Whats the better skimmer?

[Starry]

Looking for a skimmer under $400 for a 180 gallon. Out of the following, whats the better skimmer?

- Eshopps psk200
- Skimmz sm161
- Vertex in-250
- Bubble Magnus nac7 cone

Currently running a vertex in-100 on my 70, its ok, but I'm on my second pump, and find it needs tweeking all the time.

Thanks

[dsaundry]

My vote would be the BM

[outacontrol]

Have you thought about SWC?
I think you could get a SWC Xtreme 180 cone for around $400. I bought a 160 recently and love it. Really quiet and seems to work really nice.

[gregzz4]

Watch out for the pump on the SWC 180...do some research
Apparently there's a problem with restarts and you may need a needle-wheel mod

Good reviews on the Skimz

[dsaundry]

Hated my SWC. :cry:

[outacontrol]

Watch out for the pump on the SWC 180...do some research
Apparently there's a problem with restarts and you may need a needle-wheel mod

Good reviews on the Skimz

That problem was apparently a bad batch of impellers has been resolved. My 160 restarts every time, I tried it many times to make sure.
There is threads on Reef Central about the skimz being hard to adjust and also about some other problems.

[gregzz4]

That problem was apparently a bad batch of impellers has been resolved. My 160 restarts every time, I tried it many times to make sure.
There is threads on Reef Central about the skimz being hard to adjust and also about some other problems.
The 120 and 160 use a different pump than the 180
Like I stated, do some research as the info is out there

[Myka]

I have SWC 120 (Atman pump) and 180 (Sicce pump), and they both start up no problem. I put the Red Devil needlewheel impeller in the Sicce as soon as I bought it. I'm not familiar with the BM or the Eshopps. I would pick the Skimz over the Vertex, but I think an SWC is a better bang for the buck. Compare the air input and power usage when you compare skimmers.

[intarsiabox]

I have a SWC 200 that uses the same sicce pump as the 180. I had a ceramic pump shaft fail on me after 10 months but SWC sent me a new right away and no problems since. Mine always restarts without any issues. SWC skimmer bodies have no seams and seem to be overall well made.

[fishytime]

I would choose either the BM or the vertex......

[KevinK]

ever considdered the SHARK SK line of skimmers, I have a SK5 and works flawless, perfect adjusting, cup removing and all.

neatly and sturdy put together and price wise, you can easy buy a bigger model, for the same as some other brands.

[beginnersluckpg]

They make a few that would fit tur price range and the ones with the bubble blaster pumps work great.

[Hustler]

Im sold on Becketts.... Hands down.....430 lbs live rock.... 1 week later and a good cleaning.... and now i can tell when i put my hands in the tank just by looking at it LOL

[cale262]

Looking for a skimmer under $400 for a 180 gallon. Out of the following, whats the better skimmer?

- Eshopps psk200
- Skimmz sm161
- Vertex in-250
- Bubble Magnus nac7 cone

Currently running a vertex in-100 on my 70, its ok, but I'm on my second pump, and find it needs tweeking all the time.

Thanks


I've owned the sm161, the nac 7 and the vertex. The skimz sm161 was by far the best in quality and performance making it my favorite of the three.

[RuGlu6]

The best skimmer will be the one that utilizes a pump that pulls more air, something like 1200l/h or more.
Will be silent, reliable and easy to clean.
Look for Hero cone series with Eheim pumps, or skimmer with bubble blaster pump.

[Starry]

Anyone have a gen 3 vertex 250? narrowed it down to the vertex or the skimz. the vertex are solid skimmers, just a little too loud though. bb pumps cost about 1/2 the price of the skimmer itself.

[RuGlu6]

bb pumps cost about 1/2 the price of the skimmer itself.

Yes, and there is a good reason for that.
Don't make same mistake that many of us did by wasting money on worthless equipment that has nothing but promises.
Anything that will draw less then 600 l/h of air is not worth the time and money.
Like some one mentioned on here that "its the pump that makes the skimmer"
Look at Red Dragon pumps or ANY pump that pulls anything more then 1000 L/H air, it is significant portion of the skimmer price. If manufacturer does not say how much air skimmer pulls stay away from it.
jmtcw

[Lampshade]

I have the Sicce 2500 pump with the red devil pinwheel on my ATI BM200, the same pump as the SWC. I will definitely confirm the terrible restarts. But... the pump pulls in tonnes of air(1000 L/H), it's old as hell and works great with little to no maintenance, it's energy efficient, and dead silent. So in the end... how often do you turn off your skimmer? The only bad thing about it is that if I'm out for a few days and the power goes out then back on during that time, I won't be there to restart my skimmer, probably toasting the pump.... but it's $100 instead of the $400+ red dragon and also impossible to happen if I never get to go away for the weekend :P.

