My first ever saltwater tank

i run a seaclone 125 as a "spare" for my 90 Gallon cube, i have heard loads of trash talk about it, but to be honest I got great performance from it, are there better skimmers ? oh yes there are indeed, but for a new tank, with only fish, i think the seasclone will get you going and then some.

 

The 65G model would be awesome if it is a good one. It is cheap, hang on, and oversize for my tank! Anyone have anything against this one ?
Aquarium Protein Skimmers: Coralife Super Skimmer Needle Wheel Protein Skimmer

 

Here is the new setup for the rock. The one in the center looks sketchy but it is actually really stable there and just to make sure it doesn't go anywhere I plan to chisel into the round rock and bury the left side down into it.

Also, I got back from petsmart a little bit ago, I was headed for a dead shrimp and figured id get a water test to be sure I was doing them the right way, I was, but the guy at the store told me my water was good and I should go ahead and put in fish. I told him I was sure it hadn't cycled yet only being a few days in, but he said to wait 2 days check it again and then add fish. any thoughts on this, I think he is crazy!

p.s. I put a dead shrimp in anyway.

 

Well he is crazy, good instinct on your part in a big way. Give it quite awhile and then start with some hermits, then snails then 1 fish.

That scape is much better, boulder shapes should always go on the bottom.

 

Yes, that is the exact model I recommended you to avoid :-/

I could not get mine to skim for crap in my 46BF. I replaced it with an Eshopps PSK-75H after it overflowed for the 4th time and did some water damage on the floor below. 10 times happier now.

The 65 now is on my 10 gallon QT, basically for extra water volume and to increase oxygen in the tank.

 

Well I think I'm going to go with either the bak-pak 2 or the eshopps then, will likely be whichever is cheaper when the time comes.

 

The coralife is redesigned and mine skims like crazy! It would be perfect for your tank. I ignorex all trash talk and I'm glad I did.

 

It has 4.5/5 stars on foster & smith but I have heard bad things too. Would it be worth trying for the cost of it? If it sucks I could always send it back and get a different one. Most likely the eshopps b/c I haven't heard anything negative about them yet.

 

Dennis, I only trash talk from experience When did they revise it? I just checked, and it looks like the discharge has been revised. However, I still have my gripes with it. The union to take off the skimmer cup is not a good design IMO. It was never easy to take it off, nor to get it so it did not leak. Second, the valve for the pump flow rate is in the water. For someone with a covered tank, it is very difficult to adjust. I much prefer to just adjust the output out of the water and be done with it.

So although with the redesign it may actually skim well for you (I could never get mine to at all as mentioned), I still think there are much better designs out there. I suppose if someone is on a tight budget it may be just fine to start out.

 

I think its a great skimmer for the cost. I got my 65 for 75 dollars shipped new in the box. I agree there's much better out there but cost is always an issue. My box said something about the needle wheel is redesigned? I know when I set up my large tank a reef octopus is going in the sump