Skimmer choices - too many!

[gardiner]

Hello everybody!

Thanks for maintaining such a knowledgeable, helpful community--I have learned a lot.

I started with freshwater in Sept'07, and the vivid colors pulled me into saltwater in Nov'07.

Profile: 55 gal FOWLR, 2 Clownfish, 1 bubble-tip anemone, 1 Foxface Rabbitfish, 5 Blue-Green Chromis, 1 Royal Gramma, and a clump of Chaetomorpha spaghetti algae. (Yes, the foxface was an uninformed decision.) I'm hoping to add a blenny, a mandarin, and a dwarf angel.

Stats: 0 NH3, 0 NO2, 25 NO3, 81 deg F, 1.022 SG, 12 KH, 500 Ca, .25 P04

Equip: 55 gal Walmart? (used) glass tank [Bare-Bottom], 100 lbs Base Rock, 5 lbs Live Rock, siphon overflow (400gph) to 15 gal wet/dry Bioball trickle filter/sump, 200W heater, Tetra 30/60 HOB power filter, Penguin 1140 Powerhead (300gph), 48" Shoplite fixture with 2 of 40W 6500K fluorescents on 8hrs/day, 5 stage RODI from FilterGuys.biz, and AquaC Remora HOB Protein Skimmer (recommended by Anthony Calfo of WetWebMedia)

Books: The New Marine Aquarium, Michael Paletta
The Conscientious Marine Aquarist, Robert Fenner
The Reef Aquarium, vol3, Julian Sprung
PocketExpert Guide to Reef Aquarium Fishes, Scott Michael

I've got tons of questions, but I thought I'd start off with an observation: the profusion of skimmer choices is overwhelming. My stand is short, so an in-sump skimmer wouldn't fit. After asking around a bit on AquariaCentral, and reading a bit on WetWebMedia, I decided on the Remora hang-on skimmer.

What did I want in a skimmer? I wanted one "powerful enough" to clean up a 55 gal FOWLR (heavy stocked), at a reasonable price. I would guess everyone simply wants a skimmer that is "powerful enough", with some headroom for stock growth and/or performance degradation--without paying too much. So far the skimmate is wet tea-like, about 1cm per week. I read it helps to clean it frequently, so I do so (with a toothbrush).

By the way, here's a question for you guys: If the purpose of a foam fractionator is to remove dissolved organic compounds, is there any way to tell if the skimmer is doing "enough"? In other words, is there any test for DOC's in the water?

So here's what I wanted to show you guys: a table of skimmers from Amazon, MarineDepot, DrsFosterSmith, AquaCave, MarineandReef, and BigAlsOnline. You can imagine that a newbie has almost no basis for comparison, and is daunted by so many choices.