[coreyskylar]

I replaced my Nac-7 with a vertex 180
And the Nac-7 was the better skimmer.
The onlything with the Nac-7 was the needle wheel impeller would break very often,other than that it was the best skimmer I ever owned.

[RuGlu6]

I replaced my Nac-7 with a vertex 180
And the Nac-7 was the better skimmer.
The onlything with the Nac-7 was the needle wheel impeller would break very often,other than that it was the best skimmer I ever owned.
PL 900 concrete adhesive from Home Depot will make it sometimes instead of very often

[mat20040]

Just bought vertex alpha cone 250 today from J and L
ill give you feedback soon

[fishytime]

Yes, and there is a good reason for that.
Don't make same mistake that many of us did by wasting money on worthless equipment that has nothing but promises.



yes but see, thats what you are doing by buying a skimmer in this price range......it is really a lesser of the evils......... if you want a skimmer that doesnt break, doesnt need modifying out of the box, is made from truly quality materials, is quiet, then you have to pay for it......you are simply not gonna get all of that from a $500 skimmer rated for 200g

[no_bs]

yes but see, thats what you are doing by buying a skimmer in this price range......it is really a lesser of the evils......... if you want a skimmer that doesnt break, doesnt need modifying out of the box, is made from truly quality materials, is quiet, then you have to pay for it......you are simply not gonna get all of that from a $500 skimmer rated for 200g

Roger that one. Bit the bullet on a H&S 200. 4 years, same pumps, same impellers. Never any restart issues, quiet, powerfull. Once a week, i loose my cookies cleaning the cup. Well worth the money.

[Reefer Rob]

Interesting thread. I had a $1200 skimmer on my last tank and didn't really see the value in it. I'm still not sure that skimming is all that important.

I'm looking for a skimmer in this price range for my new setup. From the reviews people give, you wouldn't know there were so many problems with them.

I was thinking of the Super Reef Octopus 1000, what mods will it need right out of the box? All the reviews seem to be positive, but I want to be careful. Lately I feel $300 is a lot of money to put into an aquarium item.

[Lampshade]

Rob, check out this on the rusting screws :S (stolen from a RC thread, sorry the pic is HUGE)
http://drfeuer.com/adam/fishtank/rust1.JPG

Seems like a good skimmer though, not sure if they fixed that issue, searching for the skimmer brought up great reviews, searching for the pump brought up some problems.

I'm a big supporter of buying used stuff, lots of people upgrade leaving good stuff behind, I got my skimmer for dirt cheap, and it works great.

[Myka]

narrowed it down to the vertex or the skimz.

I think these two skimmers are comparable in cost, but not in ability. Most people have heavily stocked tanks, some people have medium stocked tanks, and very few people have lightly stocked tanks. I really think manufacturers need to take that into consideration when sizing their skimmers. Over-rating skimmers just makes the skimmers look bad when you have 90% of the clientele running a skimmer that is too small for their tank.

I haven't personally used a Skimz yet, but after looking at their design and specs many times I think their volume ratings are rather out to lunch. Take the one you're looking at, the SM161. Skimz recommends this skimmer on a tank 500-1200 liters (130-315 gallons). Like holy crap, way to narrow it down! Long story short, I think this skimmer is better suited to a typical 150 gallon reef tank. At only 780 l/h air intake, it just is not capable of handling a bigger tank imo.

The Vertex, although not as blingy as the Skimz, will perform better. Yes, they are noisy, like EuroReefs. They are essentially a EuroReef knock-off. It is a trusty design, works well. However, the noise is not from the pump (that's quiet), it is from the air intake. I noticed awhile back that SWC sells air intake silencers separately, and I wonder if you could stick one on the Vertex? I wonder how much a silencer would affect the air intake too. Anyway, the Vertex IN-250 pulls in 1020 l/h of air. I think a typical 200 gallon reef tank would be the top end of the ability for this skimmer.

The Vertex in-250 pulls in 23.5% more air than the Skimz SM161. The Skimz is also about $30 more. I don't think the Vertex and Skimz are comparable by price point. I don't think you're making a fair comparison. If you could shell out an extra hundred bucks for the Skimz SM201, that would be a much better choice than the SM161 for your 180 gallon +sump system imo. Don't get me wrong, the Skimz are nice skimmers, but comparing a Vertex to a Skimz is comparing different price points.

[Reefer Rob]

Rob, check out this on the rusting screws :S (stolen from a RC thread, sorry the pic is HUGE)


Seems like a good skimmer though, not sure if they fixed that issue, searching for the skimmer brought up great reviews, searching for the pump brought up some problems.

