Skilter Skimmers

[votek]

I'm just wondering if anyone runs a Skilter 250 or 400. (preferably a 400)

Are they noisy?

[BrianH]

I ran a 250 for a little while on a 10 gallon. I would not recommend them. What size tank are you looking to skim? Spend a little more and at least get a prizm IMHO.

Brian

[votek]

Yea, I wasn't planning on getting one, seeing how I am running a Prizm on my 20g. I should be picking up a SeaClone, Bak-Pak, or another Prizm this summer for my 75. All will work, but I was just curious about the filter/skimers. I heard they were noisy.

[Kit Walker]

I have the large skilter which I got secondhand minus the skimmer part. It looks a bit old and seems to make more noise when compared to say an Aquaclear 500. This may also be due to the impeller showing signs of wear. I am going to buy a seperate skimmer and use the skilter for water movement. Maybe new skilters are quieter.

[frosty]

They are very loud unless you use an air pump to generate the bubbles instead of the venturi. I do it that way and it is almost silent. I've been very pleased. Good for the money especially for a HOB. It doesnt let bubbles into the tank like most I've seen.

[BrianH]

If you are looking for a skimmer for a 75 I wouldn't buy any of the skimmers you mentioned. The bak pak is a good skimmer for tanks up to about 40 - 50 gallons. The only HOT skimmer I would recommend for a tank that size is the Aqua-C Remora Pro w/maxi-jet pump.

Brian

[kreblak]

I run a skilter 400, and it is NOISY! Without the venturi open it isn't so bad, but when you skim, you need headphones. It does a decent job of mechanical filtration, but it tends to burn through activated carbon filters in a month. Maybe I just have a dirty tank, I don't know, but my filters are cruddy after about 30 days, when the product pakaging says they should last 90.

All in all, I would get something quieter.

[VoodooChild]

Carbon rarely lasts more than 30 days anyways, and that's in a freshwater tank. All of the trace elements you get from your salt probably choke up the carbon in a matter of days. It's probably for the better it ran it through that quickly.

[kreblak]

Yeah, I would rather the crud be stuck to the filter than floating around in my water. BTW, I have read that many aquarists do not use activated carbon filtration. I have also read some posts here where people seems opposed to mechanical filters. Without a filter, how do people get the gunk and crud out of their water? I was under the impression that filtering and skimming (in addition to an army of hermit crabs) were necessities in any tank bigger than 20 gallons.