Protein Skimmer

[bbfatty49]

Im getting a 150 gallon tank and wanted to know what your favorite protein skimmers were. the guy building the tanks is really pushing a precision marine protein skimmer but then at my LFS I heard that those sucked and to go with euro-reef?

[xinumaster]

go with ER easy maintenance.

[sasa311]

H&S, Deltec, GroTech, Euro-Reef, these are the best compact size skimmers for a cabinet-installation.
For 150 Gal I'd buy a HS 150-F2001 or a 200-1026. ;)

[old salty]

Pretend I am the schoolyard bully:


"How much money you got??"

[bbfatty49]

i would like to get a protein skimmer for a reasonable price...the guy that im getting the aquarium from is getting me the Precision Marine Skimmer for $200

[old salty]

That sounds like a good price.

[BLockamon]

Is that a Precision Marine Bullet or the ES100 venturi model.

The ES100 is only rated for 100 gallons (and is probably overrated like all other skimmers on the market). I'd say you would need at least a Bullet-1 or Bullet-2 for a 150 gal tank. Of course, you can get similar skimmers from My Reef Creations for less.

[robsmith32]

for $200 kind of hard to get any skimmer fitting for a 150 gallon.
I' bet several will say a css 220, but yeah its rated for 220....

the asm g3 is rated for 250 too... i have a ev 180 that will pull as much as the g3 in one fourth the time on the SAME tank. Granted the ev production dies so often, but it still outproduces for the time it is running.

For all the css people, it performs ok, but the g3 kills it.
Seen css on tanks stocked twice as heavy, and produce half the skimmate, granted this is not concrete as they were on different systems with different feeding and maintenance.

For what its worth the needlewheels don't cut out as much when feeding or hands in tank. The ev takes a dive when tank is fed, but when it recovers.. does it ever. The EV does take a bit more patience getting it to work. FOr now though, the verdict is still out on ev180 vs asm G3.

Note , yes the pm and myreef becket skimmers can be acquired cheaper, but by time you add the pump you're in over 300.
If I were to run a power hungry skimmer, it would be a MYREEF without a doubt, i have seen them WORK in person! If you're concerned about cost, remember the electricity usage as well, the needlewheels are by far cheaper on electricity in general.
The EV's are in between the asm and myreef for power consumption.

Seriously, you need to save some more and bump up the $ going toward the skimmer, You can get G3's for under 300, the mr2 is 299 without pump, so is the ev-180. You NEED a pressure rated for the mr2. MR1 is marginal for 150 plus sump, at least at the time I set mine up. Stated by Andy, MR1 would work, but he would put MR2 for that setup.
PS. if you skimp on skimmer now, you'll be buying another later.
Or you'll be doing more water changes to make up for the lack in the skimmer department.
On another note, DIY skimmers work for cheap.

[BLockamon]

I agree with robsmith32, don't cheap out on the skimmer. Believe me, if you get one that MAY work, you WILL replace it later. I'm in the process of doing just that on my 90 gallon tank.

BTW, robsmith32, what feed pump are you using on the EV180? I have seen some posts in the Aqua-C thread that people are using the Eheim 1262 with great results. It appears that you have to oversize the pump (above what Aqua-C recommends) to get the best results. Have you found that to be the case?

[NaClFinatic]

I am setting up a 38g, but need some reccomendations for a skimmer? The tank is not drilled, so I would like to use a hang on or external.

I have heard good things about a Remora with a filter box. I have also read about DIY airstone skimmer. They say tall is better, which wouldn't matter to me because I could hide it behind a wall. Any opinions on those or others?

I would like a good skimmer, but if I can DIY something just as good, I would rather spend money on LR and inhabitants.

[robsmith32]

BLockamon,
i switched to the eheim 1262 and its LOTS better.
qo4000 didn't do jack, sen900 which is oversized didn't do much either, but was better than the quiet one
The eheim rocks on it. After using it, there's no question why the high $$$ skimmers use Eheims, with exception to bk, now that pump is another step up, but is a HUGE step in $$