How many skimmers have you tried? here is a short history of skimmers on my tank.

[BrokeColoReefer]

Early 90's - some back pack wet dry that had a airstone skimmer built in the filter. It was on a FOWLR tank.
Grade: C-

Mid 90's, upgraded to a seaclone like skimmer (or mabey it was a sea clone) for the same tank
Grade C+

2002- Red sea berlin for my first reef tank,
Grade: F

2003 Aqua C EV120 for a differnt tank i set up,
Grade C+

2004 Coralife ESS 100 and 200, one for each tank, these where the worst purchase i have made for skimmers, well they arent better then the berlins. These things where a pain to dial in and flooded my basement on many occasions.

2004 ASM G4X and ASM G3. Upgraded both tanks to new skimmers that RC was raving about. Had terrible luck with both.

2005 Aqua C EV180. To date, this is the second best skimmer i have ever owned.

2006 My Reef Creations MR-2R. Most bad *** power hungry skimmer i have ever laid my hands on. I have a mag 9 feeding it, and a GenX PCX70 HP pushing the dual becketts. It takes over 300 watts to run this skimmer, and i get my powers worth of skimmate every day.

So, i have spent well over $2500 over the years on skimmers, the skimmers i bought in the last few years have been way way better then the ones in the early to mid 90's. Im sure i have had more then listed, but i dont remember. Notice that i upgraded alot more in the last 7 years or so, totally do to cash flow and getting old LOL.

how many have you owned and how much have you spent?

[miwoodar]

*Amircle PS2 - OK for what I paid for it in mid 90's.

*Sea Clear 4 foot counter current - Good skimmer but went through limewood blocks faster than I could order replacements. I also had to replace the air pump at least once per year.

*Red Sea Berlin XL - After being out of the hobby for a couple of years I re-entered, this one was a hand-me-down from my brother. Yes, I knew better. Good skimmate when I was willing to adjust it twice a day though.

*DIY Recirc - By far the best I've ever owned. 24" total height, 6 " diameter body, Sedra 5000 NW. Easy adjustment. Good skimmate.

- edit -
I just remembered that I briefly had a Skilter on my first reef tank. I don't recall ever getting any skimmate out of it.

[ATB USA]

03 skilter filter skimmer on 20 gallon tank not that good F
03 backpack skimmer was ok had some skimate C
03 aqua c remora skimmer much better than the 2 previous hang ons C+
04/05 euro-reef collection es5-3, 6-2+,8-2, 12-2 very good skimmers
04/05 mrc 1 mrc2 good skimmer but needs big pump cost a fortune in pg&e
04/05 etss 500 good skimmer but needed big pump and would overflow all the time needed constant adjustments
05 deltec ap702 one of the favorites
last week reeflo skimmer build quality looks great but haven't hooked it up yet

[BrokeColoReefer]

awesome victor, i hear you about pg&e rates for electricity. here in colorado electricty averages .09/kWh, your neck of the woods can be 4 times that!

[Tennsquire]

Early 90's: Skilter, replaced by a Seaclone (don't know which was worse). Bought a wet-dry that had skimmer in it (SeaLife Systems I think). Then bought a BakPak which I ran for several years. Next bought a Aqua C EV 180 (which never really skimmed super well until I put a bigger pump on it). Bought an early ER somewhere around 00-01 (still have, although with a bigger pump). Purchased a Lifereef skimmer this year for my prop system. I may have missed one in there somewhere, but it must not have been too memorable.

[SDguy]

Late 80's: Sanders internal airdriven/wood airstone skimmer. 24" tall. Man, that thing pulled out some MAJOR gunk!

90's. DIY CC 5 foot tall 4" diameter skimmer with wood airstones. Worked OK. Tough to tune since it didn't have an clear parts (body or neck)

Prior to current skimmer: DIY CC 5 foot tall 4" diameter skimmer, this time with recirculating NW sedra 5000 as the bubble injection source. Worked very well. Recently cut it in half and still in use on my QT system.

