Bio System Power Filter & Oxy Surface Skimmer

hingreef

Reefing newb
Don't have a sump yet. Does anyone use anything similar to this? A hang on filter & skimmer combined??


Currently have a marineland emperor 280 & a Seaclone 100. Am not happy with micro bubbles in tank.
 
I'm not sure what it is, but you are better off getting rid of the Emperor and SeaClone and just getting a better quality hang-on-back skimmer. The Octopus brand is probably the best you can buy while not paying a lot.
 
No,no,no!

The only power filter/skimmer is a Skilter and it is crap.The filter/skimmer you are referring to is a surface skimmer where it pulls water at the surface to the filter.It is not a protein skimmer and even if it had one built in,it would be junk.

Yes,ditch the seaclone and emperor and use this instead.
CV-SRO-LX1000S Premium Aquatics
 
That looks really nice! You get what you pay for I suppose. Starting off, we didn't have a lot of info & just went with some of the cheaper/better rated products & they do the job, but they are not perfectly ideal.
 
Honestly, with a 40g tank I think you'd be fine with out a skimmer at all, as long as you're doing your regular water changes. Those HOB skimmers will take up a lot of room inside smaller tanks.
 
I could not imagine running a tank without a good skimmer, i always overstock and overfeed though so maybe thats why. I was given a Seaclone by a buddy and honestly i didnt like it because it is poorly designed. When i replaced the stock Maxi Jet 1200 with an Eheim the bubbles were reduced significantly however because these skimmers really should be run with a needle wheel.

If you dont want to throw lots of money into this skimmer i understand, and personally if i didnt have the Eheim laying around i would never have started messing with this skimmer after seeing the horrendous amount of microbubbles that it produces. If you didnt already know those Oddyssea power heads over at Aquatraders are Eheim clones complete with pretty decent ceramic needlewheels. Get the EX550 and it will power your skimmer. And cost you all of $15. (before anyone says that Oddyssea are Jebo and that they will burn down your house, i would like to point out that this is 2010 and they have come a long way, i even use their MH lights and trust the ballasts)

There are many mods that people do to these, and honestly they can be made into a pretty competent skimmer.... It just depends on how much time you want to spend messing with it. This guy gives the low down on the mods: Seaclone 100 and 150 modifications

BTW i think many people missed your question..... you were asking if many people use a hang on filter and a skimmer: I do on all of my tanks that are not drilled because i really like the BioSystem 15 Power Filter Plus Oxy Surface Skimmer because it is self adjusting and does a pretty decent job skimming the surface. (most of my tanks are nanos and so the self adjusting thing is super important to me as i dont have auto top offs on most of them and with super wet skimming and evaporation my water levels fluctuate significantly) I absolutely hate surface gunk and since i mostly use AquaC Remora's and their skim attachments are so finicky (especially for nanos) that it really seems the only option. But honestly i dont really see that putting filter media in one makes much difference, but i do occasionally run phosban in one since i dont have reactors for all my tanks (i do keep some carbon in there at all times not that i think it does much good)
 
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