Aqua C or ASM skimmer

Z

zoa_king

ok. I have spent last two weeks reading up on this. i can not make up mind. Please help.

I have a 150 gallon mixed reef heavily loaded(60% sps 40% lps/soties/clams). I have a G3 connected right now with Sedra 5000. it skims OK. I was looking at replacing it with either G4+ or aquac EV-240 with mag 18. any suggestions which will do a better job...
 
I wouldn’t personally recommend either of the skimmers you listed. IMO, the ASM skimmers are cheaply built and the Aqua C skimmers were never really all that good. If you’re open to suggestions, you should definitely check out the entry level Octopus skimmers. They are very reasonably priced and from my experience, perform quite well. here are two examples of what I'm talking about:

http://www.saltysupply.com/Reef-Octopus-NWB-150-Protein-Skimmer-p/oc3501.htm

http://www.saltysupply.com/Reef-Octopus-NWB-200-Protein-Skimmer-p/oc3502.htm

If you plan on light stocking (fish wise) you could probably get away with the NWB- 150, but if you plan on stocking/feeding heavily I would spring for the NWB-250. I have a service acct (I do aquarium servicing) that has a 135g reef with 7 medium sized tangs and a few other smaller fish that has the NWB-250 and it has handled it flawlessly.

Hope that helped,
 
Thanks Acroreef. Finally some response....I was looking at ASM and Aqua C 240 also for space considerations. Maximum height can be only 26". Also, the tank is coral heavy with very less fishes. I have a ASM G3 right now and does the job. Am looking to upgrade for better SPS coloration.

generally it is recommended skimmer rated for 3 times the tank size for SPS heavy tanks. Reef octopus is DDNW 250 and above should probably suffice but it will not fit in my sump. Any other recommendations.
 
Well I had an EVC240 Protein skimmer and it was a great protein skimmer. That being said, if you want to upgrade, I would go with a protein skimmer with the newer technology of pumps. The EVC240 requires a pump that pushes about 1800GPH or more to run real efficient. That pump will be aprox 140watts or more and will probably produce allot heat. Like a MAG etc.

The new protein skimmers use like sicce, askoll, or red dragon pumps that are energy efficient about 40 watts or less and out perform anything from EVC. They create very small microbubbles by pulling air into the pump into the chamber which will usually have some type of bubble trap. I would reccomend something of that nature if you looking for a more efficient skimmer and you want to see a big increase in performance.

The skimmers that acroreef reccomended are good, but I would step it up to their Extreme Models if you want an increase in performance and better skimming.
 
i would look at the reef octopus extreme 160. it uses a sicce pump and has a 8x10 foot print since the pump is located under the skimmer
 
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