Berlin Protein Skimmer

[antikas]

I've been reading the forums for a while and noticed most everyone recommends against a $50 protein skimmer. I jumped in without knowing much and after spending close to $800 my wife started cutting me off. I had a lot of explaining to do just to get a skimmer lol. Anyway, I read the pros and cons and the Red Sea Berlin Air-Lift 90G protein skimmer looked like a good deal for the price.
I empty the resevoir every other day and it looks like/smells like sewage water so I assume it is doing what it is supposed to. But my question is, is there something I am missing? Most of the advise says it's a waste to buy a cheap one.

I have a 70G, Live Rock, 2 clowns, a Yellow Tang, inverts, and some red polyp mushrooms (low-light ones).

 

[XxKnuckleheadxX]

when you get your tank fully stocked it prolly wont handle your bio load.

 

[ndepratt]

$150 will get you a great protein skimmer for that tank. If you buy cheap from the start, you'll just end up having to replace it, and spending more money in the long run.

you get what you pay for.

 

[wontonflip]

It's definitely the low bioload. I have an old Berlin Classic Red Sea skimmer (bought it used, paid $30 for it, plus $50 for a good pump), and while it took ages and many headaches and whining in the forums for me to get it to skim properly, it's working great now...but then again, I have an extremely low bioload (2 clowns, a bengai cardinal, and 1 firefish...plus a few cuc), and it helps that i have a fuge that pretty much gets rid of all my nitrates.

But definitely listen to the advice here. Everyone's pretty detailed as to why they pick certain brands.

 

[Bifferwine]

You only have 3 fish in a 70 gallon tank. You're not going to be producing a lot of gunk with that number of fish. As soon as you start stocking more fish, the skimmer probably won't be able to cut it anymore. If you keep your bioload low, this is not a problem, and you can do just fine with a cheap skimmer (or even no skimmer at all). But most people don't have the control necessary to stick with only 3 fish in a tank that size!

And if you think it's producing a lot of sewage water now, I guarantee you, it could be better. If you got a better skimmer, it'd probably be producing 3 or 4 times as much gunk as your current skimmer, even with the same bioload as you have now. If your water parameters are good, then it doesn't really matter. But if your water parameters start to suffer, you'll know you need to upgrade skimmers.

 

[antikas]

Makes sense. Thanks all!