Protein Skimmer Upgrade Help

[jjonesrjc]

I have been wanting to replace my current protein skimmer for the longest time but was a little short on funds. I am ready to move forward but am looking for suggestions and experience for protein skimmers. My tank is a 60g cube with a 10g diy sump. I made the mistake when building the sump of only having to compartments one for my skimmer and one for the return. I had a Reef Octopus BH-2000 on an old tank that I took down and since it was such a beast I just used it on this tank and hung it on the ten gallon sump. The other issue I ran into was that I made the protein skimmer baffle a little taller than necessary so the water level in the protein skimmer compartment is constantly at 9" so I am having trouble finding skimmers that run at that water level. My budget is between 250-300. All help is appreciated.