[malawiMD]

I am looking to purchase an inexpensive skimmer for my sump. I saw a bunch of them on Ebay. Does anyone know if these cheap in-sump skimmers work?

Thanks

[Reefland]

Hi malawiMD,

I guess it depends on your definition of "works".

Inexpensive skimmers, unless buying quality name brands used from a fellow reefer, will perform like an inexpensive skimmer. They will foam, they will produce skimmate, but they will not produce large amounts of foam and large amounts of skimmate, which is critical to removing dissolved organic materials.

We spend thousands of dollars on our reef tanks, there is no reason to skimp on lighting and a skimmer to save a couple of hundred dollars in my opinion.

[malawiMD]

How much would a "good enough skimmer" for a 90 gallon cost? I plan on doing fish and coral.

[Reefland]

I would say you could get a really nice skimmer, an MR-1 comes to mind, for around $300.

[reddhaus]

Originally Posted by Reefland

I would say you could get a really nice skimmer, an MR-1 comes to mind, for around $300.

I know that the price tags on some of these skimmers may be very hard to justify. If you are just starting out it may seem out of the question to spend that much money for one piece of the puzzle.

In my experience I would say get the best skimmer you can afford. The skimmer is a very important piece of the reeftank puzzle. If you buy a cheap one you will get similar results.

When my brother was first getting into this hobby he was pretty much learning everything for himself. He didn't know anything about fellow reefers on "the boards". I was still into freshwater and didn't really know the first thing about reefs. The guy at the LFS, that is now out of biz, was not much help either. He must have went through 4 or 5 less expensive skimmers before he found one that worked well. If he would have taken all of that cash and bought the good one to start with, he might have even saved money.

I learned from his experience and bought an MR-1 to start with. I am very happy with it. If and when I up grade to a larger tank I will be purchasing another skimmer from Andy at MRC. He is a great guy to deal with and sells a great product.

As I stated before, get the best one you can afford. I know this is not the least expensive hobby to get into. That is why my reef was put together over a period of about 1 year. Do you know how hard it is to have a nice 125 gallon tank just sitting there empty for 3 or 4 months? Yep, them was some tough times.......

Good luck with the skimmer shopping. Let us know which one you decide to go with.

[da colts]

i have 2 red sea berlins 1 on my reef and 1 on my fish tank and they work great. you can find them for less than 200, but don't get the pump that is suggested(rio 2500)i have a surge 6000 running the reef skimmer(870gph) and a hf 17 running the fish skimmer(about the same gph as the surge) the secret to these skimmers is to over pump them a bit because of their small venturis, you could replace the venturi with a kent venturi but you don't have to.

[jiggly75]

Originally Posted by Reefland

I would say you could get a really nice skimmer, an MR-1 comes to mind, for around $300.

Where do you get the MR-1 skimmers?

[Sueet]

Originally Posted by jiggly75

Where do you get the MR-1 skimmers?

www.myreefcreations.com

[kevinpo]

For your tank I would use a AquaC Remora Pro with a Mag3 pump. I have tested many brands of skimmers and for the $ this one performs the best. It is rated up to 120 gal. tank. Price with pump $229.

HTH,
Kevin

[mikeb]

Ditto's on the aquaC pro. I have it in my sump and it just blows the waste right out of water!

[Poseidon]

Buy cheap, buy twice! Buy it right the first time and save the cash!