What skimmers have you used???

[El Dude]

1. What skimmers have you used in the past and on what size tank?

2. Which was/is your favorite?

3. What skimmer are you running on your current setup?


1. Homemade counter current on a 10g/15g/20g:
This was when I first started in the 90's. It was a simple acrylic tube with a collection cup. Used a lime wood air stone, man that thing was a pain to maintain. I had to change the air stone every week or two. But, it worked.

The infamous skilter on a 20g, 50g, 60g:
So loud the neighbors would complain about it. It did a half decent job.

After that I got a CPR BakPak 2R+ HOB(or whatever the reef ready designation is, I forget.) on a 10g, 20g, 60g and currently on my 15g QT:
That skimmer was my go-to for years. I really liked the simplicity and the fact you can fit a heater and Chaeto in it for a mini refugium.

When I upgraded years later I picked up a used ASM G3 on my 150g:
It did the trick for...5 months then the Sedra pump crapped on me...last week. It was cool because of had a gate valve on it to fine tune its performance. What I didn't like was the pump ran really hot.

2. My favorite had to be the CPK BakPak. Just because it served more than one roll. Skimmer, heater compartment AND refugium? Pretty cool.

3. Right NOW I don't have a working skimmer on my 150g. It hasn't even been a full 7 days and my sump looks like a wastewater treatment plant. Lol. I'm waiting on my new skimmer to be delivered. More on that later...




Now you share!

 

[gr1mm]

1. euro reef rs 135 i think i forget the model number. ran it on my 55 gal with 10 gal sump then upgraded sump to a 40 gal. it worked well but was pretty loud.

2. euro reef cs250 on an 80 gal with 40 gal sump. also worked well but down graded and sold most of my stuff.

3. reefoctopus bh-1000 hang on back on my 28 nano with 15 gal sump. quiet enough to tolerate. skimms really well. my favorite at the moment.

 

[h0ndap0w3r]

1. What skimmers have you used in the past and on what size tank?
Aqua c remora on a 37 gal... bubblemagnus nac 3.5 on the same size tank.... sca 302 on a 50/30 sump + 15g frag tank... bubbl emagnus nac3

2. Which was/is your favorite?
They all worked well

3. What skimmer are you running on your current setup?
Bubblemag nac 3

 

[Vnghost]

Using an eshopps nano on a 22 gallon and it works really well.

 

[reefes pieces]

1st Via Aqua skilter on 29g sea clear tank - Pure doo doo IMO but I paid next to nothing for it brand new. Also was very noisy
2nd AquaC remora HOB w/ surface skimmer on a 40g clear for life - Worked much better but still would have issues with micro bubbles and its still noisy.
3rd and current - Reef Octopus 150 on 78g Lee Mar - love it! Works like a skimmer should, dead silent, and easy to clean.

 

[gcarroll]

1. ASM G2 on my 75g: It worked fine. No real problems but nothing to brag about either. Wanted a Euroreef but couldnt afford it and ended up with this. I ran this for 2 years.

ASM G3 on my 225g: I rant this on my 225g waiting on my sump order to get sorted out from MRC. That took a year. I didnt see it as much different than my G2 but my new skimmer was sidelined because it could not fit in my temp sump.

ATI Twister on my 225g: First step up with nicer skimmers. This predated the ATI Bubble Master but was venturi based instead of needle wheel. I loved it except for the Aquabee pump. The pump had impeller problems that hampered it. And getting parts for the pump was impossible. I should have kept it and replaced the pump with a Eheim which I later found had the same size output.

AquaC EV400 on the 225g: Great skimmer and blew away any skimmer so far. It took a bit to dial in but it was set it and forget it. Con was the noise. Back then needle wheel skimmers didnt have silencers so I never noticed the difference. Energy efficiency was about 125w with the Mag 24.

AquaC EV1000 on the 225g: This was by far my favorite performing skimmer of all time. Nothing could come close to competing. Water quality was perfect. Able to plumb ozone and Calcium reactor directly into skimmer. Cons, energy crisis made electric rates climb and the Mag 36 using 175w needed to be relieved of duty.

Warner Marine AS200E on my 225g: Great skimmer, quiet and reliable
Eheim pump. Just a bit smaller than I wanted on my system.

Warner Marine K2 on my 225g: Great skimmer but mine was a prototype that did not have the fit and finish of the production models.

Warner Marine MF251 on my 225g. I love this skimmer and it is still running on my current system today. Its silent and powerful 2600 lph at 36 watts. I do however wish it was taller to improve contact time.

My next tank will be my ATB 12 External. Ive waited a while to set this up.

2. My favorite so far has been the AquaC EV1000. It just used brute force to strip the organics from the water. I am sure once the ATB is running, I will be very happy as well.

3. Currently I still run the Warner Marine MF251.

 

[JOSE CASAS]

1. What skimmers have you used in the past and on what size tank? I have used asm g1x 0na 50 gal frag tank and worked very well. Also have used a asm g4 on 180gal worked very well also but plastic brittled over time. Last BK 300 external best skimmer I have used and will probably continue to use if have the funds lol

2. Which was/is your favorite? The BK 300 was a beast!

3. What skimmer are you running on your current setup? No skimmer no tank.

 

[MelloFish]

1st system 75 gallon/30 gallon sump. ASM G2

2nd system 150 gallon/80 gallon refugium. I started off with an ASM G3, it did its job but was very power hungry. A few months back I bought a Warner Marine MF201. Its only 17watts an is the best one yet.

