Protein Skimmer Recommendations:

Les said:
It looks like I found two that mite work. Red Sea Prizm, or Aqua C Remora. It would take two of them for 125 gal.


YIKES...Flee like your Butt was on fire from the Prizm. If you insist, I'll sell you either model CHEAP! and I have an extra Remora too. Wanna guess why?

Deltec makes the best Hang on Back(aka HOB) skimmer available. Tunze makes one but I've never seen one at work.

Really consider an overflow box on the rear of your tank (LifeReef or Amiracle brand-Not CPR) and a sump. once you have a sump you can get any of a dozen GOOD skimmers. Deltec, H&S, Euro-Reef, ASM...etc.
 
I forgot...Tunze makes the best Powerheads. SEIO's are powerful and cheap and if you must you can always use MJ1200's.

If you're handy build a closed loop. Look here www.melevsreef.com for info and plans onsumps and closed loops.
 
what's so bad about the prizm skimmer? Mine does a great job, so does my dad's, which he has had for 6 years.
 
matter1331 said:
what's so bad about the prizm skimmer? Mine does a great job, so does my dad's, which he has had for 6 years.


Congrats then! :dance

That make you 2 of the only 5 people in the US to make them work. Of course it also depends on what you expect from them...A cup of skimmate a month or a cup a week? A real skimmer will do that in a day AND you won't have to fiddle with it constantly either.


Try asking about them over on www.ReefCentral.com if you want a funny response! Or do a search while there...

Sorry to be so harsh but I hate to see people throw away money on subpar equiptment because of good marketing and misleading comments.

ReefCentral has a larger number of reefers then here...just check it for yourself.
 
Hmmm. Didn't know that RC, with tens of thousands of members, had formed a concensus on Prizms.

I agree that AquaC and CPR make much better HOB skimmers, but the Prizm seems to get dissed a lot by people who haven't actually used them.

I think Steven Pro's article in WWM mag sums it up nicely:

"Red Sea Prizms:

If you search the internet message boards about Prizm skimmers, you are likely to get an overwhelming negative response. I, on the other hand, do like these units for what they are. The basic Prizm is a cheap entry in the market for beginners, perfect for smaller aquaria. While the manufacturer states that these are good for up to 100 gallons, I am only comfortable using one on an aquarium up to 30 gallons. But, on a tank that size, the Prizm will be a decent performer. The Prizm Pro is a larger, more powerful unit, but it suffers from the same overrating issues as its smaller brethren. It is this kind of overrating that has so unnecessarily damaged its reputation among advanced aquarists. I have found the Prizm Pro to function completely adequately on tanks up to 55 gallons. This is in contrast to the manufacturer’s claim of operation in systems up to 300 gallons."
 
mogurnda said:
Hmmm. Didn't know that RC, with tens of thousands of members, had formed a concensus on Prizms.

I agree that AquaC and CPR make much better HOB skimmers, but the Prizm seems to get dissed a lot by people who haven't actually used them.

I think Steven Pro's article in WWM mag sums it up nicely:

"Red Sea Prizms:

If you search the internet message boards about Prizm skimmers, you are likely to get an overwhelming negative response. I, on the other hand, do like these units for what they are. The basic Prizm is a cheap entry in the market for beginners, perfect for smaller aquaria. While the manufacturer states that these are good for up to 100 gallons, I am only comfortable using one on an aquarium up to 30 gallons. But, on a tank that size, the Prizm will be a decent performer. The Prizm Pro is a larger, more powerful unit, but it suffers from the same overrating issues as its smaller brethren. It is this kind of overrating that has so unnecessarily damaged its reputation among advanced aquarists. I have found the Prizm Pro to function completely adequately on tanks up to 55 gallons. This is in contrast to the manufacturer’s claim of operation in systems up to 300 gallons."

mogurnda...Respectfully. No one said there was a concensus an online. Only that the overwhelming response was negative. I said to do the research.

I'll venture a guess here, You don't own either Prizm model do you? I wonder if Steve Pro does either. I own both and have corresponded with dozens (literally) of others dissatisfied owners. I have even been contacted regarding a class action suit.

Prizm's are not "cheap", unless he's referring to how they are made, as Pro says...Check out the price of a new Pro http://www.marinedepot.com/md_viewItem.asp?idproduct=RS1135 that's more then a Remora! Please don't suggest or even allow people to think that represents a value buy. Especially someone new to our hobby. And even a regular Prizm w/upgrade is over $100.00. That's not chump change either and saving that much will get you well on the way to a Remora or better.
 
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