Good skimmer for 75g heavily stocked tank...

[gguertin]

OCTOPUS 150 NEEDLEWHEEL PROTEIN SKIMMER

or

OCTOPUS 200 NEEDLEWHEEL PROTEIN SKIMMER

I have room for both and obviously the the 150 is cheaper but from what I have read the 150 should be plenty.... is there a real reason to go for the 200 or would that be overkill...

I know you can never have to big of a skimmer lol but I am also considering a controller...

Thanks!

[cwilson]

go with the 200.

i hate to assume, but i can only imagine your fish load
most people will argue that their setup is not heavily stocked, so with you admitting it (and i tip my hat to you for doing so), i would say stay on the safe side and go big

if you dont mind, what IS your livestock?
(i promis i wont give you grief for a large load... ...unless you have 5 sharks ;) )

[gguertin]

lol... I am not heavily stocked yet but I am looking to get a order together online that should stock it pretty good..

I only have 2 nemos and a yellow tang for fish though... and 4-5 corals right now.. but I want to be prepared so I can get more without worrying about it.

I have been doing alot of work to my tank over the last year and finished most of it last night... I now have a rdsb, 10g fuge, 20g sump all under a custom stand for the 75.. I also have 6 t5 bulbs on it so lighting shouldnt be an issue... but I am on the low end right now for a skimmer and want to fix that...

So for the price is the 200 the best deal or is there something else I should be looking at?

[VaderWS6]

MSX 160 or MSX 200 :)

[reefbegood]

2 that for the msx 200. But if you get either you might want to Mod it dew to the size of your tank.

[USC-fan]

Yeah I would get a msx over the OCTOPUS.....

[luke33]

Mod what on the msx. The msx160 pulls 35scfh and the msx200 pulls 50scfh, good for a 150g and a 230g tank. If your talking about the nw150 or nw200 then yes, modding is good ; )

But i would suggest you to get the newer version of the octo if you want plug and play. The ps150 or ps200, which wouldn't need modding for that tank and either would work. If you can fit it, then get the larger one. On a side note, the msx160 would be the best fit out of the above.

[gguertin]

modding for the tank... why?

if its room I have a empty 20g sump that has 3.5ft of height?

[luke33]

He was talking about modding the old octo150 or octo200.

[gguertin]

why does it need to be modded? can you give me a link about this?

I think the octo 200 would be plenty for a 75g tank? I know bigger is always better but....

If I can make the octo work as good or close though with a mod I would be very interested in seeing that... What are the differences between the msx and the octo?

[luke33]

There's three skimmers we have talked about. The octo line which includes the older models octo nw150, nw200 and the newer line ps150 and ps200.The old 150 pulled 5scfh stock, the new ps150 pulls around 15scfh stock, the old octo nw200 pulled 13scfh, and the new one pulls around 20scfh. The newer ps versions are better.

The msx line is in a different ballpark. The msx160 is around the same size as the 150's but pulls 35scfh, the msx200 is around th esame size as the nw200 and ps200 but pulls 50scfh. They also use a pump that uses 15-25w compared to the octo's 38-70w pump's. They are a much better line of skimmer.

For a 75g tank i'd go with the ps150, ps200 or msx160 as they would all work just fine.

Premium aquatics sells the old and new octo's and marinesolutionsinc.com sells the msx line. Which may all be sold out, i know they had a few 160's left a couple days ago but hard tellin.

[luke33]

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1327599

[luke33]

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1284642

There's a couple threads, one about the msx200 and the other about the older octo nw200. HTH, just read up.

[gguertin]

luke you seemed pretty happy with your octo modded right?

for the price what is the best skimmer... I liked the 200 dollar price range...

[gguertin]

sorry to bug you again luke but you seem to be the man to ask...

octo 200 modded and the msx160 you are saying the msx even though it shows a smaller rating is a far superior skimmer?

Want to make sure... I was planning on the octo 150 for about 165 now im looking at 320 shipped....

[luke33]

Well, to confuse you more. The octo nw150 will skim a 75g with a few mods, the octo nw200 will skim a 150g with a few mods and a 200g with a recirc mod on top of the other mods.

The octo ps150 will handle a 75g Stock
The octo ps200 will handle a 110g Stock

The msx160 will handle a 125-150g Stock

HTH

Luke

[kdblove_99]

If your gonna look at the MSX i would also check out the DAS Ex1

[gguertin]

Ok Luke33 its been a busy day sorry... Bought a RK2 today too...

So I am looking at a skimmer and want to get something of higher quality for a 75g tank like I stated.. I had not heard of the ps model and have since looked them up.. They are reasonably priced as im sure the msx one is too..

What exactly would be the advantage for me to go for the extra 100 bucks on the msx 160 over the ps150?

msx160 35scfh
ps 150 15scfh

what does this number actually mean? Is the pump supposed to be better on the msx? From all I have read I thought the nw 150 was plenty for a 75g tank... but like I said I do want something that I can rely on if I start to stock my tank...

[luke33]

The scfh is how much air is being pulled into the skimmer. In liters 35scfh = 990lph and 15scfh=424lph air. The msx pulls 15-25watts compared to the 38w by the ps150. The air and design will basically tell you how large of a tank it can handle. Another skimmer like kdb said is the das ex1 which pulls 500lph air and is a recirc meaning longer dwell time do to a smaller flow through. Any will work fine for the 75. I'd take the msx or das before the ps150. It just depends on what your budget is. The msx 160 may be sold out by now : )

[gguertin]

is the msx not a recirculating?

wouldnt that make the das ex1 a little better maybe shorter on air but with the extra time to go through the skimmer would pull more crud out wouldnt it?

[gguertin]

They are about the same price... so I guess at this point im leaning towards one of them...

are there mods for either of these that would make one better then the other or are they so comparable it doesnt matter?

[luke33]

You don't need to mod either. The msx imo would outskim the das purely based on pushing twice the air, but the das is a very good skimmer as well. Either will work. The msx will be able to handle a larger tank as well.

[reefcrazy0821]

luke33 i wanted to know which one of these skimmers would be good for my 55g. you seem to be the one to ask. i would appreciate all the help since i need a new one pretty bad. thanks

[luke33]

For a 55 high load, i'd get the ps150 from octo. It will be more than enough.

[reefcrazy0821]

thanks alot luke. i appreciate it. where do you suggest to buy this from?

[luke33]

Premium aquatics is good. Just make sure you get the ps150 and not the regular nw150.

http://www.premiumaquatics.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=CV-INT-PS-150&Category_Code=Octopus

[reefcrazy0821]

ok thanks. i have a pretty decent load i just dont want it overskimming. do you think this might be to much of a skimmer? if so what other would you recomend?thanks.

[luke33]

No, it won't be to much.

[reefcrazy0821]

ok thanks i will go with that one. for the price its seems like a great skimmer. thank you for all your help.