Horrible protien skimmer!

[Marinemom]

:eek: Wellllll,I am fed up with my protien skimmer and I've only had it for 4 months.The protien skimmer is seaclone 100 and from what I've been reading and hearing about on this forum, this may be the reason why. Four months ago when I purchased this skimmer I was told that it was very good and really the only one I could find in the lfs. Now, I want to throw it out a window! I think its's horrible and maybe its not so good for my aquarium. cleaning it is a pain and I can't figure out how to dismantle parts of it so parts of it do not get cleaned at all. It hangs on the back of my 60 gallon reef and I can't tell you how dirty it gets.Not to mention of course the flood we had with it about a week ago when part of the tube in the back came undone and water came spewing everywhere! I lost about 10-15 gallons of water before we could stop it. It does collect some dark skimmate, but I think not nearly enough.When it collects the gunk I do see the white foaming bubbles but I think this gunk really smells bad. Should it smell that awful bad? It only collects a little skimmate at a time.I empty it about every other day. Is there a skimmer that would be more efficient for a 60 gallon reef?I think I need one that is easier to take apart for cleaning without aggravating me to death. The reef has 77 pounds of live rock with some soft corals and a few stoney corals along with two anenomes. At present, there is only one fish in the tank, a green chromis. I seem to have a problem keeping the fish alive too although the corals are doing great. I think maybe I added fish too fast and that caused no fish except the one green chromis. No fish have been added now for about two weeks now and I think I'll wait another two or three weeks before I attempt to put fish in this tank again. Anyway, the skimmer ,I don"t know what to do. If anyone has some suggestions on a more appropriate skimmer for my reef please advise. I really do not like this one because it doesn't seem that efficient but I don't want to leave the tank without a skimmer running.BTW it runs 24/7. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Marinemom

[clutch]

hmmm srry to hear about your purchase I did it twice a 100 and a 150. I did the mods to them but they are still junk! srry for the french lol. I have a good one up in ebay right now but for a sump.

I bought a deltec ap851 and love it. I can't beleive the difference. worth every pennies and more.You would probably go with a smaller one.

[onereefnotenuf]

I have heard a lot of negative comments about the seaclones. my 100 works great. I don't know why but it does. it produces a cup of skimmate every 4-5 days so I empty the cup every 2-3.the only problem I have had with it in the year I have used it is after a thorough cleaning it started producing very large bubbles. I took it back apart again and it started working like it should after a couple days and has worked fine since. I wonder if there are quality control problems with them and I just happened to get a good one. I thought about replacing my skimmer on my 125 with 2 150's. mine is that good. too bad they aren't all that good. I hope you get it figured out .

[abugs1985]

I've been using a Turboflotor Multi 1000 for 18 months or so now and a friend of mine has been using a Turboflotor 1000 (not the Multi) for a couple of years. These skimmers are great! They're not on the cheap side so if your're looking to spend little money they're not what you're looking for. The Multi 1000 can be used as a hang on or it can be submersed in a sump. It comes with a venturi pump which ensures that you get the perfect bubble size all the time. Cleaning it is incredibly easy if you get a regular old tooth brush and the collection cup can easily hold two weeks worth of skimmed crud. I've never had a problem with this skimmer (and I have had the unfortunate experience of dealing with a seaclone on my QT tank) Highly recomend any of the three turboflotor skimmers...excelent and very much so worth the investment!

[Ken-21]

Skimmers are a nessary evil. Pain to clean but you need their benefit. They remind me of women.........Can't live with them, can't live without them! .....lol.

[Ken-21]

Necessary......I can't type worth beans......LOL.

[Marinemom]

So what gives? Do you have a suggestion for a better protien skimmer? This woman would like to know?

Marinemom

[abugs1985]

Check out those Turboflotors:cool:

[Marinemom]

O.K. abugs1985. The Turboflotors I've not heard of. Do they have them in the stores or do they have to be special order? I'm willing to spend some good money if it will give me peace of mind. Can you give me a general idea of what these skimmers cost? Do I need to order it online and if so where? My reef is a 60 gallon. What size skimmer for this size tank? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Marinemom

[abugs1985]

Ok, well there are many other types of good skimmers out there, I however have had nothing but an incredibly possitive experience with the Turboflotors though...I have the Multi1000. Typical old Drs. Foster and Smith sells them at a good price..I've never seen the Turboflotors in the stores. Heres the link for Drs. Fosters... http://www.drsfostersmith.com/Product/Prod_Display.cfm?pcatid=8185&N=2004+113771
The Multi 1000 will be perfect for your 60 gal....it can be used as a hang on or submerged in a sump. They're not the most expensive skimmer out there but they're very much so worth the money! A great skimmer if you ask me! Other more expensive skimmers can be large and clunky and have too many parts. The Turboflotors are nicely sized and are very easily run and easy to clean. Plus the collection cup is huge! I've been using mine for about 18 months and a good friend has had one for much longer! They are most definitely a skimmer to consider when you're shopping around in the near future.

