skimmer
 

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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...

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:

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

Removed big @$$ pic :wink:

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-...r-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/...n-skimmer.html

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