Jepoy Posted April 27, 2003 Share Posted April 27, 2003 ...for a 20 gal mini reef system given to me by a friend who started the cycle in Jan 03 and now has an Emperor 280 filter, 2 15W Bulbs (I need to upgrade I think), 10lbs live rock (The ground coral should be live too by now), 4 hermit crabs, 2 shrimps (peppermint and banded), 4 snails, a goby, a damsel (used to be 4-The invertibrates got to them. This is before I read "The Conscientious Marine Aquarist"), water parameters are all ok and my current concern is a little bit of green algae growing on the bottom sand coral/glass which I believe is do to the system's bio-OVERload. Which brings me back to ask what's a good protien skimmer that isn't so costly for this type of a set up. I've heard of the Skilter 400, Everclear 250 evx and a couple others. Thanks to any and all advice offered... newbie reefer Link to comment
jojopus Posted April 27, 2003 Share Posted April 27, 2003 Dont get a skilter. I have NEVER heard anything good about them at all. I have a CPR BakPak on my 20 gallon and it works like a champ. I dont know what you consider 'costly' but at 120 bucks the BakPak was a great buy IMO. Link to comment
onthefly Posted April 28, 2003 Share Posted April 28, 2003 Try a piccolo.....lots of nice things said about them and they're cheaper ($40 vs $120) and much smaller (will fit in an AQ150 HOB) Link to comment
SeaMountain Posted April 28, 2003 Share Posted April 28, 2003 What's a GOOD protein skimmer? Errrr... One that's left in the box!?!? Link to comment
onthefly Posted April 28, 2003 Share Posted April 28, 2003 Skimmer Basher!!!! Skimmers need love too................. Link to comment
AZDesertRat Posted April 29, 2003 Share Posted April 29, 2003 People can bash the Skilter all they want but mine worked great for 5+ years once I did a few modifications. The other advantage is you can get rid of the Emperor. I drilled a small hole down through the lid directly over the riser tube and added a wooden airstone powered by an air pump with a valve or rheostat control. I also bought the sponge insert for a Whisper Triad and never bought another filter pad, just rinse it out when it gets dirty. I do have to say though, since replacing it with a CPR BakPak my tank is in better shape. I probably had almost as much invested in the Skilter as what I paid for each of my other 4 used skimmers. The biggest mistake I made was putting in crushed coral as a substrate! It traps so much debris my nitrates went through the roof. The problem is debris gets down deep and you can't see it whereas with a sand bed it mostly sets on top where it can be removed or critters can clean it for you. I went back to a bare bottom on my 20H with my rock supported on eggcrate about 1" above the bottom so I can clean below it. My stand has a trim piece extending above the black plastic so you can't even tell . On my 15G Via Aqua I have a 4" DSB and am experimenting with both a Prizm and a Seaclone skimmer to see which I like best. So far I like the Prizm best mostly because the pump does not take up room in the tank so I have more room. Just my $0.02 worth. Link to comment
Nitro Joe Posted May 1, 2003 Share Posted May 1, 2003 Hey all. There is a new type of skimmer that when I looked around at skimmers I decided to try. AquaC makes it, and there are quite a few reviews out there on it. I saw good things. I got the Remora model with the Maxair1200 upgrade and the prefilter over flow box and this skimmer really fractionates out the foam like mad on my 29 gallon reef tanks. I was worried about pulling out the little critters, but there are little sand fleas jumpin and hoppin all over the place. I will see if I can support some filture feeders soon as the ultimate test. The difference with these skimmers is they don't use a venturi or updraft method to produce a water/air interface. Instead they actually inject the water through a layer of air. I am using anecdotal, personal experience without any controls to refer to here (like using a Berlin type skimmer - I have never used any others) so take this with a grain of salt, but looking around, this skimmer is relatively small and quiet. If you want to see it go to www.proteinskimmer.com. ....and no. I don't have stock in the company.... just trying to add my $0.02, and hopefully be of help. Smaller reef tanks (to make the question more complicated) probably do not need a skimmer, especially if you keep the vertabrate livestock to a minimum. (that saves $$$). Happy shopping! Link to comment
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.