good skimmer for a college student budget?

[mallorieGgator]

Anyone have any experiences with a less expensive skimmer that works well? I would love imput because I'm so new to the salt water stuff I don't know what works well and what doesn't. So the less expensive it is the better (as long as it won't crap out on me when I use it). Thanks!

[Sugar Magnolia]

AquaC Remora skimmers are pretty affordable and do a decent job. For that size tank, you'd want the Remora Pro.

[ms123]

I like the octopus skimmers. They are reasonably priced also. Skimmer is something that if you skimp on now you will kick yourself later as you are replacing the cheap one.

[jerseyhokie]

Avoid at all cost the Seaclone lines, unless theyre free. Even then youll have a bunch of modifications to make.

[Allmost]

CHEAPEST skimmer that works is tunze 9020 I think ? the small ones, nano size, which are like 180 here in canada.

anything under those dont work.

seaclone, coralife all sell crappy skimmers, under 100

[Jason S]

+1 on Reef Octopus for cost versus quality.

[Mmckibben]

you can make your own for really cheep.

[Beaun]

bubble magus have cheaper skimmers that work well.

[sslak]

I like the octopus skimmers. They are reasonably priced also. Skimmer is something that if you skimp on now you will kick yourself later as you are replacing the cheap one.

I'm really happy with my reef octopus, got the $170 model and it blows the Aqua-C remora/urchin out of the water. Not even a comparison, it's great and it was easy to set/adjust.

[mallorieGgator]

Thanks ya'll! I just don't want to spend more than $200 on one. I will deffinately give the octopus a look. :)

[njudson]

I'm happy with my AquaC Remora on a 40g breeder. They seem to be regularly available used at fair prices.

[LeGaCYWinZ]

CHEAPEST skimmer that works is tunze 9020 I think ? the small ones, nano size, which are like 180 here in canada.

anything under those dont work.

seaclone, coralife all sell crappy skimmers, under 100

Not true. Eshopps makes some good skimmers for the price. I picked up a psk75 off DFS for ~$95.

[snarkes]

Vertex makes a good skimmer that would be in your budget too. Shoot Jeremy B. at Premium Aquatics a PM and see what his recommendations are. I've got a IN-100 on my 90 and it was $200. You may be able to use an IN-80?

Better yet... search craigslist in Gainesville ... or try Jax. Real good way to pick up a cheap skimmer.

But seeing how you're a gator... buy a prism skimmer ;)

[EaZy DuZ iT]

I bought a used reef octopus 800s from ebay for like 85-90bux, retails for 250ish. Keep your eyes open, youll find one! This skimmer is a beast

[kv2wr1]

Not true. Eshopps makes some good skimmers for the price. I picked up a psk75 off DFS for ~$95.

+1 on the PSK-75. I just bought one myself from DFS for $95. Great deal!

[Percula9]

I have the PSK 100 Eshopps on my 55 gal and it kicks but. It's on sale at www.liveaquaria.com

[mallorieGgator]

Thank you all for the awesome replies. :) I will keep my eyes open on ebay as well...don't know why I didn't think about that. lol.

And what type of insult is this about being a gator, snarkes? lol. I see you're from Georgia... my cousin went to UGA. We always get into it (of course jokingly).

[jerseyhokie]

What smack talk do bulldog fans have left?

[WTyson]

her are some vertex skimmer for less than 170

http://socaltropicalfishoutlet.com/catalog/vertex-in-c-21_52.html

[reefhead165]

I am a college student running off a college student budget and i am running a ASM g2 and a Euro reef rs 180

[cindre2000]

One thing that I have learned when I was running 'cheap' tanks during college is that when you spend the money on good equipment you have less headaches and you can still use that equipment down the road.

As for a skimmer, used ASM is probably the best bang for your buck. You can get a G-1 thru G-3 for $100-$150 now a days. They are rock solid and skim well if you realize their factory ratings are incorrect.

For a new skimmer, I recommend the bubble magus line; they are inexpensive and work well.

[mallorieGgator]

What smack talk do bulldog fans have left?

Well, she likes to tell us how their gymnastics team is better than ours... :thumbsup:

[snarkes]

Hahaha... indeed our smack talk abilities have been diminished to near non-existant. BUT even with your 20 years of lopsided-ness in the series... UGA still owns the all time series by a large margin :)

Hey... I gotta hang onto whatever I can.

[mallorieGgator]

Lol, it's all good. :)

[DC_40gallon]

Email coralvue (owner of octopus). I bought my lx1000s hob from them direct for $205 shipped.

Its rated for 125 gallon tank and I'd easily put it on a 125.

[sevendigitcake]

if your not in a hurry to get a skimmer, wait until black friday and you will be able to get a good skimmer for really cheap. last year msx was selling some octopus skimmers for like a hundred bucks(i cant remember the exact model). buy 2 and then sell the second one on craigslist for like 150 bucks.

[mallorieGgator]

Man that's tempting but I don't know how my tank would do for that long without a skimmer...I guess if we kept the bioload pretty low, it wouldn't be a big deal.