tank upgrade, skimmer upgrade too?

[poolshark181]

ok, so, my current tank didnt have a sump/fuge, so i had to get an aquac remora hob skimmer. now, my next tank, 40g breeder, will have a 20g sump/fuge. should i upgrade to a standard skimmer, or just keep using my hob skimmer? oh, also, i want it to be cost effective too, yeah yeah, i know you cant be cost effective in sw tanks, but the skimmer, well, yeah, heh.

 

[reeffreak]

You don't have to get a new skimmer unless your wanting to hide it with the sump.Can the Remora be rigged to hang on the rim of the sump?

 

[jb61264]

couldn't you build and position your 20g sump/fuge so you could still use your remora?...I've heard good things posted about the remora brand skimmers so you might as well try to use it.

i have a 40g breeder and love it...i also just happen to have a 20g sump/fuge that I custom built using a standard 20g tank...it sits below in my stand and has been working really well. I had an existing skimmer and just designed my sump/fuge so that it would hold it and its worked well so far. I also placed my tank away from the wall enough so that I could possibly plumb in a new skimmer at some point in the future.

 

[yote]

I agree.If theres any way possible,use the Remora.Mights as well save money where you can.

 

[Bifferwine]

If the Remora fits, use it. It's a good skimmer (more than enough for a 40 gallon tank).

 

[fishbait]

yup, that's what I would do. if you are using a 20 gallon tank converted to a skimmer, just hang it on the side. or if you don't want to hear the water crashing 3-4 inches from the side of the tank, build a small stand out of acrylic or glass and set the skimmer at the desired height inside the sump.

 

[McCrary]

If you are going to be using a 20 gallon sump upgrade the skimmer to in-sump style skimmer. Remora's use a spray injector to create foam which is far less effective than many of the needlewheel/pinwheels available. Octopus skimmers make a great skimmer for the price. A $150 Octopus will skim circles around the remora, so it will be more effective in the long run and the health of your fish and coral will show you the difference.

 

[fatman]

The Aqua C Remora is more than enough skimmer for a forty gallon with sump. The efficiency difference would take at least a year or more to provide a payback based on just electrical efficiency alone. Like about three years based on a cost of 20 cents per kilowatt hour. I have several needle wheel skimmers, they are OK, but nothing like great. I would place a needle wheel skimmer a little better for small, less than 200 gallon tanks. But Problems are more numerous with nearly all needle wheels than with Aqua C's small skimmers. Replacement needle wheels run around $40 each also. There are no parts but a small standard impeller pump to wear out in a Remora. Stay with the Remora until you need more filtration than it can provide. Then consider a quality needle wheel skimmer, not a cheap one. Octopus is a lower end skimmer, as are Turboflotors and Coralife. I own two Turboflotors and an Octopus, but not a Coralife.

 

[d.french]

if you get a in sump skimmer get the small octopus nw110
The Reef Stop - Octopus Needlewheel Skimmer NW110

 

[d.french]

The Aqua C Remora is more than enough skimmer for a forty gallon with sump. The efficiency difference would take at least a year or more to provide a payback based on just electrical efficiency alone. Like about three years based on a cost of 20 cents per kilowatt hour. I have several needle wheel skimmers, they are OK, but nothing like great. I would place a needle wheel skimmer a little better for small, less than 200 gallon tanks. But Problems are more numerous with nearly all needle wheels than with Aqua C's small skimmers. Replacement needle wheels run around $40 each also. There are no parts but a small standard impeller pump to wear out in a Remora. Stay with the Remora until you need more filtration than it can provide. Then consider a quality needle wheel skimmer, not a cheap one. Octopus is a lower end skimmer, as are Turboflotors and Coralife. I own two Turboflotors and an Octopus, but not a Coralife.

octopus perform very well seen different models at work, i own a extreme octopus int ps150 and a euro reef cs5-3 and both perform very well, ive seen people have to mod asm skimmers to get them to perform. I played will water levels in sump skimmers and both mine performed better in 8 to 9 inches of water so i put both sumps a 8 inches deep with risertubes all the way down so if anything i only need to raise them a hair. The only difference between octopus and euroreef or asm and others is octopus is made of thinner acrylic so as long as you dont plan on throwing it around they work great. I did use remora's and a remora pro but to get them to perform how they should you need to use rio 1400 on regular remora instead of on pro and use rio 2500 on the pro model if you really want to see some gunk i did on both mine which i just sold, i have a regular remora with rio 1400 for sale. Some people have problems with performance also cause you need to clean your skimmer pump and air inlet weekly or it gets clogged quick, and i run air silencers on both my skimmers.

 

[fatman]

:Cheers: You are right in saying the Octopus uses cheap materials in their construction, so does Turboflotor and Coralife. It does not take much to break thin extruded acrylic. I have broken acrylic sump material thicker than that used in the above skimmers pulling loose a tight piece of vinyl tubing from a bulkhead fitting and thereby having my elbow hit the sump walls whe the tubing came loose. I have also seen a lot of solvent welded seams give out in thin extruded acrylic equipment. And as mentioned they usually come with cheap Rio pumps and the like when you buy bottom end. I am not saying they do not work well as the whole design is simple and isn't hard to replicate. The hard part is finding a little twist that will make your make different from another to avoid copy right suits. Cast acrylic is a much better material and the benefits outweigh the costs if it is a first purchase. Plus any manufacturer who uses cast acrylic usually uses a better grade of pump(s) also. :twocents:

 

[d.french]

i was saying that remora uses rio pumps not octopus they got there own pumps that work just fine, its just easier for some who can't afford to spend 400 bucks on a deltec or euroreef when they can spend 169 bucks on a octopus skimmer. Of course we all like better skimmer but some of us wifes will kill us we spend to much money. i try to recommend good skimmers but i also like to recommend something a little less costly that still works great, octopus skimmer are getting very popular believe or not alot a talk about them on reef central.

 

[fatman]

I did not say they do not work well and are not sold at a fair price. I have seen Octopus skimmers and their web site, but I do not remember what pumps they use for which models, but I do remember that comparatively they are no better bang for your buck than the other comparably priced skimmers. It is basically average/midrange for an entry level needle wheel skimmer and not good enough to abandon another good skimmer to buy it regardless of the others method of producing good results. Cheap entry level skimmers are only going to put up with a little neglect and abuse and have shorter life expectancy than skimmers made out of better materials and using better quality pumps. It is just a matter of fact that they use cheap materials in the construction in order to sell them at the prices they do and still stay competitive in business with the other cheap skimmer producers. It is not cheap to advertise as much as is necessary to stay in business and still keep your investors happy, provide good wages and maybe even give vacation time for more employees than just your executives and management. I do not know of any lower priced skimmer manufacturers that use really good materials or pumps on their cheaper skimmers. Some manufacturers however even use cheap materials and pumps on their midrange and top of their line skimmers, and therefore should not be selling their products at the prices they charge. They are jacking people up based on the working ability of their cheaper product line and therefore making unfair profits. Because of this when people buy anything but bottom end products they should get something made with good materials and better grades of pumps. Materials like cast acrylic instead of extruded and Tunze or better pumps, not RIO, Enheim and Ocean Runner Pumps. I do not know of any existing manufacturers using good grade materials and pumps on poor performing products. The best skimmers are definitely produced by small manufacturers/operators. The prices are high but the features and quality that can be provided is more than the mass producers seem to want to provide.