Best Skimmers

[JCheung]

Which skimmer brands or which skimmers do you think are the best period?
Best for price?
Best overall?

 

[KyleinCT]

four letters.

ETSS

 

[JayM]

four letters.

ETSS

you mean ET$$

 

[MichaelJ]

A little less money..... Bubble Master.

 

[Aquaman_68]

etss, or pm bullet skimmers. Both do the job well. The etss is tough to get dialed in but once that is done it is pretty reliable. PM bullet skimmers do a fine job of skimming but the becket valve does need to be cleaned at least once a month for optimal performance. I think when cleaned it cleans the tank much better than an etss skimmer. FWIW...Most people put off cleaning the becket valve for months at a time & it really cuts down on waste extraction. Downside!! Both use a very lot of current to run!!

 

[Yaktop]

It depends on the size of the tank. for the smaller sizes 180 or less the etts are great, hear good things about the bubble master, and the becketts do a fine job and are normally cheaper. Larger tanks the H&S, Volcano, the new sequence, and of course the Bubble King.

Its all relative to size, the cost, and the electric consumption.

 

[grundig5]

Orca, since they will make anything with any pump you can think of

 

[smcnally]

I don't know...I'm starting to thing the ETSS and Bullet style skimmers are getting outdated. They do work great, but you can get a needle or mesh wheel skimmer that works just as well for less money. And they don't need a huge pump to run them either.

 

[JCheung]

ok so how about most bang for your buck skimmers?
Trying to find the best skimmer for my 90 gallon tank, with possiblity to upgrade within 5 years.

 

[Dave]

I don't know...I'm starting to thing the ETSS and Bullet style skimmers are getting outdated. They do work great, but you can get a needle or mesh wheel skimmer that works just as well for less money. And they don't need a huge pump to run them either.

I am with Steve you can't beat the needle wheel for efficiency or bang for the buck. My small ER on a 75 gallon with medium bio load keeps everything in the tank happy and only uses 27 watts.

 

[grundig5]

The octopus skimmers are pretty good performers for the money. With a simple mod, they pull a good amount of air (although I read that they changed the impeller and its now smaller for some reason?). DAS (sold by petorama or Orca) makes a good product by most accounts for less money than similar H&S and older Deltec skimmers.
See threads for:
DAS: http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1100510
Orca: http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1086211
H&S: http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=561761&highlight=H&S+skimmer
Octopus: http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=974704&highlight=reef+octopus+skimmer

Tunze also makes a great skimmer for small spaces.

 

[Aquaman_68]

I don't know...I'm starting to thing the ETSS and Bullet style skimmers are getting outdated. They do work great, but you can get a needle or mesh wheel skimmer that works just as well for less money. And they don't need a huge pump to run them either.

Needle wheel & mesh wheel skimmers work awesome when first put online. But there performance downgrades with short time use. Especially if it is in sump & there is alot of detrius that collects there. (alot of those type skimmers are in sump use) Anytime you stir it up or the particles are water born in the sump the mesh & needle wheel skimmer style pumps will suck it up & it will get trapped inside the mesh or the small needle pins cutting down bubble production. Yes they use very little wattage but again because of this it doesn't take them much to be hampered by production due to the wheel & mesh getting clogged up. The bigger style skimmers with large pumps are not effected by this as much. Unless you suck up one of those small snails that live in most sumps & it gets stuck in the vanes of the impellar. Which is very hard to do with a pickup screen attached to the intake.

 

[MikeG]

Unless you suck up one of those small snails that live in most sumps & it gets stuck in the vanes of the impellar. Which is very hard to do with a pickup screen attached to the intake.

This exact same thing use to happen to my PM bullet becket style skimmer and I would get 4-5 snails stuck in the becket every couple days and would have to take it apart 1-2 times a week because of this.

 

[mloebl]

When I built my skimmer this was one of my concerns as it's a beckett as well. I ended up lucking out as when I drilled my sump (which is a stock tank), I could only lower the water level so much to add the new drain line for the skimmer. It's basically sucking from the dead center of the sump, and I haven't gotten any snails, but I have gotten cheato in I need to clean. It's strong enough that it can actually force brisleworms into the collection cup

-Mike

 

[chew*]

For performance I'll stick with my reefdevil for tanks 75gal and down. mag 7 or iwaki is a must though or an alternative is an oversized return pump and T off to the skimmer.

 

[albfelix]

 

[dedfish]

I think I am going to get one of the new octopus extreme skimmers for my 70g. Probably the EXT-PS-200 or 150.

http://www.premiumaquatics.com/coralvue/EXT-PS-120.jpg
http://www.premiumaquatics.com/coralvue/EXT-PS-150.jpg
http://www.premiumaquatics.com/coralvue/EXT-PS-200.jpg
http://www.premiumaquatics.com/coralvue/INT-PS-120.jpg
http://www.premiumaquatics.com/coralvue/INT-PS-150.jpg
http://www.premiumaquatics.com/coralvue/INT-PS-200.jpg

 

[Reef55]

I'll second the bubble master by ATI. Fantastic skimmer.

 

[Muscles]

Needle wheel & mesh wheel skimmers work awesome when first put online. But there performance downgrades with short time use. Especially if it is in sump & there is alot of detrius that collects there. (alot of those type skimmers are in sump use) Anytime you stir it up or the particles are water born in the sump the mesh & needle wheel skimmer style pumps will suck it up & it will get trapped inside the mesh or the small needle pins cutting down bubble production. Yes they use very little wattage but again because of this it doesn't take them much to be hampered by production due to the wheel & mesh getting clogged up. The bigger style skimmers with large pumps are not effected by this as much. Unless you suck up one of those small snails that live in most sumps & it gets stuck in the vanes of the impellar. Which is very hard to do with a pickup screen attached to the intake.

I have a OCTO Recirc 200
I did all the mods (Mesh/Gate/Increase air intake). Mine is plumbed externally and empties into my sump, and gets water from the overflow of the tank. It kicks reliably. I clean the meshwheel once a month for piece of mind but there isn't much in there. The whole trick is getting the correct flow through skimmer. I still have a PM Beckett with a brand new Sedra and I wouldn't think of using it instead of my Octo. Dialing in the PM and keeping it steady was an ongoing effort. I can easily keep the Octo at optimal production. This is my experience plumbed externally not in sump. I have had it online for over a year now.

 

[JayM]

I'm going to echo that....my Octo NW200 is not a recirc, is in-sump, and has the mesh and gate mods. I check the impeller every 4-6 weeks, but haven't needed to do anything other than give it a quick rinse. Has restarted all but 1 time in over 1 year. Excellent skimming. Once I finalize my sump ATO, I expect it to be even more consistent. An excellent value, IMO. I would buy it again in a second, and that's not something you hear a lot of in this hobby