Help with a skimmer on a new 75g

[hk855]

So I have decide to get a 75 tank instead of a 40 breeder and need some help picking out a skimmer for it. I want to get a larger tank in the future, 125-200 probably, but the 75 is all I have room for atm and would like to be able to use the skimmer on the future set up if possible to save money down the road. So far I have been looking at euro reef and aqua c, but they are a bit expensive to me, and the current usa fission resirculating for 150g and octopus recirculating DNW-110 for 125g as more realistic choices price wise.

Of course i know that you get what you pay for and if one of these cheeper ones and I could very well end up replacing it when i get the larger tank with a top of the line brand. Cost is not an incredibly pressing issue as i know that everything is expensive in this hobby and I was hopping to get one used also. So my questions really are:

How much of a difference is there between a euro reef or aqua c and the current usa or octopus with routine ajustments and performance?

I really like the idea of a recirculating skimmer vs a one pass skimmer, am I just over obsessed with the idea of it being supperior or is it really that much better, both in the high quality brands and the lower priced ones?

If I get an extra large recurculating one could I just up the flow through it to like 5X rather than 1-1.5x as recomended to prevent over skimming? Or could I just put it on a timmer to only skim half the day(hey seems kinda logical to me)?

Overall Im also looking for as quiet a one as possible, my buddie has a remora and I find it a bit anoying but mine will also be in the stand so Im not that worried about it but any of the ones above really noisy?

The rest of my planed set up atm is:
4X110w VHO with Ice Cap ballast
1x150w MH with Ice Cap ballast, from my current 8g custom cube.
30g sump with mag 5 or 7 return and small ~5g fuge in it
2-3 koralia 2 or 3's

DSB in the fuge or in tank, it will probably get moved in the same building or down the street in about 20months and 300lbs of tank and sand is a lot to move

heavily stocked coral eventualy but will start fairly empty, my 8 is completely packed right now so thats what Im starting with, lots of LPS and polyps, a fair number of encrusting SPS and some SPS, possibly also a clam and anemone down the road. I also like to feed my LPS a lot cuz more grub=more growth

5 or so of the more docile fish, possibly an eel(any recomendations) and maybe a tang that could handle the smallish tank but the more I think about it the less I think it will happen

Thanks for any help/recomendations/advice all is appreciated good and bad,
Mark

[nano mania]

The octopus is made in the same factory as the Euro-reef. I believe they just changed the pumps to one that doesn't heat up the water. I just got one of the int 120 and it works great. No heat and milky white foam right off he bat.

[bertoni]

Okay, that's the first time I heard that Euro-Reef makes the Octopus. They don't look all that similar from the pictures I've seen.

There's no objective data on skimmer performance, so no one knows relative performance, and it likely varies from system to system.

As far as recirculating vs standard design, the manufacturers don't seem to bump up the aquarium size recommendations for the RC models, which isn't a big vote of confidence. I wouldn't get one at this point.

[luke33]

ER's and Octo's are not made by the same manufacturer to my knowledge either. For a 75g tank i'd get a ER or Octo. Both will work fine but get one that is rated for twice the volume of your tank. Like an octo150 as 75g is around max it can handle.

[hk855]

Thanks for the advice, right now it looks like if I buy a new one I will get the octopus NW-200 as it looks like a good skimmer and a bit less than the max I wanted to pay for one. Its rated for 260G, which seems high but compared to euro reef's specs for same diameter, hight and water flow is aout that of the RS 180 rated at 135g for a heavy load and I would rather be on the too much side than not enough or just enough. With this if I end up with a larger tank in a few years I could use it and not need to spend 2k on a tank lights and skimmer all at once. And I could also plumb in something like a 40 to the same system without much wory of diminishing the water quality too much.

Also nano mania how noisy would you say the octopus is, like would it be teribly noticable over the humm of a computer or is it really quiet?

Thanks again for the help

[nano mania]

Mine is really quiet. No sound with stand doors closed