[Marinemom]

Thanks abugs1985. I looked into the skimmers that you suggested on the link that you provided and it looks like the prices are not as bad as I thought. Hopefully by the end of tomorrow I will have purchased a new skimmer(payday needs to happen). I think the present skimmer (seaclone 100) that is only a few months old has completely stopped working.(The seaclones are obviously crap). Will my tank be O.K. for a few days without a skimmer? One fish that is small and several corals,mostly soft and a few stoney corals, and an anemone are in the tank now. My tank isn't going to crash, is it? I can only hope that everything will be fine for a few days.

Marinemom

[abugs1985]

No, your tank will be just fine for a few days without a skimmer. If you have a filter run that. Sand beds act as natural filtration too...so not to worry, you'll be fine.

[Sk8r]

Just a tiny, tiny pinch for the chromis, and there should be no problem. A fish only needs what will fill their mouth once per day; they'll always take more. The sea is not as generous as most owners.

[onereefnotenuf]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7335238#post7335238 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Sk8r
Just a tiny, tiny pinch for the chromis, and there should be no problem. A fish only needs what will fill their mouth once per day; they'll always take more. The sea is not as generous as most owners.

huh? maybe an answer in the wrong thread?

[abugs1985]

i think so...

[mburnickas]

I have an old Multi1000 I am not using if anyone wants to buy it, let me know. I have an AquaC now.

[twnship]

my seaclone 100 started leaking at the bottom tube where it connects and i couldnt stop it either.Yesterday i tried to hook it up again with a new o-ring and everything and still leaked so i got mad took the maxijet off and smashed the rest of it on the concrete walk outside. My wife was laughing at me but i felt better afterwards hehe. Tomorrow ima order a aqua c for 160 something dollars cant remember the exact price.

[Marinemom]

That sounds like my temper. Probably something I would do. At least I would feel better and it wouldn't aggravate me anymore.

Marinemom

[tkeracer619]

Any of the more expensive skimmers will work well for you. The cheap one that people are having more good than bad are for the coralife super skimmers. Cheap and works........ though I think you are looking for something a little better since you have already had issues with a skimmer.

The best thing is to roll around on the lighting and filtration forum, find the long skimmer threads on particular models and read. You will get a better idea of how each skimmer works through the eyes of other RC members. Then you can make an educated decision on your own.

Go for it Marinemom.

I did this to a head gasket in my car once. Spent 2 days changing it start the car up and the gasket was bad. Lets just say it was a solid copper head gasket and ended up a solid copper ball.

Also once I did it to a blown sub, took it back to best buy and asked them if there extended warranty covered the hole in my trunk after there sales person told me I could install this amp on it. I told them it hit so hard it came out the box and through the trunk lid. "how else would this sub look like this?" They warrantied the sub =P


It makes you feel much better to throw things way up in the air and let them come crashing back to earth as a nice welcome home.

[Snprhed]

Heres my .02 Go look at the deltec forum here, other than the MCE 600, everybody raves. A lot of the others are "hey how do I get this to work". I almost bought the MRC 2R. I still think its a great skimmer but they do require quite a bit of tinkering. I love my Deltec.

[Scopas Tang]

I once used a the 100 version and thaught it was a peice of junk too. It was really hard to tweak to get it to work and when it did it collected
maybe 1/4 a inch every 3 days on a highly stocked 40g breeder. I dislike it alot. I heard of people supe'n them up with an airstone in the chamber on the bottom.

I use a CPR backpack. Its rated for 65 gallons but is on my 90 which is a 141 gallon system. its skims alot of gunk out. nice and dark and stinky. it werks so well i havent baught a bigger skimmer yet. i love it! Thanks CPR!

