Skimmers: conical vs. cylindrical

[OCMS]

I have searched and read to no avail. I am in the market for a new skimmer, and looking at ATB's offerings specifically.
Can someone enlighten me on the pros and cons of each?
Thanks in advance.

[areze]

conical is expensive as hell, mostly because you only get it from a premium company, if octopus made one, I guess it would probably be cheap too.

does it work well? lol Im sure it does, you know what else works well? a bubble king or a euroreef.

for the money? flip a coin IMO.

[mojo~]

The big cost in cone skimmers is from the thermal press they need to make the cone. at least this is what I have read from one of the skimmer company's website. ATB makes a good cone skimmer but it is a premium price as well. SWC will have the cone skimmer out in a couple weeks for a little less $$ starting at 749 i believe with a single pump and they are made with 1/4 acrylic. I was told this from on distributor. I havent see one yet to confirm this. Another skimmer in the owrks that will be out in about a month is from Waner marine will be there K1 skimmer. It looks very nice as well. Their has even been talks of bubble king making a cone skimmer too.
The cones are suppose to run more effecient. The design is suppose to cut down on turbulence and allow a better flow of the rise of bubble towards the top of the skimmer. Some have done a better job at this than others. Just be sure the research this fully as the cheapest cone that i have seen to be on the market will retail at 699, the cheapest one out as we speak is 949 for a small atb.
So as what I know at the moment here are the price for cones out and to come
ATB small w/eheim 1260 $949
SWC single sicce $749
swc dbl sicce $849
SWC askoll $999
Warner Marine K-1 $699 est retail
KZ REV $949
I hope this helps and get what works for you. Will a cylinder skimmer work well yes. Is it worht the extra money for a cone? I cant answer that yet. I dont know. I am leaning towards the warner marine skimmer, but in there forum they have two pics comparing their k1 cone and their as200 and the outcome looks very similar. Good luck with your research. I have done quite a bit here lately.

[mojo~]

here is a little taste of what i am looking at...

[OCMS]

Thanks mojo. That is very informative, and answered my questions. I understand the cost issue, but was questioning the engineering design of the cone vs. cylinder.

[GSMguy]

cone reduces the turbulence, my ATB cone is much more consistent than my old deltec i think because of the lower turbulence..

what size tank are you looking to skim, i must say the ATB is the best skimmer i have ever seen and i have virtually seen them all.

[OCMS]

Currently my system total is 290g.
And this leads into my future plans as I upgrade to a different tank, sump, and refugium. I will be bumping the sytem total to between 500-1000g depending on what we decide with the house rennovation over the next year. I am debating on 1 lg vs 2 smaller skimmers, and have been pouring over the online debates between the 2 different setups. I am currently looking most strongly at the ATB medium cone skimmer with my currrent setup, and adding another when I change the setup.

[uhuru]

ATB med is a great choice

[GSMguy]

2 mediums would handle pretty much anything you can throw at it, i would go for an extra tall now though and you could put a small or medium on as a booster later if needed.

that laguna 42000 airstar is just too cool.

[Saulsa]

At my LFS, the owner is running about 625 total volume on his 540 reef display and his ATB large is killing it with plenty of room to spare.. he's what convinced me to buy a ATB small.

if you're going to have 1000 total volume, id honestly recommend an XL until the talls come out. whats your time frame?

[OCMS]

Time frame is minimum 1 yr.
The issue with my current setup is that I only have enough available space for the medium, which will handle the current volume easily enough.

[GSMguy]

go for the medium then you will love it

[LesMartin]

Originally posted by OCMS
Thanks mojo. That is very informative, and answered my questions. I understand the cost issue, but was questioning the engineering design of the cone vs. cylinder.

PM Hahnmeister. I'm pretty sure that he had an input into the design of the ATB's

[OCMS]

The cone won me over.
I did the deed and called Victor.
Thanks to all for the advice and info.

[jfk198960]

Your post is in violation of the terms and conditions of use of this web site and has been edited. Further violations will result in revocation of your posting privileges.

[GSMguy]

looks like whoever builds the Warner Marines is selling them in china already, I wonder if Warner will finally get theirs or if they will change the design like they said.

[jfk198960]

This skimmer are sell period of time in China.
This China manufacture are OEM these skimmer for warner marine.
I don't know warner marine whether change the design?
Of course I hope they can make higher efficiency skimmer.

[SWSaltwater]

I am sure it is the same factory that Warner Marine is buying his at lol. The way it works in China, the name brand and the generics are spaced out by a feet feet and there is no other difference at all. Same thing with most industries, take flat screen TV's for instance.......

[jfk198960]

So, can anybody tell me , why WM always say these products 100% made in USA not in China. I even visit this factory.

For increase price or ???

[GSMguy]

no, warner says that the monster cone is made in USA they disclose that the rest are made in china.

also now we know that Warners markup is pretty big,

[Klaus Jansen]

Originally posted by areze
conical is expensive as hell, mostly because you only get it from a premium company, if octopus made one, I guess it would probably be cheap too.

does it work well? lol Im sure it does, you know what else works well? a bubble king or a euroreef.

for the money? flip a coin IMO.

No, ... a guest Acrylic Pipe is more expensive as a Cone, where made from PVC or PETG-Plates...


Best regards.. Klaus

[MSX-Rob]

Originally posted by mojo46825
The big cost in cone skimmers is from the thermal press they need to make the cone. at least this is what I have read from one of the skimmer company's website. ATB makes a good cone skimmer but it is a premium price as well. SWC will have the cone skimmer out in a couple weeks for a little less $$ starting at 749 i believe with a single pump and they are made with 1/4 acrylic. I was told this from on distributor. I havent see one yet to confirm this. Another skimmer in the owrks that will be out in about a month is from Waner marine will be there K1 skimmer. It looks very nice as well. Their has even been talks of bubble king making a cone skimmer too.
The cones are suppose to run more effecient. The design is suppose to cut down on turbulence and allow a better flow of the rise of bubble towards the top of the skimmer. Some have done a better job at this than others. Just be sure the research this fully as the cheapest cone that i have seen to be on the market will retail at 699, the cheapest one out as we speak is 949 for a small atb.
So as what I know at the moment here are the price for cones out and to come
ATB small w/eheim 1260 $949
SWC single sicce $749
swc dbl sicce $849
SWC askoll $999
Warner Marine K-1 $699 est retail
KZ REV $949
I hope this helps and get what works for you. Will a cylinder skimmer work well yes. Is it worht the extra money for a cone? I cant answer that yet. I dont know. I am leaning towards the warner marine skimmer, but in there forum they have two pics comparing their k1 cone and their as200 and the outcome looks very similar. Good luck with your research. I have done quite a bit here lately.

Your prices are not accurate.

Rob

[JasonD]

How noisey is the ATB small? Can you put it in the bedroom without disturbing the wife?

Jason

[GSMguy]

Originally posted by JasonD
How noisey is the ATB small? Can you put it in the bedroom without disturbing the wife?

Jason

It's really quiet eheim and silicone tube make a quiet skimmer

[mavgi]

Originally posted by Klaus Jansen
No, ... a guest Acrylic Pipe is more expensive as a Cone, where made from PVC or PETG-Plates...


Best regards.. Klaus

this is true ppl realy don't know what is made from .....