Need new skimmer

I am looking into getting a really good skimmer for my tank. My dad is willing to go in half on it for me so basically what I am asking is what skimmer would be best for my tank. I have a 120g tank and 40g sump.

My livestock is
1 Blue Hippo Tang
1 Foxface Rabbitfish
2 occ clowns
2 lyretail anthias
1 pajama cardinal
1 chromii
1 leopard wrasse
1 blood shrimp
1 royal sea urchin
1 royal gramma
various snails
And hope to be getting a red carpet anemone and Achilles Tang

What would be the best skimmer for my tank, I plan on keeping various sps and LPS corals as well as hard anemones.

I was looking into Precision Marine bullet XL-2 skimmer but I don't think that it could match up to some of the newer models out.

 

So you probably only have about 120g actual water volume. Most common sizes can reach up to 180g.... or you can still do a little over that.

An inexspensive line would be Vertex IN 180 or 200. I'm not aware of other low buck lines up to that point. Best bang for buck

Look at Reef Octopus extreme or XP if you want a cone. A 3000 series would do you well. I think a 5000 series would be too much. Even one of their 2000 series with the new Sicce 1000 would work for you. Not as much head room but still in your range. Great price performance and build.

You could look at a SWC 230 cone with the Askol pump. It is a nice pump and a space saver design. That design actually down grades the pump performance, but that is actually good for you because that pump is capable of out doing your tank. Same build as a Reef Oct, but pump is a little better.

If you want one of the best on the market now, look at a ATB 840. Very very good skimmer and perfect for your size. New Sicce pump too modified by ATB which is even better than before. If you have the money for one, it's the only one to look at. No compromises.

If you must spend more money, look at a Bubble King Mini 180. Again a very very good skimmer, but cost more than the ATB and those are not exactly cheap.

Any of them would do you well, just depends on how much you want to spend.

I'm not a fan of spray injection skimmers or becketts. They work fine, but a needle wheel skimmer can do the same job with much less power use and much less heat added to your tank. Not as finicky to adjust either.

 

BashSea will be coming out with a BluDemon soon run by Sicce PSK 1000
For right now their needlewheels and becketts are awesome!
I know becckets are "not popular" but they sure skim and skim and skim!
BashSea TWISTED 6" x 30" Beckett Skimmer: Amazon Stingrays and Aquarium Supplies
Bashsea

 

I'll second the reef octopus skimmers. I did alot of research trying to find the best performance on a budget, and octopus skimmers were right up there. Love it now.

 

So why recommend a skimmer that uses a 80w Mag 9.5 to do the exact same job (less according to BashSea specs) that a 21w Sicce can do?

 

Thanks, I might try and talk my dad into the ATB

 

As with "thepanfish," I really do like Beckett-injected skimmers. I am not at all convinced that the "newer" skimmers are as effective as some older styles. As they may not be as effective, they may not reallly be much more efficient.

As an example...I recently bought a Precision Marine RL-150. I also own a Precision Marine Bullet-1. These are both rated to 150g tanks. However, there really isn't much of a debate about which performs better. The Bullet will run circles around the RL. The argument about wattage becomes almost moot. The RL pump pulls something like 45 watts. I run a Marineland 5500 on the Bullet, which pulls something like 75 watts. Not exactly a huge difference in the grand scheme. In terms of electricity, were talking about a dollar or so a month difference between the two. Admittedly, the RL may draw more air than the Bullet (although I don't even know this with certainty), but only process about 1/3 of the water that the Bullet does. Let's just say that, in terms of processing, the RL processes more air, the Bullet processes more water. I suspect that, theoretically, the argument can be made that processing more air would be preferred. However, I would say that "the proof is in the pudding (skimmate)" and that theory doesn't do a whole lot for me when the evidence indicates otherwise. So, quite honestly, at maybe $2 difference in operation cost, I believe that the Bullet's performance far outweighs this cost difference.

Now, if we are talking about a very particular pump, we may save another dollar or two in electricity. However, we would be forced to consider a very particular skimmer if we were purchasing a new one (as most come "paired"). If that skimmer was not one we were particularly interested in, well, we have a bit of a problem. Alternatively, if we purchased the pump separately, we would have to invest a bit more money. And exactly how long would it take to see a return-on-investment?

Consider the argument about heat reduction. I mean seriously, I have a monster heater that runs quite a bit. Am I really that concerned about heat "reduction?" Not generally (I have never run a chiller). Perhaps some folks need be more concerned about heat "reduction." However, I have run halides for many years, and have still always required heaters. So, if the bigger pump required for the skimmer produces a bit more heat, does it not save a bit of electricity that would otherwise be required to run the heater more frequently?

Now, there is at least one advantage which is unique to "non-newer" skimmers? I have an SWC cone skimmer, which may be one of the best skimmers I have ever owned. Unfortunately, I would not even consider running it without an ATO. With the Beckett-injected and downdraft skimmers I have, or have had, I would have no issue with running them without an ATO. So, add $100 to the cost of the "new" skimmer, as an ATO is nearly required. (This, of course, assumes that the ATO would not be purchased regardless of skimmer choice.)