[highquality]

i have graduated from the sea clone to the asm baby! yes, i do still have the 100 on my 30 breeder with some xenia and zoa's . its fine for that. I did crack the curved poipe on the 150 and picked up the 100 cause in a hurry. coral color is so much better with a good skimmer tho.

[highquality]

if yo need a hang on, try a prizm or a cpr !

[LBCBJ]

The prizms are crap too.

[Freed]

Of course they're going to tell you the Seaclone is wonderful, just look at the swirling motion of the cyclone in the chamber!!! That right there is enough to tell you it's junk. There is little to no contact time for the water/air bubbles. The swirling cyclone is the only thing neat about them but you can spin a soda bottle and get the same effect too.

[Vincerama2]

Prizm's aren't the greatest (for the money, get a Coralife Super Skimmer (CSS)).

However, the nice thing about Prizms is that they have a smaller footprint in the tank than the CSS.

If you actually have a Prizm already, try raising the entire skimmer up a bit (an inch or so). This allows you to run the skimmer more "wide open" which helps a lot.

In my office, there are 4 nano-tanks; a 30g with a Prizm Pro (the big one), a 10g with a regular Prizm (my tank) a 15g with CSS and a 10g with CSS. They all work pretty good however...

- The big Prizm gets clogged and FLOODS. It skims quite good, but flooding even once is enough to nix it
- The small Prizm is sitting on a wooden "chair" to raise it an inch up. It collects about 1/4" of scum every day or two. It works MUCH better than when it just hung off the tank. In the 10g it works great.
- The CSS are working just great, but on the 10g tank it's pump is incredibly obtrusive. In the 15g it's much better hidden, and it works great.

At home I have an AquaC EV120, which works very well. I hate cleaning the bubble tower though. I also have an AquaC Remora on my 10g quarantine tank at home. It works great as well, though a bit loud.

The guy with the 30g says he had a BakPak and loved it.

So... from the experience of the guys here, the CPR BakPak, AquaC Remora and Coralife Super Skimmer all work great. The small Prizm works well if you raise it up to allow it to move more water through it. The big Prizm works great BUT might flood. The reason the big prizm floods and the small one doesn't is due to the design of the collection cup (and height of the collection tube in relation to the collection cup lid...the smaller prizm, if it "goes crazy" just dumps water back down through the collection tube).

From everything I've read (but have no expeirence with) the SeaClone is better off modded into something else...


V

[DrChaos619]

has anyone had any experience with the precision marine es-100? I recently upgraded and cycled a new 90 gal with 40 gal sump and I am on the fence with it. From what I've read online, It's not a particularly popular skimer but can be very effective...


any thoguhts?

[wds21921]

SeaClowns? Ugh, I've used them in the 80's when they were all that was available here in the states at 3 different fish stores.

Where they better than nothing? Barely!

You would have to spend hours and sometimes even days getting them tuned in and even then ANY changes (water, chems, meds, temp) would completely throw it out of whack.

I agree that the Prizms are not the best but they're a big step up from a SeaClown.

Needle Wheels are supposed to be the best but more moving parts (IMO) lead to more problems.
I stepped up to an Aqua C Remora Pro and I'd never go back. It may not be the "latest and greatest" but it's doing a great job for my 90 gallon reef.

[cvp7900]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7328923#post7328923 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Marinemom
So what gives? Do you have a suggestion for a better protien skimmer? This woman would like to know?

Marinemom

I would suggest an AquaC Remora. It's a HOT type. If you have a sump for this tank, I would recommend a ASM, Deltec, Euroreef...there is alot more options for in-sump skimmers.

The only type that hangs on the tank that is good (IME) is AquaC Remora.

HTH
Crissy

[wds21921]

I too use the Aqua C Remora and I love it. For the money, they're hard to beat and it's simple to upgrade to higher capacity pump if you like.

[Vincerama2]

Yeah, and when weighing the AquaC vs Needlewheel-skimmers, remember that the AquaC uses a "cheap" (ha ha!) mag pump but the impellors on the ER/ASM/etc pumps cost more than most pumps! (Which is fair, because I think the needlewheel pump is actually the key to the skimmer's success).

V

[mburnickas]

I agree the Mags on the Auga C are poor.

I have the Eheim 1260 on my Ev-120 and will blow the doors off a ASM.

I think the wheels help but it is more then that; like design, flow, pressure, etc.

[wds21921]

As much modding as I've seen people have to do to there NeedleWheels I'll pass for something I know works right out of the box.