[fencer]

The Skimz 202E final thoughts:

This is model is priced on the lower end of high end skimmers which doesn’t mean that it made cheaply. I found the construction made of thick cast acrylic and all the trim and finsh to be excellent. The pieces fit together well and easily. You have to glue the exit pipes in place yourself. This model is designed to be an external one, but you can easily adapt to in sump use. The footprint is as large as the In Vertex 250. The overall height is less than an ASM G3. This is very nice if you are space limited under the tank. Skimz does sell a model that is made for in sump use as well.

The input to the sump can be gravity feed, manifolded off the main pump or have a separate pump. The last two choices would be better configurations as you can regulate the amount of water passing through the skimmer. I had it off the manifold because I wanted to setup a recycle mode on the skimmer. The main pump used for air/water mixing is silent and produces a lot of fine bubbles. It runs very cool to the touch. In comparison to the Vertex the power draw on the Skimz is much lower and I would say a much better job at bubble production.

Once the skimmer is operational there is about one day break in period. After that you can easily dial in your type of skim mate wet or day via the height of the foam level in the skimmer. Most skimmers only tube adjustment to regulate the height of the foam in the skimmer; while it is possible to dial in the height it takes some effort to get it right. The plunger type valve the Skimz uses is equivalent to a gate valve. (A good mod for any skimmer) I did have to mount the skimmer a little higher than my sump because the exit stand pipes would not go over the lip of the sump. You can fix this by drilling a hole in the sump for the standpipe. Once in operation the air draw is very quiet. The air pipe is connected to a small cylinder, which acts as a muffler. It is adjustable (via a small screw) so you can regulate the air flow into the pump. This is also the port so you can introduce ozone to the unit. The collection cup holds about two litres of skimate and fits to the main body by screwing it on. Trying to clean the neck of the main body as you might have trouble unscrewing it. This is also true of the cup. Vertex’s have cups that still passively on the main body. All skimmers have drain ports in their cups. I always end up spilling some of the skimate, so I recommend a second collection cup which can be moved easily. This is one of a few skimmers I have seen a detachable diffusion plate. This allows access to the rest of the main chamber for cleaning. I was actually eyeing to mod it.


This skimmer’s competitors are Bubble King, Bubble Magnus,SWC and Vertex. These are all good skimmers, but vary a great deal in price. At this level you are truly nit picking at features and performance. See what your pocket book can take. If I knew then what I know now. I would have just shelled out for something like the Skimz. It works well and has good resale value. You won’t be disappointed. Ask your LFS for more info.