Skimmer

[kgaz41]

I am ordering a skimmer today for my mixed reef tank that I'm working on slowly I do not plan on adding corals till I have my skimmer set up and runnin and my rodi unit so I don't have to make trips to the LFS every other week but my question is what is the best skimmer for around 200 bucks I was looking at the reef octopus? Any suggestions?

 

[Flaxon-Waxon]

In-sump or HOB? And for how many gallons?

 

[Schism]

If your looking for HOB (Hang On Back) then i definitely recommend reef octopus. Ive had the BH-1000 approx 2 years on my 29g mixed reef and its been a great skimmer.

 

[Flaxon-Waxon]

If your looking for HOB (Hang On Back) then i definitely recommend reef octopus. Ive had the BH-1000 approx 2 years on my 29g mixed reef and its been a great skimmer.

I have the same skimmer and agree. If you're looking for an in-sump, the Reef Octo NWB-series are very good, and the 150 will be what I run on my 75 gallon when it's set up, in my sump.

 

[kgaz41]

Deff in sump skimmer I prob gonna go with the reef octo... Also looking at the SWC skimmers

 

[kgaz41]

And it's a 75 gallon Tank along with the sump takes it to about 85-90 gallons

 

[Flaxon-Waxon]

Yea for $200... Reef octo NWB-150...

 

[kgaz41]

http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/reef-octopus-nwb150-6-pinwheel-in-sump-protein-skimmer.html this is the one I ordered but my question now is how do I get it fine tuned properly and to the correct settings?

 

[Flaxon-Waxon]

http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/reef-octopus-nwb150-6-pinwheel-in-sump-protein-skimmer.html this is the one I ordered but my question now is how do I get it fine tuned properly and to the correct settings?

It's gonna just be messing around with the air intake until you find the sweet spot... It's going to need to break in too keep that in mind. There's no set amount of air that works best, it depends on water, bioload, etc... I would tune it with a very dry skim first (lot of air) and run it for a couple days, and slowly make a wetter skim, and see what is pulling out the gunk, and not clear water...

 

[kgaz41]

So how to I get it tuned to pull out a wet skim or a dry skim and what is the preferred? Wet or dry skim?

 

[Flaxon-Waxon]

So how to I get it tuned to pull out a wet skim or a dry skim and what is the preferred? Wet or dry skim?

A wet skim would be less air, there will be a knob to adjust air flow. This will make very large wet bubbles and the collection cup will most likely full
up quicker with clearer water. A dry skim will be the really thick which foamy bubbles that will creep up very slowly. Ideally you would want to pull out about a cup of skimmate every few days, so there's not really a preferred, it's just getting yours tuned. Each are going to operate differently on different tanks...

 

[kgaz41]

Okay I gotcha one more question for ya.. What is the difference between the pinwheel skimmers and the recirculating ones this is the link of the one I'm getting just wondering what is better?http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/reef-octopus-nwb150-6-pinwheel-in-sump-protein-skimmer.html

 

[Flaxon-Waxon]

I would imagine the recirculating are "better", but what it does is has an external pump that feeds the water into it, and then another pump for the actual skimming... Could produce more heat transfer, and are just more to have to deal with... The NWB has 1 pump for intake and skimming. Much easier IMO and just as effective on a smaller tank like a 75. I think the recirculating ones are better for bigger tanks, and can skim more water due to the external pump pushing water through, not too sure though on that.

 

[LaWoWee]

Top 4 brands within a reasonable price range (IMO): 1)SWC, 2)Reef Octopus 3) Bubble Magus 4) ASM. Cant go wrong with any of them. I have a Bubble Magus and love it. Keeps my tank clean cuz its rated for 3x the size of my tank. I would consider upgrading to an SWC if I could get one for a cheap.

 

[kgaz41]

Well I didn't purchase anything yet I'm looking at reef octo and the SWC skimmers not to sure witch one I'm going with from my research the SWC has a better rating but both seem good the reef octo is 200 and rated for a 150 and mine is a 75 if u see any good prices on SWC let me know I'm looking around but all seem expensive

 

[Flaxon-Waxon]

Also keep on mind you can get free shipping for the reef octo from BRS... So in all actuality could save about $80-$100, and I bet you wouldn't see any difference between the reef octo and SWC... For that savings you can tack on a GFO reactor with a pump from BRS

 

[kgaz41]

That's exactly where I'm ordering the octo from along with some dry rocks love brs exp there point system thank you for all your help I also got my phosban reactor set up with my phosban media I have it barely tumbling do I know how the phosban media is i never used it before and Iam worried that I'm crushing the media. It barely tumbling in my reactor

 

[Flaxon-Waxon]

It's barely supposed to tumble, like the top layer if anything. Its soft and you will get fines in the tank if it's too fast. I think it's good at like 50 gph. If you look on BRS, there's a video with how to run GFO and carbon...

 

[Flaxon-Waxon]

The NWB150 has a decent sized footprint make
Sure you have enough space in your sump too

 

[kgaz41]

I know gfo and carbon runs at a good tumble but wasn't sure about the phosban media.. And do u know the foot print cause that's whT in ordering its a 20 gallon long for my sump