etss good or bad?

[powdertang05]

its a small tank but its a series of small tanks about 5 15 gallon sps frag tanks into one sump im looking for a good skimmer thinking about the etss but what your input!

[bkv1997]

I have an MR-2R, on my 100 SPS tank and love it.

I'm currently watching a local guys 150 tank with an etss skimmer sorry don't know the model, but is working great on his tank... I wouldn't be unhappy with it thats for sure.

One thing with talking with other local hobiest about it though was they mentioned the need to turn the whole skimmer upsided down every 6 months or so to get out the bio balls, etc..

I can't comment to much on the maintenance, of the etss, but I can say it was foaming like crazy every time I have been there all week.

I also love my MRC if you are thinking about looking at other skimmers.

[cweder]

I have seen and heard they work great. Just some extra maintenance and power requirements, but I went with a My Reef MR-4

[RobinsonFam1]

etss has a great reputation and i have never heard anything negative. some prefer the MRC (as stated) which is a great skimmer too but i would not be afraid to run either one of them.

[DrBDC]

I have an ETSS 800 and I love it. The only thing I might do is instead of the Iwaki40 use an Iwaki55. Since I haven't tried it I don't know if it would make much difference but even as is I am very happy.

From what I hear there is a big difference in the larger ETSS skimmers and the smaller ones and the opinions on them.

[usafa93]

If you are willing to shell out the bucks for an ETSS skimmer, you wont be disappointed. When deciding on whether or not to go with a downdraft you must consider the pump aspect also. No whimpy powerheads here; you will need an external. That will take up additional space, and (depending on which one you get), they can be noisy.

I'm using a Ampmaster 3000 on my ETSS 600 Pro, and it works great. The Ampmasters are very quite also. (Put a mouse pad under it, or buy the $12 anti-vibration pad).

Downside: Big, external pump.
Upside: Most commercial aquariums use downdraft for the finest water quality (see what your LFS has in the backroom). Dismissing shades of grey, it's pretty much the king of reliable, efficient skimming.

[DrBDC]

I had started using a mag12 and was not real excited about the performance. Night and day using the pressure rated pump.

[ChickenCannoneer]

I really like the way that mine runs and I have to say that it was much cheaper than a comparable size NW. I have been very happy with is for the year that it has been on the system and is fill a 5 gallon bucket every month with with very very dark smelly ooze. HTH, Tim

[itstheantitang]

When I was visiting the Shedd aqaurium in Chicago, they had a exhibit called "Wild Reef", and in it they had a SPS frag system where you could see the equipment. Powering it was a large ETSS skimmer.

[szwab]

had one a while back think it was the 500? with an Iwaki 30. it was a great skimmer. a bit hard to adjust but once set worked like a charm. changed over to a recirc GEO.