Red Sea Prizm Skimmer

[Kapelakin]

Just looking for some opinions on the RS Prizm skimmer.  Mainly, how trouble-free it operates, how noisy it is, any other eccentricities it might have.  

 

Looks like a good deal for $72.99 at Big Al's

 

Thanks.

[Christopher Marks]

I've heard both good and bad from people.  Some people love it, others want to smash the heck out of it.

[jjharrisx4]

What he said...but more smashers than lovers.  I was gonna buy one of these but went for the CPR Bak-Pak instead.  I LOVE it!

[Sahin]

I have one of those on my 24G tank.  

 

Its very noisy.  My tank is about 1.5meter behind my bed.

Couldnt sleep for the first two nights, but got used to it,

 

Its a decent skimmer for its price, but I wouldnt certainly use it on tanks over 30G.

 

Its easy to setup.  Takes a week to set in especially if the tank is new.

 

Sometimes water changes does throw it off balance, but it will resume skimming after a day.

 

I only had a choice betweeb this and a Seaclone which many consider worse.

 

So thats my view of it. Hope it helps.

[Sahin]

Just wanted to add; at first you gotta set it at the lowest setting, or else it might send loads of bubblesi nto your tank.

 

After its set in, its basically deosnt require any adjusting.  Min ran trouble free with not adjustment required until yesterday when I fed large amounts and did a large water change and this semed to set it off balance, but today its back to skimming.

[Kapelakin]

Hrm.  Smashing things to bits... I want to do that enough at work...  I've thought about the CPR, but it's almost $50 more.  As long as the noise isn't outrageous I can handle it, since the tank's in the living room.  The main thing is that I'm hoping to upgrade to a 50-60 gallon tank in a year or two, and want a skimmer that will keep up, though that tank will be lightly stocked on fish... thanks for the input so far.

 

Any more votes are appreciated!

[mxpro32]

  i have the prizm running on my 28 gallon and i like it ok.  it skims good,  the noise isnt that loud (i cant even hear it over the sound of my cooling fan in my light hood) my biggest complaint would be that i have to adjust it down so low to keep it from running too wet that every once in a while it loses its prime and stops pumping water.  then you have to put the vent hose in the priming position to get it started again.  i have been turning the flow rate adjuster down every time i empty the collection cup to keep it from overflowing.  is there another way to do this?? because that is a pain in the butt re-adjusting it every time.  overall it works good and is pretty cheap and compact.  it does skim well.  i am thinking about getting another one to put on my 7 gallon.  

[aidensnd]

mxpro32-Just unplug it when you need to change the collection cup. It should start right back up when you plug it back in.

[Sahin]

mxpro32: I dont have the problem you describe.

 

I dont even need take the collectio cup out either

 

How do I empty it you say?

 

I either siphone out the coffee or I use a large syring several times to remove most of the liquid.

 

Cool huh?

 

As for the noise, it is noisy, however since it will be going in the livivng room, I dont think there will be that much of a problem.

 

Kapelakin, if you can manage the CPR for another $50, I'd say go for that.  It will be better in the long run as you want to use it on a larger tank even if its for a lightly stocked fish only tank.

 

Else this skimmer is alright.

[SaltyDog]

I agree with Sahin 100%.

 

I too got tired/lazy of removing the collection cup, and playing with the hose, so I just lift the cup lid, siphon out the crap water, and I'm all set.

 

I'd say go with the CPR if you have the means, but I do not hate the Red Sea unit. Beats the crap out of my Skilter 250.