Skimmer vs Skimmer

[Woodchuck12]

I am wondering wich is better, an Aquac ev 120 with a mag drive 5, or a Reef Octopus 150.

Thanks, Charlie

[saveafish]

That is hard to set side by side. Sprey injected, becketts, pressure forced skimmers are made for big tanks and high water flow. usally 300gal and higher. I wouldnt use a high power skimmer sized for smaller than that 300gal. Same with needle wheel. They are usally designed for less than that. You are in the curve with both. Unless you are pushing 300+gal I wouldnt even think of sprey injected, becketts, pressure forced skimmers. I would get the Reef Octopus 150 OVER the Aquac EV 120. I am doing this to assume your water amount is 120gal or less.

[Woodchuck12]

I was going off of the Aquac website that said that the tank size for the skimmer was 40-120 gallons. My tank will be a 90 gallon. On the other hand, I have heard great things about the Reef Octopus skimmers. Originally I was going to get the Reef Octopus, but I am getting a really good deal on the Aquac Ev.

[chadfarmer]

Reef Octopus 150 wasnt that great and hated the aquac so i wouldnt do either

[J3REEF]

Woodchuck,
FWIW, I ran an EV240 on my 120 TWV w/sump ~170G
It rocked!
I upgraded to WMK2 just because I wanted something new.
My EV240 was driven by a MAG which generated more in tank heat - may be a problem for you. Like the skimmer, but am a clean freak and didnt like the cleaning - hard to get inside the box to clean all the corners. WMk2 is not much better at the bottom of the cone below bubble plate as well :-(

1"injector on the EV and bigger pump than recommended will be the upgrades if you go down that path, but really did a great job of skimming.

[Mark Bianco]

I use a EV 240 with a mag 18 I have had great sucess, I would like to comment on something that was posted about spray injection not being for smaller tanks. My 75 I had a Remora Pro HOB made by Aqua C and it was spray injection. Of the four previous skimmers I had none of them even came close to the performance of the Aqua C.

Mark

[Woodchuck12]

So, should I go with the EV 120? Thanks for the help!

[heckeng]

I have used the ev-120 on a 90 and now have a Super Reef Octopus 1000 internal and while I do like the EV skimmers, the SRO beats it hands down as far as overall performance, less noise, and ease of cleaning. Also what I really like about the SRO is the smooth transition from the bubble chamber to the neck and them to the collection cup. I am not sure what the difference was between the Reef Octopus 150 and the SRO series though. I would assume the 150 uses a lesser pump that the SRO series with its Bubble Blaster needle wheel pump.

So, my vote is the SRO 1000

[Woodchuck12]

The SRO series is out of my price range. I was considering the NWB series skimmer. Otherwise it was the deal on the EV 120.

[heckeng]

What deals are you seeing, and what price is the upper limit? It looks like the EV-120 is normally $300 which is about the same for the SRO 1000. The NWB 150 is $200 but if I were you, I would save until you could get the SRO---it is a great skimmer.

[Woodchuck12]

I am on a shoe-string budjet. The deal on the EV was 75$. My upper limit is around 200$

[heckeng]

Wow, for $75, that would be the one I got. I would overdrive it with one size mag drive larger than what it called for and call it done.

[Woodchuck12]

So, go for the EV?

[chadfarmer]

make sure you tune it slowly with the gate valve on the ev

[mojo~]

a bubble magus nac 6 would be better...

[Woodchuck12]

I decided to get the skimmer because the price was good. I hate to skimp on equipment, but this time it seemed like the right choice. While I've got some of you here, what would be a good flow rate for eventual SPS/LPS corals in a 90 gallon aquarium?