Mfg Model Price
AE Tech Sump Buddy 40 DownDraft $210
AE Tech Sump Buddy 60 DownDraft $320
AquaC EV-1000 $680
AquaC Ev-120 $350
AquaC EV-120 $300
AquaC Ev-180 $383
AquaC EV-180 $340
AquaC EV-2000 $800
AquaC EV-240 $400
AquaC EV-400 $480
AquaC Nano Remora $140
AquaC Remora $164
AquaC Remora Pro $215
AquaC Urchin $164
AquaC Urchin Pro $215
Aquaculture/Red Sea Berlin Air Lift 60 $31
Aquaculture/Red Sea Berlin Air Lift 90 $34
Aquaculture/Red Sea Berlin Classic $200
Aquaculture/Red Sea Berlin Hangon $177
Aquaculture/Red Sea Berlin Turbo Hangon $225
Aquaculture/Red Sea Berlin X2 Turbo $240
Aquaculture/Red Sea Berlin X2 Venturi $200
Aquaculture/Red Sea Berlin XL $213
Aquaculture/Red Sea Prizm Deluxe $80
Aquaculture/Red Sea Prizm Pro HangOn Deluxe $160
AquaMedic Air Driven $32
AquaMedic Turboflotor Hangon $240
AquaMedic Turboflotor T1000 $138
AquaMedic Turboflotor T5000 $510
Aquarium Systems SeaClone 100 $80
Aquarium Systems SeaClone 150 $93
Aquarium Systems VisiJet $30
ASM G-1 $240
ASM G-1X $260
ASM G-2 $250
ASM G-3 $310
ASM G-4 $410
ASM G-4+ $430
ASM G-4X $440
ASM G-5 $575
ASM G-6 $730
ASM Mini-G $120
Central Aquatics/Kent Marine Nautilus TE-in-Sump $180
Coralife Super Skimmer 125 $173
Coralife Super Skimmer 220 $210
Coralife Super Skimmer 65 $104
CPR Bak-Pak Dual Pak $240
CPR Cyclone Bak Pak II - Bio Filter $135
CPR SR2 Venturi $144
Current USA Fission 110 $120
Current USA Fission 220 $180
Current USA Fission Nano $30
Current USA Fission Recirc 150 $145
Current USA Fission Recirc 225 $160
D & D Marine Enterprises Terminator $120
D & D Marine Enterprises Terminator II $130
D & D Marine Enterprises Typhoon Scum Sucker V-Star $60
E.T.S.S. 1000 XR $950
E.T.S.S. 1400 XR $1,180
E.T.S.S. 1800 XR $1,240
E.T.S.S. 2000 XR $1,580
E.T.S.S. 600 XR $480
E.T.S.S. 800 XR $580
E.T.S.S. 900 XR $540
E.T.S.S. Evolution 500 $350
E.T.S.S. Evolution 750 $480
E.T.S.S. Reef Devil $250
E.T.S.S. Reef Devil Deluxe $270
Elos Natural NS1000 $710
Elos Natural NS4000 $1,310
Elos Natural NS500 $520
Euro-Reef CS RC1000 $3,000
Euro-Reef CS RC135 $670
Euro-Reef CS RC180 $900
Euro-Reef CS RC500 $1,870
Euro-Reef CS RC750 $2,200
Euro-Reef CS RC80 $500
Euro-Reef RS100 $290
Euro-Reef RS135 $330
Euro-Reef RS180 $440
Euro-Reef RS250 $480
Euro-Reef RS80 $240
Euro-Reef RS80 $240
Freedom Aquarium Freedom Filter - large $330
Freedom Aquarium Freedom Filter - small $250
Innovative Plastics Top Fathom TF100A $188
Innovative Plastics Top Fathom TF110A $188
Innovative Plastics Top Fathom TF200A $216
Innovative Plastics Top Fathom TF300A $286
Innovative Plastics Top Fathom TF500A $333
Jebo 180 $44
Jebo 178 Hangon $30
Jebo 520 External $87
Lee's Aquarium and Pet Products Large Countercurrent $26
Lee's Aquarium and Pet Products Medium Countercurrent $23
Lee's Aquarium and Pet Products Small CounterCurrent $20
Oceanic BioCube $35
Pacific Coast Imports Recirc 1000 $217
Pacific Coast Imports Recirc 2000 $325
Pacific Coast Imports Recirc 3000 $435
Precision Marine Bullet 1 $346
Precision Marine Bullet 2 $434
Precision Marine Bullet 3 $580
Precision Marine Bullet XL $680
Precision Marine ES100 Venturi $200
Precision Marine ES-100 Venturi $200
Precision Marine HOT-1 $180
ProClear Aquatics Motorized 150 $125
ProClear Aquatics Motorized 250 $170
ProClear Aquatics Motorized 350 $233
ProClear Aquatics Motorized 75 $80
Reef Octopus DDNW-150 $400
Reef Octopus DDNW-250 $600
Reef Octopus DNW-110 $210
Reef Octopus DNW-150 $300
Reef Octopus DNW-200 $380
Reef Octopus Dual Hangon HB-300 $140
Reef Octopus EXT 120 $230
Reef Octopus EXT 150 $310
Reef Octopus EXT 200 $380
Reef Octopus FDNW-400 $1,200
Reef Octopus Hangon BH-100F $150
Reef Octopus Hangon HB-100 $110
Reef Octopus Hangon HB-100SS $120
Reef Octopus NW-110 $135
Reef Octopus NW-150 $170
Reef Octopus NW-200 $200
Reef Octopus PS 150 $200
Reef Octopus TDNW-300 $750
Reef Octopus TS 150 $210
Saline Solutions Hooked On 30 $70
Saline Solutions Hooked On 60 $80
Sequence ReeFlo Orca 200 $850
Sequence ReeFlo Orca 250 $1,250
Taam Rio Nano $33
Tunze Classic DOC 9205 $286
Tunze Classic DOC 9210 $404
Tunze DOC 9005 $286
Tunze DOC 9010 $367
Tunze DOC 9015 $480
Tunze DOC 9020 $770
Tunze Master DOC 9420 $794
Tunze Master DOC 9440 $1,080
Tunze Master DOC 9460 $1,820
Tunze Master DOC 9480 $2,100
Tunze Nano DOC 9002 $152
ViaAqua Multi-Skimmer $80
Won Brothers Clean-Up 125 $60
Won Brothers Clean-Up 200 $110
Won Brothers Clean-Up 300 $120
Won Brothers Clean-Up 75 $50

[kdblove_99]

Alsmost all those are in sumo and you need HOB?

The remora is garbage and you wont get any better skim mate than that light tea you are getting now. I had one hated it.

I would never get a HOB skimmer again! so you have a sump. if so do you have a place you could put a recircualting skimmer? That is your best bet

Looks at teh DAS EX1 its a great skimmer and what i use now

www.petorama.net

[GSMguy]

Salifert has a DOC test, AquaC remoras are pretty sucky

[reef / aholic]

gardiner - I think you missed a few skimmers!!!