skimmer question

[Freckles]

I hope I am going to be able to make sense, here ..... And, I know it is a dumb question, too:

So, I know you all know I h ave a 125 & I have a measly Prizm skimmer on my tank. Here's the question: A prizm is rated for a 100 gallon, so how is it that a 125 is too big for the skimmer? Is it the amount of gallons it has to push thru its little pump? I guess what I am trying to get at is how is it you can put say a Penguin Biowheel rated for a 25g (I did it for extra circulation for a while to see if it would work) and it'll work ok, but yet a skimmer doesn't skim? I'm not getting thick good, but yellowish water.

Oh, and BTW, I'm thinking of selling the stupid thing and going with a much better skimmer ......

[Mr James]

Although I am building my own skimmer for my 125g, I can say that I agree with you. I was going to put a smaller skimmer on my tank for the time being and concentrate on some other areas of my tank. The small skimmer would still pull out a lot of gunk, maybe not like a skimmer rated for a 125, but it still would get some of the gunk out. At that time, I just couldn't see spending money on a skimmer that was going to be used for a couple of month's while I get the DIY ready and then set aside.

Now, I am thinking I will buy a Prism or something similar for my 10 gallon and possibly run the Prism on my 125g for a short period of time. I might get yelled at by the skimmer police for this suggestion but you bring up a very interesting point that I have though about, time and time again!!

[endymion]

You must be thinking of the tang police......

Anyway a prizm is basically pretty low end. Fine on a small tank but not even close for a 125G. Do not believe the majority of manufactures that state the # of gallons a skimmer or filter can be used for. The difference between low end and high end skimmers are, but not limited too:

1) ease of setup and tuning
2) quality of construction
3) amount and quality of skimate

The following is geared to flow in a skimmer....

The amount of water through a skimmer does factor in the quality of the skimmer/skimate. A large low flow counter current skimmer is put up as the best skimate producing skimmer (very long contact time). Different chemicals/organics require different contact times, some longer then others to be pulled out the water. But it needs routine maintenance (air stones etc) and is generally larger/taller (I think a good 4' for 125G skimmer) then other types of skimmer. And there are good plans out there to make them.

Skimmer based on Venturi/becketts are pretty high flow through the skimmer and the contact time is not as much as a counter current air stone skimmer. They require a larger pump, the reason for the higher flow, to create small bubbles. But they can be low profile and require less maintenance. Are they pulling everything out a air stone counter current can? I guess this could be debated...

Then there is the needle wheel skimmers (turbo floaters, Euroreefs). They use a special impeller to chop up air that comes through a pretty basic Venturi on the pump. The flow is not as high as would be with the standard impeller (you would see why if you saw the differences in the impellers). But I would guess it has higher flow then most counter current designs. This is the type of skimmer I am looking at now since it has lower flow then a beckette (not as good as a CC) and a lower profile then good air stone counter current skimmers.

[Freckles]

Mr. James,

About 2 months ago or so, I took off my skimmer because it wasn't skimming anything. But, about 3 weeks ago, I had an ugly diatom outbreak, so I put the skimmer on 2 weeks ago and did my bi-weekly water change and that helped. I empty the cup every week, even though it gets filled quickly. I emptied it today & the water was a yellowish color. However, the bottom part of the cup was filled with brown crap. I turned it off about 2 hours ago because itwas going nuts, making noises, and it even had water that had dripped behind my tank:mad:

I thought of going with a skimmer that That Pet Place sells..... It's 22" high and sells for abou $79.99 and is rated for a 120 gallons. It's a HOB type, or they have the one that is rated for up to 200 gallons.

Unlike you though, I don't have a sump, nor do I intend to have one. We have 3 bengal cats who are always getting behind the tank:rolleyes: And, I don't trust them when they are back there.

[Mr James]

endymion: No, I meant what I said, "the skimmer police". I figure with all the debate these days about skimmerless vs. a skimmer, I thought I might accidentally provoke someone who believes differently than me. I guess that's why they call it an "opinion".

Freckles: I read your first post again and then your last post. I think it may be time for a decent skimmer. Do you agree?? You spent $50 or so on the Prizm and will spend $80 on the new skimmer that you speak of. Why not just spend the extra money and get a decent HOB like a Precision Marine?? I have always heard on these boards that you should spend some quality $$$ on a skimmer. Otherwise, you spend all of your money on "el-cheapo's" that ALMOST do the job. I can sit here and tell you what to spend YOUR money on and it doesn't hurt my wallet one bit. I am not speaking from experience, because up until now, I have been skimmerless. But I am suggesting what I would do, i.e., my opinion of what you could do.

