer (the urchin is the sump the remora a HOB skimmer) or 250 to 300 dollars for these skimmers they pull out everything you can think of from the water. If you buy a unit rated for 100 gallons it will keep those 100 gallons as clean as possible. All the skimmers in this category are for larger tanks except for the remora and urchin series. These are the best of the best and once you own one you rarely run into the skimmer not being able to keep up with the fish you have. Only by under buying or grossly overstocking a tank does one overpower one of these.
Mek0ng wrote:As for the mud systems, their effectiveness is questionable at best. They have alot of flaws that are not addressed, see http://www.reefcentral.com and do a search.
I only added in the mud system because they are the only one out now who DOES NOT advocate skimming. whether they work or not is not the focus of this article since they dont use skimmers :lol: As for the best system for a sump I am a firm beliver after 11 years in the refugium and macro algea system and powerful skimmer mixed. This is to have the best combination of small coceopod and other invert growth and waste removal via skimmer and macro algaes in the sump.

:lol: [/b]
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Post by rainmaker69 »

On the subject of the air powered counter current skimmers, how long can one expect the wooden air stone to last?
Jager

Post by Jager »

depending on quality of the wood it is made from anywhere from 4 weeks to 12 weeks. regular dipping in vinegar will help removecalcium deposits and prolong life as well.
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Re: THe FAQs Of Skimmers read this BEFORE you buy one

Post by PetPirate »

Jager wrote: This design is limited in that most skimmers using this actually hamper the pumps power and use its impeller to mix the air bubbles into froth; most of these skimmers are not worth their cost without minor or serious modifications.
Only "needlewheel" pumps use the impeller to chop up bubbles into froth.
Standard venturi pumps draw air in after the impeller.

Needlwheel skimmers tend to be better than standard venturi skimmers -- although I am sure there are lots of duds out there.

Agreed that most venturis hamper flow -- thats how they work.

Also, I think it's odd tha tyou lump together the AquaC skimmers with large downdraft and beckett head skimmers -- the AquaCs will be decidedly average in comparison .
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Post by Jager »

well mosot people reading about skimmers are not in the situation to spend several hundred dollars on one they are going to make the mistake of buying a el cheapo knockoff and not get anything worth the money. if you aare in a position of affording a 150-+ skimmer you dont need to read this skimmer list other than to see to buya aqaua c or euro reef or other air injector downdraft etc. as for the venturi needle wheels he old scool queen t-1000 skimmers only worked well if you forced the rio 1700 to chop the bubbles and also use the venturi valve on it. I know several skimmers like the seaclone use the same idea to puree the bubbles and still dont do alot.
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Post by PetPirate »

I hope you don't think I was criticising you, I was just adding my 2 cents worth. :) . I thought everyone could chip in, no?

There are plenty of good needlewheel skimmers out there. ASM and Euroreef skimmers have a very good reputation. My point was simply that not all venturi skimmers are needlewheel skimmers.

Again wrt the AquaC skimmers, I thought it was inaccurate to group them with downdraft skimmers. They're not the same. Not even in the same league. Not sure if I get the "they're too expensive so it's OK to be inaccurate" line... :?

Reef Central has very good skimmer reviews in the equipment section. Note that a few people are switching away form AquaC skimmers to cheaper skimmers such as the Coralife.

That's 4 cents now!
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Post by Bred »

What do you guys think of using a Coralife Super Skimmer - Needle Wheel (up to 65 gallons) for a 30 gallon tank?
Jager

Post by Jager »

well i must update this list to more cover the latest craze of needle wheels that CSS puts out.

ill try to get to it soon
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Post by YBeNormal »

Bred wrote:What do you guys think of using a Coralife Super Skimmer - Needle Wheel (up to 65 gallons) for a 30 gallon tank?
The CSS skimmers are very good for the price, even if they are more than a little touchy and hard to fine tune at first. I'd go with the largest one that you can afford and that will fit in your setup, especially if there is any chance that you will upgrade your tank in the near future. I have a CSS-220 on my 55g and am very happy with it.

In-sump is recommended over HOB though since they have been known to overflow...
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Re: THe FAQs Of Skimmers read this BEFORE you buy one

Post by S&FW_FishyFriend »

What do you think of the Oceanic Biocube Protein Skimmer for a 29 gal. sw tank? It has 2 maroon clowns, snails and hermit crabs... I also have a hob filter (Whisper EX 45) and an overflow box that goes to the refugium... Is this enough?... My tank stays pretty clean, but I do have a bit of red algae growth on my Live Rock (it was there to begin with), hob filter return flow tray, overflow box, etc... Is this something to worry about?
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Re: THe FAQs Of Skimmers read this BEFORE you buy one

Post by Pufferpunk »

Is that one built into the tank system? If it skims well, then I guess it's ok but I'm not familiar with it.
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Re: THe FAQs Of Skimmers read this BEFORE you buy one

Post by S&FW_FishyFriend »

I guess it's good cause I haven't had problems as of yet. It is built to fit inside the biocube tanks, but you can use the suction cups to put on any appropriately sized tank
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Re: THe FAQs Of Skimmers read this BEFORE you buy one

Post by Brandon8521 »

Ok so i know its not good to go cheap on skimmers but I am looking at a prizm delux skimmer for my 33 gal tank for when i convert it to full sw. Its used on ebay and the bid is at 18 bucks. I havnt read anything about these on here yet unless i skipped it or something and wander if its even worth the 18?
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