Skimmer Question

[ronjeremy311]

Hi all,

I'm looking for feedback on my planned choice for my skimmer.

I have a 125 gallon tank (~155 total with sump) which will be a reef tank. I want a decent skimmer but my main limitations are, I'd prefer to keep cost to around $350 or lower, and due to a lack of forsight when I built my stand I built it fairly short (24" to bottom of the tank).

I am looking at the Precision Marine Bullet Skimmers. Anyone using these? Would you recommend the Bullet 1 or Bullet 2 for my size tank?

Any other feedback would be welcome, as long as you keep in mind my limitations (i.e. I'm sure that the Bubble King Deluxe 650 is an AMAZING skimmer, but $8400...seriously)

[CruzinKim]

Take a serious look at the ATi Bubblemaster 160 $459 (soon to be $499) for normal bioload, and ATi BM200 $549 (soon to be $599) for heavy bioload. These will skim like the high end skimmers w/o the price tag. Also, both have very small and short footprint.

[ronjeremy311]

I had heard that the Bubblemasters are good skimmers, but they are a little out of my price range. I can get a Bullet 2 for $330 direct from Precision Marine ( as a factory second) and that is about as high as I want to go. I'm not set on the PM, but it has been the best (or at least from the couple reviews I have seen) I have found within my range.

[ronjeremy311]

Come on folks, nobody out there with a Precision Marine skimmer willing to chime in?

[BigBadBlenny]

i have a PM 2. they are great skimmers, i am using a 2 on my 90. i got the larger one so i can upgrade my tank in the future. mine pulls some really black ugly stuff out of my tank.

[luke33]

Check out the octo extreme 200, would be a perfect skimmer for you and would be in your range as well. They have a preorder special price right now at www.marinesolutionsinc.com for them. They are running sicce pump's at 30watts and around 22-24lpm air. Save some energy and get a efficient skimmer. I think they are 22" tall so it should fit as well.

[ronjeremy311]

That Octo Extreme does look interesting. Low power consumption would be nice. My primary concern (aside from being a guinea pig on a new product...) would be the water height in my sump.

You have any idea how deep these can run Luke? My sump is about 10" deep and I don't have enough room under the tank to put the skimmer on a platform.

[luke33]

I would be about 99% sure 10" of water would be fine. See if the ati bm 200 can run in 10" of water and if it can, your golden.