The DIY'er that I am working on is a counter-current skimmer, 6" in diameter and stands 5' tall. I would love to try out Precision Marine's H.O.T. skimmer, I heard it is awesome. But I just don't have that extra $160 burning a hole in my pocket.

[Freckles]

Mr James,
Yes, I agree;) There is a venturi one or a Precison Hot skimmer ..... Is it the venturi one that you recommend?
I'm thinking if I do go ahead, I'll sell my Prizm, too. You are right about spending extra $$$ to get something that DOES work!

[Mr James]

Freckles: Precision Marines' site is: http://www.precisionmarine.com/

If you decide to go that route, I would like to know how the H.O.T. skimmer works for you. As well, I might be interested in your Prizm, for my 10 gallon. Let me know what you want to sell it for and I will give it some consideration?!?

[Freckles]

Mr.James,
hehe, you beat me to my own post!:D As far as the Prizm, I was thinking $50 & that would include shipping...... I don't know if that is too much for it or not??:confused: If it is let me know .... I don't have the box for it though :( I put the new blade on it, too, but have the old one laying around somewhere.

[Mr James]

Freckles: Here is a link to a dealer that sells the H.O.T. skimmer, they are also recommended by Reefcentral.com. Link: http://www.premiumaquatics.com/Merchant2/merchant.mv?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=PA&Product_Code=PM-HOT1&Category_Code=PM

I am sorry, but I don't know what that skimmer is rated for!?! Your price seems fair to me, especially the part about how you would cover shipping!! I am a little concerned about this statement, "...going nuts, making noises, and it even had water that had dripped behind my tank..." Are the noises normal, is it about to die?? The water "leaking" behind the tank, does it leak or what exactly?? Do you want to e-mail me so we don't have tie up the board with our dealings??

[Freckles]

Mr.James,
I just emailed you. About it going nuts ...... I didn't have the intake tube hooked on good enough, and that's why it was making noises.

I must warn you: At one time, I had my canopy off because my canopy didn't fit with the skimmer on! That was another reason why I took it off .... Right now, my canopy is on, but barely. So, it's hard for me to adjust the nozzle.

[Mr James]

Freckles: I received your e-mail and sent one back. I plan to put the Prizm in my sump.

[zimmy]

I am a skimmer fan. I have ran tanks with and without skimmers. The skimmer tanks were always better!!! My friend thinks skimmers a not needed. After all he had on his 125 Ga. reef tank loaded with corals a massive and beautiful refugium just chock full af live rock and macro algaes! Even still his tank is not as clear or as healthy as any of mine. So I asked him if I could run a skimmer on his tank for a few days. He said it would be a waste of time because his systems filtration was so good that the skimmer would be hard pressed for work. Oh yeah!!! A challenge!!! I just happen to have an extra Remora Pro with surface skimmer box at hand so I set it up and plugged it in. I had the collection cup up as high as it would go so it would not over produce wet foam. After a week and after many cups of gunk pulled out he sheepishly admitted that he was DEAD WRONG! All the gunk pulled from his system made him wake up and see that there really was and excess of DOC's ,floating algae etc.. that was in his system. Another thing happened that made him a true believer. His corals opened up and were bigger than ever. He has a lot of softies that shed periodically and I asked him what removes the poisons that this shedding releases? Again sheepishly he added the ALGAE? NOT!

[zimmy]

Sorry did not mean to send message yet! Don't know what happened.
You have a Prism. O.K. fine. Now I want you to look at the chamber that actually houses the bubble reaction chamber. Then I want you to look at a Euro Reef, Aqua C, PM Bullet or a E.T.T.S. skimmer or any of the real Big Bad Boys. The bubble chamber is larger than the entire volume of the Prism!!! If you get one of these and set it up on your system, you will quickly realize that the Prism is nothing but a toy! It works, yes, but so does a "72 VW Beetle. I would not bet on the Beetle when going against a Porche 911 Turbo. Way too much money goes into a reef system to rely on such a bet!
IMHO buy the best skimmer you can. Set it up and run it. Then forget about it and concentrate on your reef and all its diversity. You will never regret it. Your fish will love you, your corals will love you.
zimmy

[Freckles]

Has anyone heard of the Big Mombassa??:confused: I happened to be looking on Ebay and came across someone selling one; I think it is made by Precision, if I'm not mistaken?!

[Ironreef]

The big mombassa ....they will flood and are made cheaper than PM skimmers IME. PM is made to go into an autoshut off containers which is a must for these type otherwise you can flood. For a hangon I would only buy PM hot1 or remora pro for your size tank. And they may still be small but much better than prism. I would buy double the rating at least= most vendors grossly over rate there products. Some more than others