Which Protein Skimmer Should I Purchase?

[dankolle]

Sorry if this has been covered already, I am new to this hobby…I am setting up a 55 Gallon reef tank in my office and want to get a good protein skimmer. I already have all of my water flow all set between two power heads and sump I am getting 1,100 GPH. So I just need a good skimmer. Any suggestions? I have been looking into the Prizm Deluxe but I have read some reviews and people hate them. Any help would be greatly appreciated!!

Thanks,

Dan

[jackfrost]

First off welcome to the hobby.
Second, how deep is your wallet ?

Asking on opinion for a Protein skimmer is like saying "I want to buy a car" .... see where this is going ???

Please go and buy the book "The Reef Aquarium" Vol 3 and read it !

At this point you are probably saying "Why cant this guy just give me an answer ?" Well, I think I gave you the BEST advice anyone gave me.

It will be the best investment you will have made. It will answer almost all your questions (Yes, including this one..) and you will be 100% wiser than the average person on this site.

If you can tell me how much money you have allocated for a skimmer purchase I (and others here) can steer you to something decent, but I do want you to think about the book I recomended.

[dedex]

jackfrost - where do you suggest to purchase this book you are suggesting? I'm thinking I need to purchase it online as we live in a very rural area where bookstores are not very abundant :-)

[phil519]

will the skimmer be in a sump or hob?

i also agree with jackfrost in that at a certain point in that at times, this hobby does come down to personal preference. Aqua C, ASM, EuroReef are all other possible skimmers to consider.

SOme folks do not even have a skimmer since they compensate with other nutrient export methods (e.g. low load, big refugium, frequent water changes). Some do all of the above...

Oh and 1100 gph may sound nice but it's not enough depending on the type of tank you want (e.g. stony corals). One thing to consider with a 55 is how to best aquascape - it can be difficult with the 13" front to back.

Welcome!!

To Reef Central

in terms of buying books - one could consider amazon or ebay or even a hobbyist leaving. Honestly I'm not familiar with volume 3 (i only have the first two) - a beginners book (new marine aquarium) from paletta may work just as well. Good luck!

[luke33]

Well you can read all you want or you can talk to experienced reefers with skimmer input. The prism plain stinks. For a 55g you have a few choices as i assume you need a hot skimmer. MCE600-449bux 17scfh air. Turbofloater 3000 hot-35scfh 530bux, bermuda rogue w/mag5 30scfh 250+50 for the pump, and the octo 300f, 230 bux unsure on the scfh as it was just released. Those are the only skimmers that will handle a 55g. The turbo is just to expensive imo. I have a rogue and love it. The mce600 is very nice as well. But for a 55g i'd go with the octo300f as its only 230bux and will be adequate.

[jackfrost]

Use Amazon for the book. They have the best price.

Please spend time and do your reseach.

You will hear many folks "jump out" and tell you "buy this", "buy that", because "I own it, so its gotta be good !", or "my wifes second cousin friend has one and swears by it !" etc etc etc ....

One thing you will find in this hobby is that everyone has their favorite products and suppliers.

Knowledge is this the differentiator here, and the key to reducing your risk of buying the wrong piece of equipment and then spending more money to get the right piece of equipment.

What works for someone else may not work for you. It depends on the size of your tank, the fish load you intend to keep, how many inverts, corals SPS, LPS, etc etc.

I have seen setups with the chepeast of skimmers work wonderfully for year after year, and others with top of the line, thousand dollar equipment fail.

Take your time, read and read some more, look at the various products, determine what you want to keep for marine life and then go buy.

[luke33]

Reading a book that tells you what protein skimmer to choose is a very bad idea imo. There are new skimmers out all the time and the book is going to be someone's opinion as well. Your best bet is to do your research around here in the equipment forum and determine that way. A protein skimmer is one of the most important parts of your system so make sure you get one that fits your system. And don't get a remora ; )

[scotmc]

I second not reading a book. You have so much information on this site about skimmers. It's too the point of information overload. It comes down to how much you want to spend and how the skimmer body fits your needs. Any of Lukes resommendations would work well.