 

[puggsli]

Tank size 100 gal with 40 gal sump, total water volume 120 gals.
1) Reef octopus xp 2000 would not buy again due to It being very loud.
2) Don't know yet only owned this skimmer, but looking for a new skimmer.
3) Current skimmer Reef octopus xp 2000 in need of a new pump.

 

[turbonut]

Lets see, started out with a sea clone skimmer from there it was a Red Sea skimmer with the kent Venturi mod, next was an ati twister before the bubble master was made. Then a Warner marine s200 modded to run a sicce with mesh wheel and then later red demon wheel. Then a Warner marine as 200 modded to run a Laguna 1500, then a jns shark 3.0 with new style sicce pump (believe it or not one of the best skimmers out the box that runs great,still run this skimmer on my 125 Sps) , reef octopus xp2000 with bubble blaster pump, Warner marine mf251 kone ( this thing is a beast still have it) and finally for my 300 gal build an etss 2500 super skimmer **** skimmer is 5ft tall lol .

 

[turbonut]

1. ASM G2 on my 75g: It worked fine. No real problems but nothing to brag about either. Wanted a Euroreef but couldnt afford it and ended up with this. I ran this for 2 years.

2.ASM G3 on my 225g: I rant this on my 225g waiting on my sump order to get sorted out from MRC. That took a year. I didnt see it as much different than my G2 but my new skimmer was sidelined because it could not fit in my temp sump.

3.ATI Twister on my 225g: First step up with nicer skimmers. This predated the ATI Bubble Master but was venturi based instead of needle wheel. I loved it except for the Aquabee pump. The pump had impeller problems that hampered it. And getting parts for the pump was impossible. I should have kept it and replaced the pump with a Eheim which I later found had the same size output.

4.AquaC EV400 on the 225g: Great skimmer and blew away any skimmer so far. It took a bit to dial in but it was set it and forget it. Con was the noise. Back then needle wheel skimmers didnt have silencers so I never noticed the difference. Energy efficiency was about 125w with the Mag 24.

5.AquaC EV1000 on the 225g: This was by far my favorite performing skimmer of all time. Nothing could come close to competing. Water quality was perfect. Able to plumb ozone and Calcium reactor directly into skimmer. Cons, energy crisis made electric rates climb and the Mag 36 using 175w needed to be relieved of duty.

6.Warner Marine AS200E on my 225g: Great skimmer, quiet and reliable
Eheim pump. Just a bit smaller than I wanted on my system.

7.Warner Marine K2 on my 225g: Great skimmer but mine was a prototype that did not have the fit and finish of the production models.

8.Warner Marine MF251 on my 225g. I love this skimmer and it is still running on my current system today. Its silent and powerful 2600 lph at 36 watts. I do however wish it was taller to improve contact time.

9.My next tank will be my ATB 12 External. Ive waited a while to set this up.

Lol want the twister back lol

 

[james-lee]

Coralife Super Skimmer 220 on my 225 in the beginning. Now using the ATI BM300 and I wont upgrade for the rest of my life as its rated for 750+. So if I ever go bigger I would have to go bigger than 750 lol!

 

[johnwin84]

65 gallon
asm mini
bremuda 3c
grey sea aquatic compact 6

120
ro xp 2000

ro xp2000 skims like a beast and quite

ro xp200

 

[turbonut]

Oh yea i forgot i too had a coral life super skimmer. The biggest one they made forget the model number now.

 

[wickedfish]

What skimmers have you used in the past and on what size tank?

90 gallon full reef, I had no sump so I had a aqua c remora and a bakpak2 both I modded the lip of the mj1200's to give me Venturi type action. Simply tapping the lip and adding a fitting and airline tubing with the fitting to control air flow. 4.5 years ago.

90 gallon with sump I used a Aquamaxx 200 I wanna say. Not bad but not as good as the
SWC 120 with attman pump. Pretty beast and small foot print.
Also used an old GSM don't remember the model with Sedra pump as a loaner from a lfs. Decent skimmer but really sensitive to certain frozen foods.

Swc400 2 psk-2000's I believe it had. Skim was okay but it was somewhere close to 100 watts of power. also needed to be tapped to start up again.

Bubble king Super marine 250, it was too big (skims really fast) in the beginning with a small bio load.
Now I think it's a good fit, although I would like the 300 as I have more large fish.
By far a quality skimmer and all the parts are chunky and well made. A quick clean and it's skimming in seconds. Not sensitive at all. I wish it were a bit more silent, but you can't really hear it at all. But I'm weird that way.


2. Which was/is your favorite?
Bubble King

3. What skimmer are you running on your current setup?Bubble King

 

[evad1]

HOB-
via aqua multi skimmer
cpr back pack-single and dual
deltec mce300
warner marine H1

in sump-
top phathom white skimmer
asm g1, g1x, g2, g4
reef octopus pro 250 with aslkoll motor
atb 840 v1
atb 840 v1.5

i don't always skim, but when I do, I prefer ATB.
stay skimming my friends
-the most interesting reefer in the world

 

[jbaeza83]

Al, spill the frijoles man! Tell us what skimmer you got.......

 

[pgr11]

Al, spill the frijoles man! Tell us what skimmer you got.......

I know and its sexy

 

[wickedfish]

I'm guessing reef Octo

 

[frodaddy]

I had a Euro Reef with Sedra pump it worked good .. I then switched to a Cad Light TIA 1220 cone skimmer and that thing is a beast !!!!