Skimmer Help.

[doch]

Hello all....
So I'm new to this hobby, have within the last month or so set up a 90gal and am now looking into getting a skimmer going. Now in my travels I have seen the price of salesman (trusted source, btw) recomended skimmer without a pump to be about $400. When I look on E-bay I see the average price to be around the $100-ish range. Are these skimmers garbage? Am I going to waste my money buying one of this price range? Does anyone have any recommendations for a 'cheap' and good skimmer? The one that caught my eye on e-bay is called the TS-2000 Turbo Skimmer. Is anyone familiar with these? To me it looks the same as these expensive ones in the stores, but I don't know really what to look for. Any help is appreciated, thanks ahead of time.

[G1GY]

Do a search on the Aquac Remora and Remora pro. Realy good bang for the buck. :biggrin:

[mr_alberta]

Do you have a link to this skimmer? Who makes this skimmer? Take a gander over at the Buy/Sell section on this board. I believe a couple of people are selling some skimmers there.

[doch]

http://cgi.ebay.ca/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=20758&item=4348828919&rd=1#ebayphotohosting

This is the ebay link. That's about all I can tell you about it though.

[mr_alberta]

I personally don't think I would run that skimmer....

[doch]

What is your reasoning? Like I said before, I don't know what makes a good or bad skimmer. Any tips would be appreciated.

[mr_alberta]

Hi,

Sorry, I should have explained myself. A few things I don't like about the skimmer are:

1) Small reaction chamber -- assuming the reaction chamber is 4" tubing at 13" high, it isn't the biggest reaction chamber. Factor in the fact that it looks like the output of the pump is ~1/2 up the pipe, your reaction chamber really only is about 7" or so. I don't think that this is large enough to provide enough contact time to get all the crud out of the water.
2) I highly doubt that this skimmer can do 100US Gallons
3) I really don't like the powerhead driven venturi skimmers. I use to run a CPR Bak Pak and it did an OK job, but now I've used both Needle Wheel and Beckett style skimmers and those perform 1000x better IMO.
4) The skimmer has to be in sump (but that's a personal taste thing)
5) You get what you pay for (unless you DIY :biggrin:).

These are just my reasons mind you. Hopefully some of the more experienced reefers out there will shed more light on it.

[doch]

I appreciate all that info! That at least gives me a base of knowledge to start looking.

[Sushiman]

I would really encourage you to go for quality with your skimmer purchase; PM, Aqua-C, Euroreef are all great. I run an ETSS ReefDevil downdraft and I had to really modify it to get it to produce well. If I had to do it again I would have spent the $$$ on a Bullet-1 or similar the first time.

[gbeef]

wait for somthing used to come on sale, skimmers are posted often. Or if worse comes to worse get a remora pro.

[ree-fready]

Also check out Ocean Aquatics for diy skimmers that provide a huge bang for the buck.

[danny zubot]

It is said that Euroreef skimmers are the best by many in this hobby. You can buy an identicle skimmer to a Euroreef made by ASM (I think) that is cheeper only because it uses different materials. I've seen it in action and would reccomend getting one. It uses a needle wheel pump which is less maintenance than beckets nozzles and more effiecient than old ventury style pumps. Do a google search for ASM skimmers and you'll find them.

[Dabbler]

I am running an ASM G2 or G2+ or something like that. I find that it is the easiest skimmer to use and works great. Setup was easy. From what I have read on this and other forums on the troubles with getting a skimmer to work proper, I have yet to see any with my ASM. I have had it for 1 year now and it is still going strong :biggrin:

[monza]

A skimmer is a really good place to spend money in this hobby IMO it very important and makes for a healthy easier to keep reef tank.

My pics would be Aquamedics, Euroreef and ASM get as big as you can afford then a bit more, money well spent! Any skimmer I've seen for $100.00 is a joke, just something for a LFS to add on until you realize the value of a quality skimmer.

Dave

Edited for spelling sorry Bob!
Sorry for the slang my number one picks...

[doch]

Thanks al lot for all the tips guys! This gives me some good places to start my shopping.