skimmer suggestions?

[freelancing]

I need a protein skimmer, but I'm not sure what to get. I'm going to want to put it in the garage and pipe it through to my tank on the other side of the wall, but that's all I know. :confused:

I've been looking on-line at different skimmers and I have no idea what I'm looking at. Prices range from under a hundred into the thousands. I need something as cheap as possible as my funds are not unlimited, but I don't want to blow $200 on a piece of crap, either and would rather spend an extra $50 for soemthing better.;)

I learned after I had already bought some Rio pumps that they are legendary for catestrophic failures... I'd love to know in advance any warnings or suggestions about skimmers.

Thanks,
ShellEy

[Breef]

There are several people online that are making skimmers on the side to make extra money. Some of these are supposedly excellent and well worth the money,you would be well advised to look into one of these. On the other hand I may be prejudiced,as I am in the process of doing this very thing myself,but I am only in the first stages and no where near offering anything yet. The main reason being that I want to do my own design,totally.

[DC321]

Do a search on skimmers.

There are a lot of variables. It depends on tank size, bio load, etc.

Good luck

[freelancing]

I know there are a lot out there... I just really need one fast and I don't have time to do in depth research. I've got a brown shag carpet growing along side a giant strawberry fruit roll-up (red slime) growing in my tank... it looks like Chewbacca died in there.

I've got a 140 gal tank with about 125# of live rock and just a handful of critters:

01.) 8" greenbird wrasse
02.) two mature ocelera clowns
03.) 2 green brittle stars
04.) blue lankia star
05.) royal dottyback
06.) neon dottyback
07.) yellow-tail damsel
08.) blue velvet damsel (which has been gasping for air for the past month)
09.) 2 turbo snails
10.) 75+/- cerith snails
11.) 75+/- nassarius snails
12.) a few soft corals here and there, nothing major

I was hoping that someone with a similar size tank could suggest the same type of skimmer they are using. I know NOTHING about this stuff and I've already learned the hard way about other stuff... I spent a lot of money on garbage that only later I had people say, "why didn't you ask around first?"

I heard at the last DFWMAS meeting that a "needle wheel" skimmer was the way to go, but this might as well be in Mandarin Chinese... I don't know who carries them, how much they are, how easy/hard they are to maintain, etc.

Help!

[Brad Ward]

DC321,

I lived in Palm Beach County for 36 years before moving here. Do you do any collecting?

Have fun,

Brad

Shelley,

I agree that you should do a little research, but if you don't know what you are looking at, it is hard to make a decision isn't it.

I have to be honest and tell you that in your situation, there are no easy answers and without a sump, it is more difficult as you have found. If I were you, I would make it as easy on myself as possible and get a skimmer that is a "plug and play model like a needlewheel skimmer. These are skimmers that suck in air and chop it into fine bubbles with a impeller that looks like half a bioball ( If you know what that looks like ). They are easy to set up and maintain. I would suggest a Rubbermaid like container to hold it on the other side of the wall. Use a pump to pump water from the tank to the container with a bulkhead returning it to the tank. This means you could set the container higher and let gravity send the water back to the tank.

hth,

Brad

[DC321]

Hi Brad,

I have done some collecting of fish in the past, but I soon got bored with the same fish that I saw in the ocean when I would snorkel. I released all of the inhabitants of my tank back into their home environment fatter and happy. (I visit once in a while)

freelancing,

If you are looking for a good skimmer, I concur with Brad. Get a sump (I have a 25 gal Rubbermaid) and get a good quality skimmer. I am going with Lifereef, but I hear good things about euroreef as well. Customaquatics has them for about as cheap as you can get them, I think.


I wish I could plumb everything through the wall. I am limited by the height of my stand as to the height of my skimmer.

General rule...the taller the skimmer, the more contact time the water has with the bubbles, the more efficient the skimmer will be.

Good luck.

[Brad Ward]

DC,

I would be collecting all sorts of stuff besides fish if I were down there now. Sand, critters and plants would be my main thrust. Heck, Just being able to snorkel it what I miss most.

Shelley,

Must have been writing at the same time. The Euro-reef is a great skimmer, built like a tank, but is about 3-4 weeks out for shipment. They make them to order unless you can find one in stock somewhere and they are expensive. DAS is another manufacturer of Needle Wheel skimmers. I am not sure about lead time but could check if you can't find one at your favorite store. They are a little less expensive but neither of them is cheap. I would say that $250 is the minimum that you would be able to find either of these manufacturers products for, and those are the smallest models.

Used would give you the most bang for your buck if you can wait to find one, but if you can't, you know the drill. :(

hth,

Brad

[Breef]

If I'm not mistaken they had one at the place that we had our meeting.

[freelancing]

Thanks so much for the suggestion. Is this euro-reef skimmer set-up a hang-on or an in-sump type?

I don't have a sump and while I have a vague understanding of why they're important, I'm not sure how to set one up yet.

I went to Euro-Reef's website and it has much to be desired... I wasn't able to figure out much other than the price.

I'm going to keep my eyes on eBay for a while... I'm a bit over-extended for now... just got 45# of live rock. ($=ouch).

Thanks!!!