[dzeadow]

dankolle, you said you had a sump, is it big enough to put a skimmer in, or is there an area around the sump to put a skimmer next to it so it feeds/drains from/to the sump? If that's an option, you have a good selection of skimmers for a pretty affordable price (as far as skimmers go), if not, we'll have to start looking into hang-on types. Let us know how your set up is put together.

[viodea]

Also, it'll be much easier for people to help you if you tell us something like the price range, foot print limitation, in-sump or HOB, quietness, and such. This will eliminate some and leave a smaller number of choices.
Then, you can read review on those finalists to determine which one is best for you. It took me over 2 month of research to narrow down to 2 or 3 choice. btw... I still haven't gotten mine yet.

[dankolle]

Thanks for all of the input so far. I will try to address as many questions that came up as possible!

First, my sump might not qualify as a full blow sump, it is a closed external filter that screens out material and has room for bio material. (Fluval 303). So I’m going to have to go with a hang-on-back style filter.

Second, I am trying to shoot for right around $100 - $150. But I am willing to spend a little more on something that is higher quality!!

I am hoping to replicate a section of a reef with plenty of corals and some anemones, and less focus on keeping a lot of fish right off the bat. In regards to the book, I’ll keep an eye out, but I have the New Marine Aquarium book, but he didn’t recommend specifics in it. I plan on doing 5-10% water changes as recommended by the author of that book weekly or bi-weekly depending on the chemical readings, etc, and I will have 50 pounds of live rock also.

Thanks!!

[snorvich]

That price range might be a problem.

[mdbrit]

I think it's much better to get real world suggestions of solutions here rather than read a book by a particular author who may only subscribe to one point of view. Then again, I haven't read that book, so maybe it's got all the answers.

So, I'll add my two cents. For that price range I too think you may struggle. If you're not keeping SPS, then you are going to find it easier as the cheaper skimmers won't skim to the level needed for sps's.
I've tried both a bak-pak and seaclone. Both are budget skimmers and both aren't particularly good performers. I'm looking for something better also.

[dzeadow]

Hang-on skimmers in that price range aren't going to be overly effective on your tank but can do a good job if you don't have fish. Look into the Octopus 100F, I had one and still use it on a 10g tank, but had it on my 45g semi-reef. It works really good out of the box and pulls dark green skimmate after breaking in. The BH100 by Octo is anywhere between 100-120 depending on who's having a sale and also works, but may be stretching it for your tank.

If you can go up in price at all, a BH300F might be the ticket, it's a dual pump (both in the skimmer not the tank) version that should rock up to a 60-70g tank I'd imagine. That skimmer is about $225-230. Other than that, if you want real quality you'll have to spend $250 to get the Rogue and buy a pump seperately that will do a good job, getting you up to around $275-300 depending on the pump you decide on. Hope this gives you some info to chew on.

[dankolle]

It is possible that I am going about this in the wrong fashion...instead of looking for "the" skimmer...maybe I should be asking what to look for in a good skimmer...can anyone list a few attributes of a good skimmer?

[dankolle]

Like this one for example...I am willing to spend the money...but is it worth it?

http://www.thatpetplace.com/pet/prod.../1/product.web

[dzeadow]

well, a HOB is going to be at a distinct disadvantage w/ pretty much every in sump skimmer. The reaction chamber isn't very large and you have to try and keep micro bubbles in the skimmer vs. eliminating them before they exit the sump.

Usually what to look for is a large reaction chamber, air draw, turn over rates, etc. Theres a lot of variables. What kind of impeller wheel it has, how big of a pump, how much air the skimmer itself can handle, collection cup neck size...etc.

[daytonreefRob]

You can probably get a used skimmer in that price range.