Recommended skimmers?

[Thrawn]

Hey guys, I was just curious what type of skimmers people would recommend. My tank is 90 gallons. As far as corals it will probably be mostly softies and LPS. The skimmer would be in the sump, I don't have room for a huge one, the top of my doors are 23.5" tall. Somebody from the LFS told me to go with the Reef Octopus 110 or 150. I would like to keep the price fairly cheap, the above ones are both roughly $200 or cheaper, but I could go a little higher than that. Does anybody have any better suggestions?

 

[Peppie]

There are so many skimmers on the market that will work for a 90 gal tank. There are also different types of skimmers that could be used.

I would suggest Reef Oct. They seam to get good reviews.

" THEY " say you should get a skimmer that is rated for twice the water volume of your system. So lets say you have a 90 gal tank and a 20 gal sump. The skimmer you should purchase will be rated for appro 220 gal.


Go shopping on line and find a few that meet your height , price, and water volume. And post a thread in the equipment forum and more than likely " SKIMMY " has done a review on that skimmer. If he has not, he will set you straight.

 

[colin779]

There are a lot of skimmers out there. I ended up going with a SWC Extreme 160 cone. I believe I paid in the $275 range for it, but it was rated for a heavily stocked aquarium much larger than mine (90 gallons). Skimmy had recommended that one or another one by SWC. It was essentially the same skimmer but not the cone version and it was $199 I believe. I think it was the bnk 150 or something like that. I am very happy with the quality and performance of my skimmer =)

 

[Crack31]

I believe you are reffering to the SWC BMK 150.
I just upgraded to a 90 gallon SPS tank. I went with the SWC 160 Cone.
There have been a few complaints about start up issues with this skimmer. However, I have not run into this.
So far I am very happy with the skimmer.

 

[JJMoneyman]

I have a BMK 150 and it is a very good skimmer for the price. In regards to the start up issues I can attest to it personally, sometimes when you turn it off to clean the cup and turn it back on it doesn't start back up right away. Sometimes 30 seconds later it's on, sometimes I beat on it and it comes back on. I don't turn it off very often and most of the times I do it comes right back on but it's always a risk when I do. In the past year I've pulled the pump and cleaned it a total of once.

 

[colin779]

I believe you are reffering to the SWC BMK 150

Correct! I was almost asleep last night when i was posting, at least its coherent =)

I have a BMK 150 and it is a very good skimmer for the price. In regards to the start up issues I can attest to it personally, sometimes when you turn it off to clean the cup and turn it back on it doesn't start back up right away. Sometimes 30 seconds later it's on, sometimes I beat on it and it comes back on. I don't turn it off very often and most of the times I do it comes right back on but it's always a risk when I do. In the past year I've pulled the pump and cleaned it a total of once.

I only had mine not restart once, and pump was due for a cleaning anyways so i cleaned it and it fired right back up =) Mine only gets restarted about twice per month when i do water changes, I don't shut it down when i clean the cup, i just leave it running and once the cup is back on wipe it off.

 

[YamahaF934]

PM sent

 

[Skimmy]

Hey guys, I was just curious what type of skimmers people would recommend. My tank is 90 gallons. As far as corals it will probably be mostly softies and LPS. The skimmer would be in the sump, I don't have room for a huge one, the top of my doors are 23.5" tall. Somebody from the LFS told me to go with the Reef Octopus 110 or 150. I would like to keep the price fairly cheap, the above ones are both roughly $200 or cheaper, but I could go a little higher than that. Does anybody have any better suggestions?

hello!!
so, a skimmer for 90g, and you are looking at the octopus 150(octo 110 is crap)...
octo 150 is pretty decent, but, i do think the SWC bmk 150 is a better skimmer for the same cash.
both skimmers have cheaper chinese made pumps, but all in all they are pretty good.
i think your best bet for that tank would be one of the following;
Warner marine skimmer
Seaside Aquatics CS2 Skimmer [SS#CS2] - $349.00 : Affordable Aquatic Supplies LLC
CV-XS-200 Premium Aquatics - CV-XS-200 Aquarium Supplies
CV-SRO-2000INT Premium Aquatics - CV-SRO-2000INT Aquarium Supplies