Looking for best protein skimmer need advice

[stevediaz1]

Hello everyone my name is steve and I'm doing a reef tank build glass aquarium and a 40 gallon breeder for a sump display tank measures 5 feet long by 2 feet deep and 20 inches tall so my question is what's the best affordable quiet skimmer I can get for my money tandem should be about 125 gallons so I would need about a 200-250 gallon skimmer right please advice on any thing you thing I should look at also looking for t5 lighting

[Fig]

I like the AquaMaxx line of skimmers.

[Saltwatercoral2]

JNS skimmer. Same exact thing as aquamaxx skimmer just a different name.

[forddna]

The front page of this section has two threads complaining about Aquamaxx skimmers. Check them out.

[Jayreefer]

Simplicity skimmers seem like a nice budget copy of my RLSS.

That said there are many good skimmers out today. Skimz also get a lot of good reviews. to narrow it down whats your budget?

[Buzz1329]

Originally Posted by Jayreefer

Simplicity skimmers seem like a nice budget copy of my RLSS.

That said there are many good skimmers out today. Skimz also get a lot of good reviews. to narrow it down whats your budget?

IMO, there is no "best" skimmer. It all depends on how well the skimmer matches the needs of your tank. Having said that, I was disappointed with pumps on 2 Aquamaxx skimmers I tried on my 75 and 180. Even when pumps were working, the Aquamaxx CO2 on my 75 would produce small amount of skimmate and then overflow without warning.

I was also unsatisfied with Skimz skimmer I tried on my 75 (after month of service it produced about 6 oz of skimmate).

Ditto with about half dozen other skimmers I tried on my 75.

The only skimmer I have ever had consistent success with is the SRO 3000INT on my 180. It consistently produces a large amount of DARK skimmate. Yet, SRO 2000INT was a complete bust on my 75 -- it alternatively produced meager amount of skimmate and then overflowed for no apparent reason.

Two skimmers I recently tried on my 75 (the Vertex Omega 130 and the Deltec 1350) have been moderately successful. Neither has overflowed and both have produced dark skimmate on a regular basis. I'm still experimenting with both of them so can't make a recommendation on one vs. the other.

Sorry to be so cynical about this, but too many times I have followed hype on various skimmers, only to find that the performance in my tanks did not measure up to hype.

Good luck,

Mike

[Lsufan]

There's always going to be a couple bad reviews with every skimmer so u have to kinda put them all together and come to your own conclusion. I read a million different threads when I got my last skimmer & after all the research I ended up going with a aquamaxx & I couldn't be happier. I also have a vertex omega 130 & it skims good now but it took it over a month to break in & even longer before it was consistent. My aquamaxx skimmed straight out the box other then a few micro bubbles in the tank & has never overflowed on me. All the research I did & I only found a couple people who had problems & that had to do with the pump. The thread on here right now it was using to much apoxy that caused his issue & that will happen with any skimmer.

There are a bunch of good skimmers out there but I love my aquamaxx. I might also mention that I don't have the newer design aquamaxx I have the EM 300 so I don't know about the newer design but I love my EM 300, best skimmer I have owned but it is only my third skimmer so I don't have to many skimmers to compare it to.

That's a great post by Mike & it is completely true so all u can do is do plenty of research & read a bunch of reviews on rc & hopefully u end up happy with your choice

[forddna]

They say the EM series are the ones to have, but they're discontinued. :/