Current Skimmer. MRC2 dual injector beckett. Love it! Want to upgrade to the recirculating model though, and get it out of my stand so I can make it taller

[Misled]

Mid 80's first tank was skimmerless, had an undergravel filter.

Late 80's went to internal wood airstone skimmer, Lees I believe it was. About 20 bucks

Early 90's a hang on wood airstone w/overflow skimmer box and otto 200gph return pump. About 200 bucks.

mid 90's DIY 4"x 24" airstone driven in sump. Very cheep but worked very well. maybe 20 bucks in parts.

Late 90's berlin, (did everybody own one of these things) Got it for 75 bucks so at least I didn't buy it new. Still sucked!!

This year, ASM-G3. Also paid 75 bucks used for. With the gate mod very easy to adjust.

[fishdoc11]

Prizm...first skimmer

Prizm Pro Deluxe......yeah I know I didn't learn the first time

Lifereef 24" venturi driven with a Mag 9..bought used.....worked well and was a huge improvement over the previous two.

MR2 driven with a GenXpcx55....major upgrade from the Lifereef.

Added a 12" riser to the MR2 making it an MR3.....still working well and skimming it's little heart out

I have a Remora running on my 29 which is one of the good ones I guess. It runs well and does a good job on that tank for a HOB.

I also have a small Euroreef 20" high 6" diameter with a smaller Sedra (28 watt) that works well on my 40 breeder frag tank.

Chris

[happyface888]

wow I like this thread quit interesting with the grading for the skimmers. What grade would you give a coralife needle wheel super skimmer 125?

[xtm]

My very first one was a Jebo in-sump which I thought at the time was actually a decent skimmer. Maybe some mods here and there and it could have been more productive. I rate it B.

Second one was the Bak-Pak with Rio 800 pump. The skimmate production was good but the small collection cup and the rubber sealant were the major drawbacks and it was hard to adjust. I give it C+

My current one is an ASM G2. This skimmer is very average when STOCK. However, after doing the mesh mod, the difference was day and night! It would skim a rich, dark froth and is now able to deliver. The gate valve mod also made my life way easier. The only bad thing I can say about it is the Sedra 3500 - it's somewhat noisy. Other than that, I give it A-.

[hahnmeister]

In the 80's, before I was into what you would call 'reefing' by todays standards (although I did have an anemone and some shrooms), International Seaboard was my first skimmer.... part of a wet-dry sump that cost ALOTof money at the time.

Then the tall clear exernal thingie in the 90's powered with airstones. That thing kinda rocked, even by today's standards.

Berlin XL... yeah... who didnt have one.

US Aquariums HOB skimmer that was tossed my way.... total crap until I redid it myself... my first DIY mod.... converted it to a downdraft like an ETSS enviro tower.

Then I started making skimmers... large, small, etc... cloning most of whats out there. I may never need to BUY one again... since I have the acrylic working tools all in order.

[boxfishpooalot]

Skilter- F

Redsea hang on- F

diy 6foot pvc airstone- b

Diy becket- b+

reef octopus nwrecir 200- c+

My expectations for the future, store bought becket a+

[Rouselb]

bump

[SDguy]

Originally posted by hahnmeister
Berlin XL... yeah... who didnt have one.

Ooops, yeah, forgot. Had a Berlin Classic for a few months in there somewhere. It sucked.

[Chef Reef]

im surently using the red sea Prizm Pro Protein Skimmer i actually like it. its doing a good job of pulling gunk out. its allways full when i change it. i dunno if my tank is only 30 gals if that has something to do with it.. oh well i like it

[BrokeColoReefer]

skimmers are tricky business, so many options and such a wide cost range. I watch this form daily and its usually diluted with skimmer threads, even more so on the equipment forum.

I find all skimmers fussy, and most of the problems i see are set up issues, opposed to equipment issues.

