New skimmer

I have four recommendations for you in order of preference. The first is an external skimmer, the rest are HOB....

**DAS EX-1
**Aqua Medic Turbo Flotor-1000 Multi SL
**AquaC Remora Pro
**Octopus BH-100F

 

thanks for the responses, if i have a 55gallon tank do i need to get a skimmer for a 90 gallon tank...thats what the lfs is telling me, another thing is my budget that was given by my wife was about 150.00 to 175.00 dollars

 

A good, cheap skimmer, believe it or not is the Coralife Superskimmer 65.... I know many of you will knock it but it is probably one of the best skimmers you can get for ~$100.

Eshopps new HOB looks very nice, and inludes a bubble plate. I have one coming in this week to play around with so I will try to post some pics and let you know how it is.

If you do go with the SS65, I would take off the bubble diffusor and add a filter sock w/ carbon in it. Less obtrusive, and you accomplish chemical filtration that way.

Good luck!

 

how about MTC skimmers...what is the difference between an external skimmer and a HOB

 

a hob skimmer is designed to function hanging on the back of your tank. a external skimmer is just designed to function out side the sump sitting on its own. so some may require you to drill a sump so they can get flow to them. but i guess technically a hob is external also.

i dont know how many would actually require you to drill as i always go insump or hob.

 

MTC or MRC? I ask because its a common typo and both make skimmers. MTC makes the HSA line and MRC makes the MRC line. HSA's are Becketts. The majority of MRC's are Becketts but they (MRC) has recently come out with the Ocean Force series that is based on a needlewheel pump instead of a Beckett.

The drawback to the becketts are that they tend to be noisy and draw a lot of electricity (compared to needlewheels) because they require pressure where needlewheel/venturis use flow to draw in the air.

The smallest HSA is rated for a 200 gallon tank so it may be overkill on a 55G tank.

The CSS65 could barely handle the 55G softie tank I had it on before we moved it to a 30. It does super on the 30G tank but its simply not sufficient for a 55G tank unless you do all the mods on it that you can. Even then, its borderline for a 55, especially if it ends up heavy stocked or SPS. If you go CSS, either the 65 or the 220, don't get the 125 as it is the worst of the three ironically.

 

whys the 125 the worst? mine worked fine, the only difference between the 125 and 220 is the chamber shape they use the same pump.

 

I think its mainly because the mods have less effect on the 125. Its probably the closest to being to its max potential and modding it seems to be futile.