Whats your skimmer? Pros? Cons?

Charley tay tay

Charley tay tay

Member
So after doing some research it seems more often then not the aquarium with the best skimmer is the most succesful tank. I plan most of the money going to my 75 gallon soon to be project to go towards the skimmer. So I wanted to know is it possible to over skim?

So if ya'll wanted to tell me what skimmer you have and if you'd switch to a different skimmer if you could.
 
LatinP

LatinP

Member
No... put most of your money towards the LIGHTS, a good skimmer is a necessity but there are excellent skimmers out there that don't break the bank. Right now I have an Eshopps PSK-150 rated for 150g on my 75 and I barely have any live stock, my chemistry is perfect and my skimmer pulls out thick foam and like I said above I barely even have live stock (1 clown and a few corals). Want to spend money get good lights, not sure if you're planning a reef or not if not then go with the skimmer plan but if a reef ever even crossed your mind spend the money on the lights. Decent examples of good not so expensive skimmers include Eshopps, Reef Octopus and euro reef.
 
Eric

Eric

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I have used a variety of skimmers all shapes, sizes, and designs. What I found is none compare to a Beckett skimmer, the downside of a Beckett skimmer is they require a larger pump to power them but considering the capability of the skimmer it equals out.

I do not believe you can over skim a tank in most cases, for it to even be possible IMO you would have to have the best functioning skimmer on the market and rate at 5-6 times your tank volume and even then I feel it's unlikely, I have always run skimmers 3-4 times tank volume and I have never seen anything that made me believe you can over skim a tank.

just my opinion, I feel 75% of the people are running skimmers that are to small but try to tell them to spend a few $100 more and they gonna look at you like your nuts so the average is 2-3 times tank volume.
 
Charley tay tay

Charley tay tay

Member
Just looked at that skimmer. And alrighty. Yeah as for my lights. I have two 48inch T12 fixtures that my dad had in are garage. Is there anyway I could use those?
 
LatinP

LatinP

Member
Charley tay tay said:
Just looked at that skimmer. And alrighty. Yeah as for my lights. I have two 48inch T12 fixtures that my dad had in are garage. Is there anyway I could use those?
Click to expand...

For a reef, no. For a FOWLR or FO yes. Also remember that a t12 endcap will not fit the nice bulbs made for aquariums which most are T5, you might also accidentally introduce heat problems with T12s and find yourself in need of a chiller or have to hang the lights off the ceiling.
 
Eric

Eric

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those are not normal output T12s like shop lights, they are VHO + very high output so those bulbs wouldn't work in a shop light fixture.
 
LatinP

LatinP

Member
Charley tay tay said:
Can I not take T12 lights like these UVL VHO AquaSun Bulb Then put them in the fixture?
Click to expand...

You can use those but again heat problems typically t12s run much hotter than t5s and you'll be using a shop fixture which isn't made for aquarium use, may need a new ballast and better reflectors on the fixture which in itself could be more expensive all together, it's really up to you but most people put a hell of alot more money into their lights than into a skimmer. I didn't go cheap on the skimmer but I definately wouldn't get a g4 or a Bubble king and skimp on lighting if I plan on keeping a reef, the life of your corals depends on lighting.

EDIT: As to your last reply yea those are not shop lights they produce 100+w each you might even burn out the ballast on that shop fixture.
 
Eric

Eric

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Those are T12 VHO bulbs that you linked and they will not work in a shop light standard T12 fiuxture, T12 VHO are still a great source of light for reefs while their are more efficent methods T12vho is still a great option.
 
LatinP

LatinP

Member
Charley tay tay said:
Alrighty thanks alot for the advice. So is there anyway I could use the shop lights for a reef setup? Or are they completely useless?
Click to expand...

THAT shop fixture would be useless in my opinion. T12 lightning is great if you have the fixture for it. The ballast on that fixture would not cut it even if it did it would probably burn out. If you do t12 get a fixture meant to light those bulbs, I'm not trying to tell you what to do but you'll have problems if you try to run a reef with shop lights. If you give me your budget on what you wanted to spend on a top of the line skimmer I can try to match it to a decent skimmer and decent lighting.
 
Charley tay tay

Charley tay tay

Member
I'm thinking anywhere from I would like to buy both for around 400 bucks. That might not be possible but it would be nice if it could happen.
 
Charley tay tay

Charley tay tay

Member
I'm thinking 75 gallon. I found a couple of adds on CL people trying to get rid of there tanks desperately. But yeah standard 75 gallon 48 1/2 x 18 1/2 x 21 3/8.
 
Eric

Eric

Google Warrior
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Unless you buy used it's unlikely you will get a quality light fixture suitable for a 75 and a skimmer for $400.00.

If your going T5ho be sure you get a fixture that has independent reflectors, without this T5s are useless, stay away from ebay brands like Odyssey they are garbage plain and simple, catalina makes some decent fair priced fixtures.
 
LatinP

LatinP

Member
E-Bay, new & w/ warranty I believe if you're going to spend the money you should have a warranty to back it up. For 400 you can't go crazy so LED might not be an option I'd say go with a good 48" T5HO (High Output) setup.

Maybe something like:
48 inch Current USA Nova Extreme 4x54W T5HO - eBay (item 140482124689 end time Dec-23-10 16:58:23 PST)
(This is not Odyssea or Catalina branded)

Leaves you with about 110 left over for a skimmer, you can do a Eshopps PSK-150 for about 20 dollars more (or even for 0 more since it's Black Friday this week) and you'll have both lights and a decent skimmer. That skimmer comes in both in-sump and HOB variants.
 
Charley tay tay

Charley tay tay

Member
Alrighty. And what I'll probably end up doing is using my shop fixture for FOWLR for a while until I get enough cash to pay for a nice lighting system. :)
 
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