With most of my old skimmers, like the ASM, it was my fault that i couldnt get them to work well. I was constantly dicking with it. raise the level.. drop the level... raise the skimmer in the sump, sit the skimmer deep in the sump. Ohh that didnt work so lets check the venturi... i could never stop messing with it. I have found with most of the skimmers i have used if you leave them alone for 24 hours before making a micro adjustment, you will eventually get them dialed in. I contribute my sucess with the MRC recirc to the huge overkill pump, its hard to mess up a skimmer when you have 300+ watts of power pushing it.

[BrokeColoReefer]

hmmm speaking of skimmers, i just had a senior moment. I thought i would hook up my old aqua c ev180 as a ozone reactor, i tied a filter sock to the output full of carbon, and guess what. A day later i have over 40 gallons of water on my basement floor. Skimmer failure? no, what a dumb *** i am sometimes.

[Rouselb]

I have a MR-2R that i just cant seem to dial in. I am feeding it with an overflow, and i think thats the problem. I measured the output the other night, and its roughly 125GPH. I have a 200 gal tank, and a 75 gal fuge. I was thinking of adding a 400-500 GPH feed pump to see if i can get it to keep skimming. Any suggestions??

[BrokeColoReefer]

yea, get that overflow off of the skimmer and add a feed pump. Andy will tell you the exact same thing at MRC.
The overflow makes it to turbulent in the skimmer, what do you have for a recirc pump?

[Sheol]

Well, I'm not sure what the brand name was on my first skimmer, though I suspect it was a coralife ( it was bought off-shelf as a demo). But other that shorting out once ( & nearly starting a fire!!) therby frying the pumps power unit, it worked pretty well for just under 2 years. It however gave up the ghost in my most recent relocation of houses.
Now I have a Red Sea something. at least it has directions, but I don't see much skimate. However, it was only bought to serve as a spare ( Like a tire donut) anyway. It does add to water flow nicely..

Matthew

[Rouselb]

Is it the turbulence or just the lack of velocity?? My overflow is a siphone, not alot of air from the looks of it. But im not sure which is the issue. I agree that turbulence is a big issue in a skimmer. Im using a mag 24 for the recirc. The skimmer seems to skim off and on. Im sure its the overflow, it has to be. Anyhow, this is my second skimmer, used to have a Priszm Pro. I ran MM for about 2 yrs without really skimming.

[Rouselb]

Okay, i slapped a mag7 on it, and now were cookin. Its amazing how fast i saw a difference. Who would have thought. Now i just need to dial her in. Pump vs Overflow....winner is Pump!

[dukecola]

Late 80's: Sander Air lift. Worked great.
Early 90's: Top Fathom 100 and 200. Worked great, still have the 100, still works great!
1992: Oceanic Model 150. OK skimmer, not great but Ok
1992: Tunze (in tank). best skimmer ever owned!
Mid-late 90's, TF-100, still going strong. Sold Tunze, never should have
Early 2000's: Remora, Ok skimmer. Too tempermental.
Also, Coralife air lift for my micro, works great. Still have it.
Current, Elos 500. Just got, too early to comment.

[icliao]

I too have tried great number of skimmers, since I was at one point of time selling aquarium product.

1. Air stone skimmer
2. Macro Venturi skimmer
3. Octopus Needle 1xwheel skimmer
4. Octopus Needle 3xwheel skimmer
5. Red Sea prizim Pro
---------------------------------------------------
6. ASM G4
7. DIY Single recirculating Aquabee Needle wheel
8. DIY Double recirculating Aquabee Needle wheel
9. Aqua-C EV2407
10. DIY Single Beckett
11. DIY Double Beckett
12. H&S A200 1260X2

No 1 ~ 5 are not for serious reefer
No 6 is okay but the pump is a bit weak
No 7 - 8 falls in between beckett and H&S
No 9 -11 perform well with correct pump but are quite sensitive to oil presence
No 12 rocks

[LobsterOfJustice]

After a quick review of the replies on this thread, it seems that most people have discovered that nothing beats a good beckett.