[Brad Ward]

Shelley,

They are the in sump models. A sump is just a container that holds water. It is usually has holes drilled and has bulkhead fittings that facilitate plumbing for returns and pumps. In your situation, A Rubbermaid or Sterlite container of appropriate size could be used as a inexpensive sump to hold a skimmer. You would pump water from your tank to the sump, and let gravity return it to your tank.

hth,

Brad

[freelancing]

Thanks, Brad. That sorta makes sense. Since gravity is what will return the water to the tank, am I understanding right that the sump should be above tank level? I'll be putting it on a baker's rack in the garage, so it doesn't matter whether it's above or below... until it's too full of water to move, of course. :)

If I understood previous information correctly, I'm only supposed to have the sump half-filled... is this correct?

How many gallons should I shoot for in that sump? My tank is a 140, but I've got about 100# of rock and about 200lbs of sand... and I still need to add more sand... I'm sure that the rock displaces a lot of the water, but I'm not sure how much... some of the rock is porous, but some of it is very heavy and somewhat solid. I don't know if there's a formula to calculate how much water I really have or if this is even an issue when doing water changes and/or setting up a sump.

Also, once my sump is set up, is this where I will conduct water changes or just add new water? I'm sure that I can siphon up some of the funk from the tank, but w/ sand, it's hard to find anything specific to siphon up.

Thanks!

[Brad Ward]

Shelley,

You can set up a sump either way, but since your tank is not drilled and you have access to a space behind the tank, the way to go is above. The bigger the better I always say, but consider that water is 8 pounds a gallon and think ahead about the support constraints you might have. You can regulate the water height in the sump by using a standpipe. The sump will have a bulkhead fitting for the return to the tank somewhere around the bottom. Using a 90 degree ell fitting inside the tank will allow you to use a pipe of any length to regulate your water level in the sump. Depending on the skimmer you get might determine what that level will ultimately be. You certainly could do water changes from this sump, and you might want to incorporate a couple of valves off the return to be able to do this.
Syphoning the sand is a bad idea. Most of the stuff that makes live sand live is concentrated on the top cm of the suface. If you have cyano or slime that needs to be removed, stir it up first to detatch it, and then siphon it out. The main purpose to doing water changes is to dilute the nutrient rich water with fresh low nutrient water. The best way to do that is to remove as much of the yucky stuff like detritus and slime of all types as possible. I use a smaller diameter hose so I am more efficient when vacuming slime out. When conditions get better and there is little slime present, stirring up the detritus into the water column while siphoning gives us the most bang for the buck.

hth,

Brad

[freelancing]

is this skimmer any good?

The Euro-Reef skimmer has been suggested to me now from several different sources, but I can't afford the cost at this time... I found this link for a needle-wheel skimmer for under $200... what do you guys think?:confused:

http://www.petmeister.com/itm00545.htm

It says it requires a Rio 2500... do you think a Rio 3100 (I have two of these pumps) would work or be too powerful?:confused:

Thanks!
:cool:

[Iostream]

The design on that skimmer looks very similar to the DAS EX series skimmer.

Iostream

[Brad Ward]

Shelley,

IMO, it is a toy compared to the euro-reef. And, the Euro-reef isn't that much more is it? And, it uses a Rio pump.:mad: It must come with the 2500 model because the needlewheel is in the pump and it wouldn't work without it.

JMO,:D

Brad

[freelancing]

Thanks for the feedback on the skimmer.

Euro-Reef's website (http://www.euro-reef.com/skimmer%20price%20list%20.html) lists their cheapest skimmer at $300... I just can't swing that kind of cash right now. :(

I've been checking eBay and Auquabid for deals. Hopefully something will come along pretty soon. :)

Thanks
http://www.reefcentral.com/smilies/spin01.gif

[wjfranke]

Freelancing, Jeff's Exotic Fish is selling the Euroreef CS6-1 right now for $249 + shipping to its "fish club" members. I have one myself, and am very pleased with it. Only one drawback is that you'll have to drilled and tap the overflow cup so you can attach a hose. Its cup isn't easily removed, and much easier if you just have a hose attached that drains into a container alongside of the skimmer. Still, pretty much the best skimmer for the $$$ out there, and good size for the water volume on your tank.

[freelancing]

Thanks for the info... that's cheaper than the price on Euro-Reef's own website.

How does one become a member of the "fish club" @ Jeff's ? I've never ordered there before.

Thanks,
-ShellEy

[wjfranke]

Very easy, just go to their site: www.exoticfish.com

and then just click on the "fish club" to find out. Its a bit tedious, and will take about a day or two. I recommend that you just sign up, and then call them and talk to Jeff, and tell him you're a fish club member. I'm sure he'll honor the price, as that price has been on the list for the last several weeks. That should be it. I wouldn't wait until the next list comes out, as it may be removed. Who knows?? Good luck, and its worth the $$$, IMO.

[freelancing]

After all this discussion, I found some info on "skimmer-less" tanks and folks that advocate them.

If I have a DSB and I set up a sump/refugium, will I really still need a protein skimmer?

[Breef]

Shelly,Brad knows what he is talking about,it is not a real good idea to expand on the number of Rios that you have by buying the turbo floater. That is the type of skimmer I am using and as soon as I find a way I am either going to change the pump or build myself another skimmer with a different pump than this. Besides the skimmer hasn't done any kind of great job anyway,although I have to admit that I have gotten a certain ammount of service from it. And that is on my 58gal. The rating is far over done in my opinion. I still advise to check out some of the homemade becketthead run skimmers. They are just about the best bang for the buck that I have heard of.

[freelancing]

wjfranke,

Thanks for the info. I had to stare at the homepage for almost a minute before I saw the club info right in my face. :spin2:

Thanks!
-Shelley