Need skimmer advice....

[drew2582]

I've struck out twice now on skimmers, once with a sea clone (obvious newbie mistake) and it would appear now that my wet dry built in skimmer is a dud to. Im not giving up on it yet its been running for under a month and its stopped producing enough bubbles to accumulate any in the cup hmmmmm.

Anywho for the sake of discussion what in everyone's opinion is the best skimmer. 300 dollars is prob my limit but i definitly dont have a goal to spend that. Any opinion is valued

[mogurnda]

Before you shop for a new one, have you cleaned the impeller and venturi on the existing one? I have often had problems with salt creep in the venturi and small snails in the intake, which cut the bubble production drastically.

[drew2582]

i was going to try to clean the impellers tomorrow - it just seems a bit odd that it would already be running so inefficiently. It started out great. The first two weeks it produced a third a gallon of waste and now...nothing.

[Mooch28]

ASM G2 is the skimmer i choose for my 90 gallon reef with 30 gallon sump.

As good performance as a euroreef, but much cheaper due to cheaper plastic.

Can be had from what ive seen, for 230 US + tax.

[kobeSumo]

What size is the tank? If its 55 or less, the Berlin Air Lift is a very cheap and good choice.

[drew2582]

75 gal

[drew2582]

What size is the tank? If its 55 or less, the Berlin Air Lift is a very cheap and good choice.

yea i read up on this skimmer and it said it relied on limewood for its bubble production. kind of wonder to myself if that works or if its more of a pain than anything.

[FloridaBoy]

The ones I see alot of good comments on, here and other forums, are the Super Skimmer by Coralife, the Won Brothers line and of course the EuroReef brand. Be advised, these things are rarely "set it and forget it" gizmos, they can require cleaning, maintenance, adjusting, etc. As you have already seen many of the products on the market are worthless junk.

[Mooch28]

The ones I see alot of good comments on, here and other forums, are the Super Skimmer by Coralife, the Won Brothers line and of course the EuroReef brand. Be advised, these things are rarely "set it and forget it" gizmos, they can require cleaning, maintenance, adjusting, etc. As you have already seen many of the products on the market are worthless junk.

That is why i like the ASM. No adjusting anything what so ever. Im guessing the Euroreef is exactly the same.

Plug and play, and regular cleaning of pump is all you need to do.

Id highly reccomend a ASM G-1X or G2 for your sized tank. I did alot of research for a skimmer on the same size tank, and found some of the best are ASM, Euroreef, or Remora Pro if you want HOB style.

[FloridaBoy]

Yes, I like what I am hearing about the ASM line also.

[Carlzmom]

I have documented my skimmer experience on my website. Started out 6 mo. ago with a pre-owned Turboflotor, and it was very frustrating because I couldn't adjust the thing. It would run too wet, then too dry. My best Christmas present was from my son, an ASM G1X. It has worked perfectly from Day 1 and the tank has never looked so clear. I can almost hear my fish thanking me. If you'd like to see it in action and all the crapola it collects, please to this link and also click to the Equipment page:

Evzfishtank. (http://www.shopwithjean.com/skimmer.htm)

[Mooch28]

I have documented my skimmer experience on my website. Started out 6 mo. ago with a pre-owned Turboflotor, and it was very frustrating because I couldn't adjust the thing. It would run too wet, then too dry. My best Christmas present was from my son, an ASM G1X. It has worked perfectly from Day 1 and the tank has never looked so clear. I can almost hear my fish thanking me. If you'd like to see it in action and all the crapola it collects, please to this link and also click to the Equipment page:

Evzfishtank. (http://www.shopwithjean.com/skimmer.htm)

I was also going to buy the turbofloater for my 90, but heard a lot about how difficult it was to keep running right. Thanks God i found a ASM G2 for a great price brand new, and never used. More pricey then the Trubolfloater, but well worth it from what i can see.

How big your tank by the way??

Im using the G2 on a 90 with 30 gallon sump.

[Carlzmom]

How big is your tank by the way?? Im using the G2 on a 90 with 30 gallon sump.

Mine is 55g with a 20g sump (http://www.shopwithjean.com/equipment.htm).

[drew2582]

i jumped back in my seat when i saw the bubbles that thing produces. It looks like the thing is ready to burst.

[Mooch28]

i jumped back in my seat when i saw the bubbles that thing produces. It looks like the thing is ready to burst.

Yes it's amazing. Their is a mod where you can add a ventura pump to make it even more effecient!!

Excellent skimmer if you have a sump.

[drew2582]

yea i have a wet dry that wouldn't house that big thing -

unfortunatlly i just got done cleaning out the pump ( or atleast trying to ) for my wet dry's built in skimmer and so far the stubborn thing is still not producing bubbles high enough up in the skimmer for it to collect in the cup. ive tried every combination on the air control.

Is anyone familiar with cleaning a rio 600 pump??????!!!! Anything i can soak it in? I got a pipe cleaner into the impellers to try and jar anything loose that might have accumulated on them but it looks like nothing has improved. I looked up online and at a few other forums and I saw that people found the rio 600 hard to maintain - has anybody else found this to be true???

thx
drew

[Mooch28]

yea i have a wet dry that wouldn't house that big thing -

unfortunatlly i just got done cleaning out the pump ( or atleast trying to ) for my wet dry's built in skimmer and so far the stubborn thing is still not producing bubbles high enough up in the skimmer for it to collect in the cup. ive tried every combination on the air control.

Is anyone familiar with cleaning a rio 600 pump??????!!!! Anything i can soak it in? I got a pipe cleaner into the impellers to try and jar anything loose that might have accumulated on them but it looks like nothing has improved. I looked up online and at a few other forums and I saw that people found the rio 600 hard to maintain - has anybody else found this to be true???

thx
drew

Yes, you can soak it in vinagur. Ive heard it works great, but be sure to rinse properly.

[drew2582]

Just out of curiosity, what do you two run for filtration?? Condsidering you have sizable sumps underneath your tanks holding your ASM skimmers already - does this leave you with enough room for a wet/dry(or refugium) next to it. Or do you use a Hang on back style - or a canister.

just wondering
drew

[drew2582]

Is anyone familiar with doing this - running two sumps in-line, is their a method that is prevelant or maybe a site that would diagram the plumbing? -

drew