what skimmers do you use/recommend?

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moose1960

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Sep 8, 2002
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I have a 55g brackish tank which will eventually be turned into marine as the fish get older. Right now salinity is aprox 1.006~1.008 and slowly rising every week about 1 thou. I have seen prices ranging from 40 bucks to 500 bucks for skimmers and different styles. So far planned is a FO tank as i am not sure what else to put in with columbian sharks, monos, and scats. Eventually I would likely be going to a larger tank so I would like to purchase things slowly and as $ permits. Every shop i have been to has said aprox $2000 to convert a 55 to marine.

So basically

1. What skimmers recommended
2. What else in order of importance should i research/budget on?
 

quantim0

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Feb 19, 2002
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i use a Prism skimmer. it's the only skimmer i've ever used and i really can't tell you about others. but it does a good job at extracting some nasty stuff from my tank.
 

Daverman

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I recommend SeaClone 100 by Marineland. Contrary to what people say about this protein skimmer, (from my experience) it is quite effective at removing a large amount of organic waste. Since I started to use it, the water quality has been really good. I can actually see a lot of dark brownish gooey waste accumulating in the collection cup. My opinion may not be objective since this is the only protein skimmer that I've used. But, I can say for sure that SeaClone doesn't do a bad job. I know that many people recommend Prism Protein skimmer. The decision is up to you. I just wanted to share my expirience with people on this board.
 

moose1960

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Slipknottin:
What do you recommend for sump size for 55g, but with the thought of moving to a larger tank 120 min size, if santa can fit it in his sleigh. Could I just use an old 25 g tank?
If i use the tank as a sump is a sump skimmer better then HOB skimmers?
 

gcvt

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Mar 15, 2001
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A 25g would be a very nice size sump for a 55. It would also work for a 120, assuming you could fit all the equipment in there (i.e. more/bigger heaters, larger skimmer, larger pump, etc.). The bigger the sump the better though - I'm running a 40g sump on a 100g tank and it works great.

If you go with a sump, an in-sump skimmer is definitely the way to go. No real sense in hanging a skimmer off the edge of a sump capable of accommodating an in-sump skimmer.
 
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