All things considered, my final conclusion would be that nothing has been concluded conclusively. However, I more than willing to entertain all thoughts. Although I will entertain these, please understand that getting yucky-stuff in the cup is worth more than any argument (and I think the corals agree).

Just some things to think about.

Feel free to call me a moron if you like. I have been called worse.;D

 

OK.... first off using a Redline skimmer as a model of a modern needle wheel is a bad idea to begin with. Much better skimmers on the market. Next... PM, which I like, states that those two skimmers will do the same tank. Now either the Bullet is under rated or the RL-150 is overrated, but hard to say a company is doing either with their own products they promote, build, and sell.

I have said quite often Becketts do in fact work well, but that there are better choices. Where Becketts tend to shine is on large tanks. Due to the fact that they do process more water. Seems that they are not as efficent as a good needle wheel, but they make up for that on larger tanks just by the sheer volume they move. Problem with that is that on larger tanks, it takes a very large pressure pump to use them, and large sytems already use lots of power and have lots of heat to deal with.

Modern needle wheels do not need the long contact counter current designs of the past. Their sheer brute strength of mixing air and water makes up for long large contact volumes. So todays skimmers can accomplish the same job in a smaller space. That is not to say though that todays Becketts are huge and too big. Just talking about older designs versus newer.

The argument of the ATO is quite off base. There is no skimmer on this planet that will give consistent performance with inconsistent water levels. There is no manufacturer on the market that would dare claim different. Everything a skimmer does is based on pressure and water level variations vary performance.

I don't need a ATO to have a constant water level... all I need is a baffle. A large majority in this hobby would suggest running a ATO and none of those reasons would have to do with skimmer performance.

That's great that you do not have a heat problem.... many many people do. I have always said pump heat is not waste heat if you still need to run a heater. However, to many, 60-100 watts of pump heat can be the difference between forking out for a chiller and not. Also... when looking at the overall power use and efficiency of a sytem, cutting operating costs and heat input adds up much more. Running a chiller to remove chiller pump heat and skimmer pump heat when you didn't need it to begin with is not a good way of doing things. I didn't need a chiller on my 90g with 2x250 w MHs. I needed heaters at night and a fan durring the day. I didn't need another heater sitting in the tank. I was running a AquaC 120 with a mag 7. a Mag 9.5 return and a Mag 7 chiller pump..... going to a Ehiem 1262 return and a BK 160.... I cut nearly 200 watts of heat input that was running 24/7/365 and that does not include the juice my chiller was using.

For every person that says their AquaC or Beckett is not finicky.... I can give you two more that finally get fed up with costantly adjusting them. Spray injections are notorious for being finicky and inconsistent. Todays standard needle wheels are litterally set and forget. Much much easier to use. I never touched mine and they were all 100% consistent.

So it isn't that Bcketts do not work well. I have always said that they are fine bubble makers.... however, looking at all the factors, modern needle wheels give more consistent performance, with less power use and arguably produce a better finner bubble than Becketts. That is from my own experience and from the experience of those that have had every type skimmer out there. We can always argue individual opinions, but there is a ton of info and experience out there that bear this out.

And just because you hold a different opinion than me does not = me thinking you are a moron.

 

Sorry for starting this guys! I like becketts for larger systems as powerman said, since the BashSea stuff is built by him for his customers HUGE tanks. He is coming out with a Blu Demon in a few that will be needlewheel run by 2 sicces but skims like CRAZY.
Just got a new Bashsea Blu Demon Needlewheel Skimmer w/pics - Michigan Reefers

 

It's all in fun, my friend. No need to apologize at all.

In fact, I agree with absolutely everything that Powerman has said. I have quite a few skimmers, and have had many over the years. As I noted before, I have an SWC, which stands at the very top of my ranking across any of them. Note that Powerman also noted that Beckett-injected skimmers suffer from fewer of their limitations in some cases. So, please don't feel there is a need to apologize.

Hopefully, the take-home message is that there are always caveats in this hobby. For example, I know that a skimmer such as the SWC can't be easily acquired/used by all hobbyists (they aren't exactly free-to-cheap, and mine barely fits in my 80g sump). Conversely, there is no way I could run the Bullet on one of my systems, as it would have to be placed outside the tanks (or be too tall to fit in the system). There is just no way I can place it outside the tank, as it would take up too much space where the system is. The list of "issues" across different systems, that people might run into, could be increased indefinitely. What all of this boils down to, for me, is that there are frequently decisions that have to be made based on what might be available/accessible/usable, given hobbyists needs/wants. My only hope is that readers here can make decisions with knowledge of others' experiences, given some of their previous thoughts and observations. Hopefully someone, somewhere, at some time, will gather some information here that will be useful to them.

As a side note, I do apologize for not having revisited this sooner. Someone near to me just experienced a horribly tragic death. My body and brain have been elsewhere.