Red Sea Prizm protein skimmer

[Smonkey15]

anyone have this and know if it's any good for a 90 gallon tank? i'm trying to avoid having to spend like $250 on a skimmer and i've heard good things about this skimmer. some have said the older model is noisy but i read that the new model has fixed that problem. if this one is no good, what is a good, efficient, fairly quiet hang on skimmer that would be suitable for a 90 gallon and not cost a fortune? thanks

 

[steve-s]

Have you been >>here<< lately. You might be able to get a great skimmer at a much better price...

To answer your question though, I would not suggest the base Prizm model. For a 90 gal tank, you would be better off with the Prizm Pro model which is a decent skimmer but not the greatest available.

Cheers
Steve

 

[loganj]

I agree with Steve. IMO, a standard Prizm is about maxed on a 30g tank. Either a Prizm Pro or an Aqua C Remora Pro. Berlin makes a good HOB skimmer, but you're getting up there pricewise with it. I do have a customer who uses a Prizm Pro on a 75g reef. She is getting good results although there were some initial issues with getting it properly adjusted. Whatever you buy, invest in a surface skimmer to go with it. This will increase the efficiency of the skimmer by allowing it to pull only the water from the surface which is where most of the DOC's will be.

 

[captivereefs]

When ever i sell one to some one I tell them not to run it on anuthing over a 29G. It is a good skimmer after it breaks in; which can take 1-2 weeks. After break in it may need constant adjustments for a week or so. After that it seems to run fine. If you do adjust it wait at least an hour befor messing with it again because it takes that long to stabalize.Also make sure the collection cup is cleaned at least every three days or the foam won't make it past the crud on the neck of the cup. It is also kinda loud. You can fix this by running the air line down under your stand. I have one one my sons 26 reef and like it. It has drawbacks but every skimmer does. I sell the Prizm and the Aqua-c remora series skimmer. As well as a few more hang on skimmers and must say the Red sea is the smallest and least powerful. The aqua-c is pretty quiet and the absolute best performer.

 

[Smonkey15]

i was checking out the flow rate of the remora pro skimmer and i'ts like 110 gph. why is this so low and hwo can it still be efficient? other skimmers have rates as high as 1200. whats the deal?

 

[Smonkey15]

also, when remora says they sell an optional surface prefilter, is this the same thing that you were talking about when you said to get a surface skimmer loganj? thanks

 

[loganj]

Yes, the surface prefilter is the same thing as the surface skimmer. What is important with skimmers, more than the amount of water they flow, is the contact time that the water has with the bubbles. If you're forcing too much water through the skimmer, it goes through so fast that it doesn't shed the DOC's onto the bubbles. The name of the game is to have the water molecules slam into as many bubbles as possible. One advantage to the Remoras is they use an air injector instead of a venturi. It's like holding a garden hose with a reducer over a bucket of water...the high speed water jet slamming into the water in the bucket makes tons of tiny bubbles.

 

[fishfreek]

i was checking out the flow rate of the remora pro skimmer and i'ts like 110 gph. why is this so low and hwo can it still be efficient? other skimmers have rates as high as 1200. whats the deal?

Idont think i have seen a skimmer within the same class as the remora that is rated at 1200gph. The remora with a MJ1200 PH has the ability to process approx 295GPH since thats what the MJ is rated at. There is obviously some loss due to the resitance of the injector but i dont think its a loss of 185GPH.