Skimmer For 155 Gal

[cecilio]

Hi
I Will Like To Change My Actual Skimmer In My 155 Gals; I Will Like Your Advice To Which Skimmer Should I Buy , It Has To Be An Outside Skimmer Not Inside Sump

[GSMguy]

Do You Mean Hang On Tank Of Outside Of Sump

[cheeks69]

Cecilio I don't know of any HOT skimmer that will effectively handle a 155gal. I know that Deltec and BK has an external skimmer but they are VERY expensive !

[cecilio]

Hi Cheek
What About Euroreef Or You Think Deltec Is Better?i Wish To Install It In Line Not In The Sump
Hi Nggrant; I Will Like To Install It In Line Not Hang Up Or In Sump

[BoomerD]

There are several skimmers that can be used esternally. The better needlewheel models will be EuroReef, H&S, and Deltec, (all recirculating skimmers) as well as some of the Beckett models and even the Aqua-C spray injection models. A couple of good friends have been building their own "SaturnV" external airstone powered skimmers. VERY effective, but HUGE! Look like this:

Quite the skimmers. I was amazed at how well they work. The latest addition is ozone. They are controlled by a quality ORP controller (Aquaconrtoller) and has improved the efficiency of the skimmer several fold.

[Stevenmi]

The down side is this model requires a small outboard boat motor and a 55 gallon air storage tank to power it...lol

I think using tandem remora c pro units with mag 3 pumps will serve your 155 gallon well....alot depends on what your bio load is. You could start with one unit and add an additional later if you feel you need it. I think htey are rated for 120's


Steve

[Woodstock]

LOL!! THAT is a skimmer!

[KimPossible]

I'm probably going to start a bit of a riot, but I purchased a Reef Octopus Recirculating skimmer made by Pacific Coast Imports . It is a good price and is a clone of the high power/tier skimmers that most are using. The pumps are made by the same peeps that make the Ocean Runner pumps....so they ain't so bad.
I have seen 3 up and running, and one under HEAVY load. The bubble size seems tiny enough, I had a side to side comparison with a Deltic. They do a good job. I saved some money. One thing though......

We are currently using a couple of these models in our shop However There is one flaw in this design i would like to point out and we have spoken with Pacific Coast (PCI) about it so it might be changed in future designs. The air inlet for the NW pump is mostly blocked, not allowing the air intake to be completely utilized. The air hole is drilled through the union fitting before the intake of the NW pump. Instead of drilling the hole for the air intake all the way thru the union fitting in a straight line, it is drilled halfway through then takes a 90 degree turn and proceeds to the end of the union fitting (where the two pieces of the union fit together and the gasket goes) so the air is injected into the intake of the pump, right where the two unions join, the o-ring partially covers this hole and in order for us to get the model we use in the shop to work. we have to blow into the air intake in order to jump start the pump. It would circulate water fine but not pull any air into it unless we first blew into the intake in order to jump start it. Every unit we have received has had the same design and when putting it together (they dont come setup with all the gaskets and pump in place) we have seen the same thing on all of them, the air intake hole is placed in the same place and the gasket for the union covers it up about 80%, however still given that we are still happy with the performance of the skimmer so far. It seems to form some very nice dense bubble mixture in the reaction chamber and produces a thick smelly very dark skimmate, the unioned collection cup makes it easy to remove and clean. Anyone else using these skimmer please share your experiences with it.

The price on these skimmers are going up since first coming out on the market. I guess it's the ole' supply and demand trend.

[KeyserSoze]

I've been seeing this lately where people are plumbing the protien skimmer in line. They state the reason is that ALL water is treated that goes to the sump/refugium. I'm considering this idea for a 180g tank I'd like to put together. Would this make a skimmer more efficient and change your recommendation?

[KimPossible]

I won't need a feed pump, I'm not plumbing it in that way. I'm plumbing directly from the overflow.

[cheeks69]

One problem with the external skimmers is the potential to overflow. In a large tank thread at RC the member that was using the Deltec externally ended up with 50 gal of SW in his tank room during the breakin period.

[KimPossible]

Yeah, I will have a T that redirects part of the water directly to the sump and a valve that will fine tune the amount of water going into the skimmer.