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What type of skimmer are you guys using - im trying to decide on one


edekgb

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hydor slim skim nano, CAD lights 50 elite, JbJ sk45, or other in small tanks - 20 to 40 gallons? How does it work for you and why did you choose it? Im debating on what kind of skimmer to put in the back of my AIO and would like to hear what your experiences are.

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I have heard great things about the cad lights 50 elite. I think im a little worried about how high up it sits out of the back of the tank. If it overflows and you are not home would water spill out onto the floor? Those are the two things I think might steer me away from this one. I have pros and cons for each of these skimmers - guess I will have to live with some cons in which ever one I get.

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kriskristofferzen

I used the tunze 9004. Wet skim mate. Little noise, comes with sound reducer. Uses two large magnets to keep in place. The unit is not extremely sturdy and difficult to take apart and put back together. However, once you get the hang of cleaning it. The skimmer is nice. One other thing is that the adjustment valve is pretty sensitive, so it'll take some finessing to dial in.

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Prisonfood53

I have a IM Ghost mid size in my JBJ 45 RL and it works pretty well going on about 2 months. You would just have to make a stand for it so that it sits at the correct water level. It's a little noisy but I am going to check the impeller and if its loose glue it. It also sits below the rim of the tank so is essentially hidden in the sump chamber.

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I have the the Tunze 9004 on a JBJ 30 and needed to do some surgery on the back of the flow thru into the sump. It's a very tight fit so I had to clip off the plastic ridge at the back side to allow it to slide in and attach the magnets to the back of the tank. I also had an issue with micro bubbles that may have been related to some two part epoxy I used to attach some corals. After playing with the flow for a few weeks it seems to be working properly now.

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TheKingInYellow

I'm settling in on the Tunze 9001 for my 18g, looks to be the biggest punch in the smallest package.

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I have the "old" cadlights pls50. I run it with the holes wide open and use the hanger to adjust the water level instead. It works really well on my 34 gallon.

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  • 2 months later...

I've heard really good things about the jns/aquamaxx ws-1. I have a bigger model jns skimmer and it is the best I've ever used.

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stefalopod

I've been running a Red Sea Prizm for the past couple years - it was the only thing that would fit behind my tank. It's an absolute pain to dial in and it's moderately noisy, but if your water level remains the same (ATO, or similar), it definitely does skim -- dark green tea on my 10 gallon. It also has a comparatively massive collection chamber and you can use the return as a reaction chamber for activated carbon or similar.I have mine set on a controller to only run during the day so I don't really notice the noise.

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I've been running a Red Sea Prizm for the past couple years - it was the only thing that would fit behind my tank. It's an absolute pain to dial in and it's moderately noisy, but if your water level remains the same (ATO, or similar), it definitely does skim -- dark green tea on my 10 gallon. It also has a comparatively massive collection chamber and you can use the return as a reaction chamber for activated carbon or similar.I have mine set on a controller to only run during the day so I don't really notice the noise.

 

Wow I didn't know they still made red sea prizms. That was the first skimmer I ever owned ~14 years ago.

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I use a biocube skimmer in my 25g. It works really well, so well in fact that the foam used to lift the lid off the collection cup. I had to drill two small holes in the lid to stop this from happening.


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I switched over to a jns/aquamaxx ws-1 since I run an open top now. That thing is a beast and I don't need to mess with it too much. Yea it is overkill in a 29g bio but If I ever upgrade I can use it on the next one and I don't have to worry about overfeeding. The smaller skimmers a too picky and some I just wanted to throw them against the wall. If you are looking for a small unit the jns/aquamaxx ws-1 is not the way to go.

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I've heard really good things about the jns/aquamaxx ws-1. I have a bigger model jns skimmer and it is the best I've ever used.

This. I have the new Aquamaxx WS-1 and its a powerhouse. I will be releasing a full review soon but lemme tell you, its worth trying out. It will skim a tunze and the pls-50 elite under the table any day.

 

The only question is whether it will actually work in your JBJ. It looks like you have a 3.95" wide rear chamber, so you should be good on the footprint of 5.9 x 3.2. The big question I have is whether you could make the 8-10" recommended water height work.

 

As for worrying about it overflowing like you mentioned, the good thing about the WS1 is it has a outlet on the collection cup that you could use to have it drain down to a secondary container.

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stefalopod

 

Wow I didn't know they still made red sea prizms. That was the first skimmer I ever owned ~14 years ago.

 

Ha! Frankly, I was surprised to see that they still made them yesterday when I went to write this post. :P

 

They're not very well reviewed. Just ordered an IM Nuevo 10, going to see if I can fit it onto that...

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HarryPotter

I have the JBJ RL-45, and will be getting a Cad-Lights PLS-50 Elite in the mail today. I will let you know how that goes :)

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