Lifereef skimmer users?

[Kirk_M]

I'm in the market for a new skimmer for the new tank. Been there, done that already with needle-wheel impeller skimmers and downdraft skimmers, and have not been happy with either. I just want a skimmer that I don't have to mod, that doesn't require a certain level of flow through the sump, a certain water level in the sump, that I don't have to constantly MUCK with, and so forth, JUST TO GET IT TO WORK PROPERLY. A skimmer is not an inexpensive piece of equipment, and I don't think that I should be expected to spend even more money on it with some kind of mod kit just to get it to do what it should do right out of the box. My other requirement is that I am not going to spend $600+ on some of the brands that people are suggesting that users of my current brand of skimmer switch to.

I have been looking at LifeReef's product. Are there any owners out there who can give me feedback on it? Their website is full of hype just like all the others out there, and I am certainly not going to base my decision about their products on their website claims, no matter how long they have been in business.

All you see here is people griping about poor performance of their needlewheel euro-style skimmers, only to be told by the manufacturers to "buy this mod kit, it will fix it" or "oh, you need the new venturi design, that will fix your problem."

[chadfarmer]

what needle wheel skimmer are you unhappy with? euro-reef?

i am sorry to hear that if you are. i have been in the same boat

maybe look at what type of skimmer you want than go from there


my friend owns a lifereef skimmer and yes it was expensive more than 600.. his sump was more than 1000.00 which is funny because it only uses about 100 dollars in acrylic

also are you wanting this for a 120 gal

i would say look at the geos skimmers (a friend has one and i thank it is compairable to the skimmers the come from germany

[Kirk_M]

Chad,

The lifereef unit I am looking at cost about $450 -- a 24" skimmer, rated at about a 250 gallon tank.

And, yes, you guessed what kind I have.

Yes, looking for the 120 Oceanic RR tank I just got. This tank is 3/4" thick glass with no centerbrace, and I paid a pretty penny for it -- so I REFUSE to spend more on the skimmer than I did on the tank (close to $800) -- not even remotely close to that for a piece of acrylic tubing and a pump.

ASM, to me, is the same route as the ER, so, that's out of the question, and Deltec is way too expensive for exactly the same stuff, IMO. I'm not crazy about the Beckett injector systems either due to the amount of maintainence of the Beckett injector's air inlet that I've read about.

[bowfront]

Lifereef skimmers have been around since the mid 80's. They are built like a rock and do work very well but they are not by far the latest or greatest. They are strickly venturi, which may be considered old hat by some. That being said I've owned a VS3-24 for years and still use it. It's basically a work horse that I can set and forget for long periods. If customer service means anything to you Jeff Turcheck with Lifereef is top shelf IMO.