skimmer suggestions

D

Double M

Hey all,

I have a 55 gallon and have started keeping simple sps. I have a very small sump (roughly 10 gallons of water volume) that currently holds my small fuge, cpr bakpak skimmer, and return pump in three sections.

I have a minor problem with diatom/dino around my new frag trays, but my nitrates and phosphates are showing under 5 ppm and 0 respectively. I have decreased the photo period slightly and still change 3-4 % of my water 2x week.

I've been wanting to upgrade my skimmer but have very limited sump space, so I need a hang on back or something with a very small footprint (less than 6" x 10").

I'm also wanting to get the best bang for my buck, without breaking the bank.

Do any of you have suggestions about a good model to meet those criteria?

I've done some research and read that aqua C remora, coralife, and advanced acrylic excaliburs are good in terms of performance for a decent price, but thought I'd yield to the experts here before further research.

Thanks,
 
Get the Coralife Super Skimmer 65. If you hook a very small air pump up to the air inlet line it will skim it's butt off.
 
I have a 65 corallife skimmer if you wanna buy it, Pm me for my phone number.


BTW..I live at Kelly Elliot and I-20 and home all day today.
Shane
 
my first skimmer for my 55 was the coralife and i bought it as i was transitioning to my 90. works nicely. i also have a couple remora hang ons that work really well without much fuss, only thing i see on them is they have to be cleaned and water level affects them more so than the coralife. againn though, works nicely. coralife will have a larger skimate cup, so thats nice.
 
After doing some more reading on the coralife, it sounds like they can be a real pain in the ... to get set up and skimming well if using as an HOB skimmer.

I've also read from quite a few posters at various other sites (reefcentral, 3reef, wamas) that they are only marginally better than a bakpak and not worth the extra effort necessary to get them to produce without various mods and frustrations...does anyone have any thoughts about the coralife or other suggestions on small footprint skimmer that gives a lot of bang for the buck?

Thanks,
 
i will say the coralife was more difficult to get dialed in than the remora. remora was just almost plug and go
 
if you can afford it Deltec has some HOB that's are supposed to be really nice. I use a Tunze 9005 that I really like, but I also have a 20 gallon sump. It's footprint is fairly small. Those are both higher end small skimmers. I think Hydor just came out with a new series of skimmer. Honestly IMO there isn't a really good HOB skimmer out there except maybe the Deltec although I don't have any personal experience with them. I've used a seaclone, cpr backpack, red sea, and all the other bargain brands, and since I dropped a little money on a good one--my Tunze--I will probably never spend money on a HOB again. IMO you just can't underestimate the benefit of having a good skimmer for your tank.
 
Have you tried adding an airstone to your bak-pak. I did and it made a big difference.

I just bought a cheap Topfin air pump from petsmart and a wooden airstone. The pump had two outlet so I bought a T fitting and forced the air into one tube. I think I paid about $20 total.
 
Well, I looked at the Deltec and Tunze skimmers as per Ben's suggestion, but they are quite out of my price range. I realize that you get what you pay for, but I just can't invest $300+ in a skimmer right now.

Shane has a used coralife 65 for sale which might be a possibility, but after more reading, I'm not confident that this skimmer will out perform my bakpak and if I'm going to buy something, I'd like at least moderate improvement in the quality and quantity of skimmate produced...

perhaps I'll try the air pump on the bakpak and see if that helps, but I'm open to any other suggestions from you all.

Thanks for all of your input to this point and for any other suggestions you might have.
 
Hi,

Try the Quangtam7 maxijet mod here for your HOB. It may save you some money. http://www.dfwmas.org/Forums/viewtopic.php?t=29457&highlight=needlewheel

Cheers,
 
That mod from Quangtam7 does look pretty good. Perhaps someone could clarify for me: Do you use the venturi attachment as normal? I read Quangtam7's post and it said he just "sticks the airling tubing inside the inlet," but I can't visualize how that would work without the risk of the tubing getting hung up and rapidly wrapping around the shaft/bio ball.

I'm at the office so I'm trying to visualize and my gift is not for imaginary spatial relationships. Can anyone explain it to me in words a 5 year old would understand?

Thanks,
 
@Double M wrote:
Well said:
Sounds to me your looking for a hummer with a Kia budget. Do what I did, Be patient and a used "$300 +" skimmer will come up for hals the price. While your waiting though, read up on the high-end models. Thats what I did. Also fyi...your gonna hear good and bad opinions on all skimmers. Some people are not patient on adjusting them and give them bad reviews. Hope this helps and in no way was I being mean in this post. Sometimes it's hard to read opinions without knowing ones intent.

Good luck,

Shane
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