I'm a big supporter of buying used stuff, lots of people upgrade leaving good stuff behind, I got my skimmer for dirt cheap, and it works great.

Thanks, thats good to know. A trip to the marine store for some 316 screws should take care of that.

Still hoping to find a dirt cheap used good skimmer. Otherwise come Boxing Day...

[Myka]

Thanks, thats good to know. A trip to the marine store for some 316 screws should take care of that.

PM any of the CoralVue peeps on Reef Central and they will send new screws for free.

P.S. Why did you have to quote that big @$$ pic?! :lol:

[Reefer Rob]

Does that mean the rust problem has been fixed for new skimmers?

Removed big @$$ pic :wink:

[Starry]

I belive the vertex 250 gen 3 is sposed to be quieter as they attached the air intake to the wedge pipe as seen here: http://www.goreef.com/Vertex-IN-250-Internal-Protein-Skimmer-In-Sump.html Looks like they have also got rid of the 90 after the pump, before the skimmer body, and lowered the bubble plate. After a little more looking around, I may actually go with the in-280 if I go the vertex route, its 6" shorter. Will see what boxing day prices bring.

What are your opinions on this one? http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/store/products/protein-skimmers/bubble-magus-protein-skimmer/bubble-magus-bm-nac77-cone-protein-skimmer.html

Mindy, The tank will actually be a custom (Im thinking) 150 gallon (72x24x20) with prob a 75 gallon sump.

[beginnersluckpg]

The in sump cone 2000 is a great skimmer pulls 1000 l/Hr of air like the big boys do an is only 450.00. No restart issues on mine so far pump is fairly quiet and it pulls nasty stuff, just my 2 cents but sounds like it would foot your bill. About 5 minutes to set up and doesn't need any mods, gate valve comes with it....... it's plug n play

[Myka]

I belive the vertex 250 gen 3 is sposed to be quieter as they attached the air intake to the wedge pipe

What are your opinions on this one? [BM NAC77]

Mindy, The tank will actually be a custom (Im thinking) 150 gallon (72x24x20) with prob a 75 gallon sump.

Ohhh, I thought your first post said 180 gallon...? I like the dimensions of your proposed 150. Nice dimensions to work with.

The new design for the air intake looks interesting on the Vertex. Should be quieter I think. I wonder if it would clog up from salt spray...?

I'm not familiar with the Bubble Magus skimmers, but I like the look of the design. It appears to be recirculating which is always a good thing. The air intake is nice. The Atman pump is cheap, and is the same as on the smaller SWC skimmer. Doesn't bother me any (I have one). It looks like a good skimmer for the price.

[Starry]

Does say 180. my bad. when looking up other 6' tanks i look up 180s as not many 150s out there. i do plan to have many fish in the display, however im partial to smaller fish. mabey 1 tang.

[lapdog2020]

Look up aqua c ev 180 I have one and gave up my in 250 and this new 180 has totally out pro formed the in 250 best skimmer I ever had 100% j and l has it just check it out and you also can find it on you tube.


Sent from my iPod touch using Tapatalk

[Starry]

'Nother change of plans. added the Super reef Octopus 3000 internal to the list of choices.


The octo draws 55 scfh which is over 1500 lph and draws 40 watts.

[SeaHorse_Fanatic]

Personally, I like the extra height of the 180 vs. the 20" height of the 150s. Sometimes I still miss the 29" of my 210g that I sold off but I don't miss the wet armpits.:wink:

[mojo~]

The vertex in 250 is pretty tall and the skimz pumps are yet to be proven.

I would look sro 3000 int or the JNS sk5. Both of those would be perfect for 180.

I have had pretty much everything out there and can tell you, you will pleased with either one of those two.

Mojo~

[George]

The vertex in 250 is pretty tall and the skimz pumps are yet to be proven.

I would look sro 3000 int or the JNS sk5. Both of those would be perfect for 180.

I have had pretty much everything out there and can tell you, you will pleased with either one of those two.

Mojo~

hey Mojo, welcome to canreef. Hope you can come here often.
I have a sro 3000 int on my 180G. Although I am generally happy about it, I sometime feel it's a little under power for a 180G tank. I don't have space in the sump otherwise I would go with a sro 5000.
BTW, some early discussion about rusty screws in bubble blaster pumps. That issue has been fixed. If you have older BB pumps, you can email jeremy@coralvue.com to get some replacement screws.

[Interior_Reef]

Having used all the skimmers listed, i would say Vertex is the better.
SWC is a close second.

[Starry]

Went with the vertex 280. boxing day sale.