New Tank- Skimmers?

[ChimolaFish]

Hey, I have a 6ft 115g custom acrylic tank with 35gallon refugium on the back and a 70 gallon sump. I need a skimmer that won't break the bank. I plan on upgrading down the road, but for the first 6 months or so I'm on a shoe string budget (relatively). So, skimmer ideas? There's only going to be one eel which is about 2ft right now until I can upgrade him to a larger tank down the road. I was looking at Jebao's new skimmer, didn't know if anyone had any experience with those? Need to be $250 or below.

[Dmorty217]

no experience with the Jebao skimmer... i would look under the used equipment on here for a skimmer. Super Reef Octopus is what i would suggest but i dont think you can get one for your price range new

[gbru316]

Are you handy?

If so, and you have the space, a solid performing air powered countercurrent skimmer can be constructed for half the price of the skimmers on the market. It'd easily be less than $250. Around $100 for the air pump, and less than $50 for the PVC pipe and fittings.

[chri]

octopus or swc

[ChimolaFish]

Are you handy?

If so, and you have the space, a solid performing air powered countercurrent skimmer can be constructed for half the price of the skimmers on the market. It'd easily be less than $250. Around $100 for the air pump, and less than $50 for the PVC pipe and fittings.

Might look into, I just don't have a lot of time to research right now, and would hate to mess something up. I know reef octopus are great, and that's what I'll get, but their price is quite scary, haha. Never tried buying from the forums here, might try that. Thanks for the suggestions, guys

[gbru316]

Might look into, I just don't have a lot of time to research right now, and would hate to mess something up. I know reef octopus are great, and that's what I'll get, but their price is quite scary, haha. Never tried buying from the forums here, might try that. Thanks for the suggestions, guys

Snailman's 4" PVC skimmer (http://www.hawkfish.org/snailman/diy4inskimmer.htm)

[viggen]

I would not just look at SWC/Octopus.... lots of other great used skimmers out there .... may of which are far superior to those brands.

Euro Reef, Reef Dynamics (newer version or Euro Reef), Life Reef & 20 or so other companies that I cannot recall

Check out the used section on this site and find something that fits your budget. You can post something here or in the other forum on equipment on if it's a good buy or not

That being said if you are on a tight budget and just have a EEL in the tank.... do you even need a skimmer? That's a extremely hardy animal & simple water changes is really all you need. That way... you can bank the money so you can upgrade sooner. Or save a bit more and get a larger skimmer to properly clean whatever size tank you plan on getting.

[PhantomAce]

I recently picked up a Euro-reef CS-6 that was new in box/never used but sat around for years apparently.
Got it on e-bay for about $75.
Might want to look into something like that.

[caribfan]

Maybe check out the avast "you built" products. I've never owned one, but have heard good things.

[ChimolaFish]

As far as not needing a skimmer since it will be just and eel goes, I'm just playing it safe, I plan on weekly water changes once things are stable, but I like to have several layers of assurance.
You think those skimmers are overrated? I always heard reef octopus was like the best brand, never owned one, but I was looking at one just now....
I'll be looking around the used stuff too. I'll just sit and watch. Thanks for the suggestions, guys.

[slowwrx137]

Maybe check out the avast "you built" products. I've never owned one, but have heard good things.

I've been using the Avast CS1 skimmer on my 90 gallon tank for over a year now and it works great.

[ChimolaFish]

A guy locally has a bubble magus curve 7 for around 180, so I think I might jump on that unless anyone has bad experiences with them. I've seen they have pretty good reviews...

[clekchau]

i've been researching skimmers also, narrowed it down between sro, vertex and aquamaxx. I'm probably going with the aquamaxx.

[viggen]

As far as not needing a skimmer since it will be just and eel goes, I'm just playing it safe, I plan on weekly water changes once things are stable, but I like to have several layers of assurance.
You think those skimmers are overrated? I always heard reef octopus was like the best brand, never owned one, but I was looking at one just now....
I'll be looking around the used stuff too. I'll just sit and watch. Thanks for the suggestions, guys.

Yea totally understand layers of assurance.... Doing frequent water changes does more then what a skimmer can do. You are also better of doing less frequent larger water changes vs smaller more frequent ones. So depending on how much water you plan on changing weekly.... You might be better off doing that every two or three weeks.

On my tank I do a 15-20% change every two weeks

I wouldn't state reef octopus is the best..... But they are probably average.... most skimmer manufacturer greatly over rate their products.

[ChimolaFish]

I wasn't going off the skimmer manufacturer edorsement, haha, just what everyone on reefcentral and my lfs typically say. Im pretty sure Im going to go with the bubble magus curve 7 since the price is right and its not crap according to what ive read.

I always thought it was better to do more frequent smaller water changes than to do more less frequently. I do 10 percent on my 90 reef each week, figured Id do the same with the eel once Im sure everything is stable.

[gbru316]

I wasn't going off the skimmer manufacturer edorsement, haha, just what everyone on reefcentral and my lfs typically say. Im pretty sure Im going to go with the bubble magus curve 7 since the price is right and its not crap according to what ive read.

I always thought it was better to do more frequent smaller water changes than to do more less frequently. I do 10 percent on my 90 reef each week, figured Id do the same with the eel once Im sure everything is stable.

2 10% changes in 2 weeks will not remove as much "stale" water as 1 20% change every 2 weeks.

Smaller changes are better for stability, but not for waste removal.