Looking for recomendations on skimmers

[jeez2474]

Hi, i have been doing freshwater for around a year now and recently made the jump to saltwater.

I have a 135g tank with probably around 150lb cured rock and another 100 uncured, and around 150lb of live sand. Its been running for around 2 days.

I have been doing my own research, as of now i am looking at the aquac-ev series.

I was hoping to get some input from some more experienced reefers regarding which skimmer is best.

Thanks- Kevin

 

[depitch]

Welcome to reef frontiers.

The best thing for a beginner to SW is put money into good skimmer and lighting.

1st thing to ask is what size sump?
How much clearance under the tank do you have?
What type of tank Reef of FOWLR?

You may need an external skimmer. :doubt:

Many people use MRC, ASM, Deltec, Bubble King and Octopus skimmers to name a few. For a 135gal tank you may need a skimmer rated fo at least 200-250 gallons.

BTW

Have you considered how much flow(circutation) you will need??

HTH

Doug

 

[NC2WA]

Kevin,

What is the budget? Personally, there are better skimmers on the market than an AquaC-EV. The ones depitch mentioned are fine.

With the exception to the lights, purchasing a skimmer will be the single most important piece of equipment for your tank. Bubble King, Deltec and H&S skimmers are the higher end skimmers but worth the money (IMHO). (I have a H&S 250 skimmer for my 375g tank, and love it !!).

 

[luke33]

I'd go with a nice NW skimmer. I'd pass on large pump driven becket's and definately on teh aquac. I would also avoid meshmod's as they eventually become a pain and no two work alike. If your on a budget a sicce driven PW skimmer will work well. If your not on a budget i would look at a laguna, askoll or Red dragon pump driven skimmers. But personally there's no need to spend a grand on a skimmer unless you go over 500+ gallon tanks.

 

[aquariumdebacle]

ALL the expensive units quoted are overpriced and overvalued.
Go with your original Aqua-c which are ozone compatible. If you want to go cheap the ASM product is plenty capable just oversize the skimmer for whatever project you are considering. THERE IS ABSOLUTELY NO WAY TO OVERSKIM!

 

[jeez2474]

1st thing to ask is what size sump?
-No sump
How much clearance under the tank do you have?
-30 inches
What type of tank Reef of FOWLR?
-Reef, and im not sure what FOWLR stands for, but it will be a reef tank once up and running.

---------
The tank is not new, i bought most of it from a local guy.

He told me with all the coral that i dont need a sump. His coral was cured, i had about 100lb uncured which is in there right now.

Currently there is about, 1385gph of circulation, and i am getting a wavemaker from a friend tommorrow.

I would prefer to keep to price in the 300$ range, so yes i suppose that would be on a budget.

For lighting i am running a 60 inch 4x65 Watt Current USA PC Orbit Fixture

I never realized the skimmer was as important as it seems, maybe i wait a few weeks while the tank stabilizes itself and save some more cash.

Oh and thanks for all the replies, i appreciate the advice.

 

[luke33]

So you need a hot skimmer. For a 135g tank there's only a few out there that can handle that tank. The turbofloater blue hot, cnc 125h. Those are the only two out there imo that could handle that size of tank.

 

[NC2WA]

Kevin,

FOWLR= Fish Only With Live Rock
HOT= Hang On Tank
HOB= Hang On Back

CNC is a good brand skimmer.

 

[BobinCovington]

I think warner marine makes a HOT skimmer. I have the AS 150 in sump model and just fired it up. It sure seems like it is working, but no bio load in my tank yet

 

[Skimmy]

listen to luke, for that size tank in a hob skimmer, this is the only one you want....

http://www.shop.reeffiltration.com/product.sc?categoryId=2&productId=1

worth every penny!!!

the warner marine skimmers are excellent, but rated only up to 80g