Good Protein Skimmer

[hbright]

I have a 75 Gal reef that was started this past Feb. Everything is going fine but I havent bought a skimmer yet. Also, I have noticed that I am having trouble keeping nitrates down even though I do regular water changes and always use RO/DI water. My nitrates were 20ppm this morning and I changed 20Gal of water 5 days ago. I thought the skimmer might help with the nitrates so I have been shopping around. What's a skimmer some of you have had a good experience with? I'd like to stay in a moderate price range especially since I just bought my MH lights and 50 more LBS of LR all the past coulpe of weeks.......My funds are getting kinda low!!!!! Oh yeah, I don't want one of those hang on types.
Thanks for the info,
Heather

 

[kribbz]

i have a euroreef ES5-2 on my 65 and it works great! i got it from premiumaquatics.com for like $200 with shipping. In my honest opinion i would wait and save up some money and get a good skimmer because it is a very good investment. the two things in reef keeping i would suggest not skimping on price would be the skimmer and the lights. JMO

 

[hbright]

O.K. thanks for the info. What do you suggest doing about the nitrates?

 

[reefrunner69]

I have read good things about the EuroReef skimmers as well as the Aqua-C skimmers and TurboFlotors. I personally have used a Red Sea Berlin Classic skimmer and found it to do an adequate job.

As for the nitrates...what type of filtration do you have? How much LR and what is the depth of your sand bed? Have you considered adding a refugium?

 

[loganj]

I also like the Berlin Classic. It's a simple straightforward design that works. One thing you have to be careful with on that skimmer is not to overtighten the pipe nipple where it goes into the venturi...it will crack.

 

[PrettyFishies]

Can anyone give me tips on why my Berlin Classic would stop skimming? I get no more foam anymore....

 

[reefrunner69]

First guess would be the venturi is clogged. I take RO/DI water and stick the end of the airline tube in it, the water will washout some salt deposits, for tougher clogs I take a piece of stiff wire and break up the clog manually.

 

[miller_time]

I use the berlin classic as well and it has thus far done an excellent job and was at a fairly reasonable price...check out liveaquaria.com, they have pretty good prices on them

 

[PrettyFishies]

ok. stick the airline in while the unit is pumping?

 

[reefrunner69]

ok. stick the airline in while the unit is pumping?

Yes, rather than sucking the air, the venturi will suck the water in.