Protein Skimmer?

[djpj001]

Hello to all:

I'm looking to buy a protein skimmer- I've been checking several places on line. and I'm debating if I should buy a used or new one. I found on ebay the cheapest one in the box, which is a JEBO. I've heard mix reviews about this brand. And I'm very tempted to purchase it. So the question is, is Jebo a good brand for protein skimmers or can anyone recommend a good protein skimmer at a low price.

Thank you,

DJPJ001

 

[ReefWannabe]

youll get what you pay for. If your looking for cheap and decent skimming, look into the coralife super skimmers. Ive heard a ton of good reviews on them, and obviously a few not as good lol.

 

[minireefer]

youll get what you pay for. If your looking for cheap and decent skimming, look into the coralife super skimmers. Ive heard a ton of good reviews on them, and obviously a few not as good lol.

Agreed I really like the coralife skimmer I havepull alot junk out of the water

 

[sabotaged]

heres my take on the coralife..i have had both the 65 and the 125 and my conclusion is that if you are gonna use it for an in sump or hang on the sump its a heck of a skimmer but for hang on the tank it can present some problems because of its bulky size..performance is hands down. i am currently running an aquac remora with a prefilter box and i am very happy with that..the prefilter box is bulky but improves skimming

just my :twocents:

 

[djpj001]

re

great advice, thanks= I was also wondering how difficult is it to make your own protein skimmer. I've been web surfing on DIY skimmers and there's various plans to make one. I like DIY projects as long as I get a product that works at the end. So does anyone know a good DIY skimmer plan. Has anyone tried making your own protein skimmer and if yes was it complicated?

Thanks, DJPJ001

 

[ReefWannabe]

you could easily make an airstone skimmer in prolly an hour. They work ok. the more dificult ones though i havent looked into.

 

[fishman]

I run the Coralife Super Skimmer myself .I love it works great .Don't buy a cheap skimmer I agree with the others on u get what u pay for.

 

[ronboy]

Re: re

diy skimmer...i found a good site and its barr aquatics,they show you how to make a e.t.s.s. 600 or 800. not many sites show you how to make a exact duplicate of a $400-$600 skimmer.check it out

 

[NewbReefer]

A very good skimmer usually comes with a very good pump and you pay alot for the pump, so if you do a DIY with a crappy or to small of a pump it may not function to your needs. Coralife for the most part operates well enough for many tanks depending on there bioload, but like others have already stated, you get what you pay for, im big believer of that especially in this hobby.

What are you looking at keeping in your tank? just fish? fish and a few corals? or alot of corals and fish? for keeping mostly fish Coralife would be just fine.

 

[McCrary]

There is a lot subtlety in building skimmers and making them perform well. If you are going to take up building skimmers as a recreational thing than it can be really neat. But if you are simply looking to build one for your tank I might consider buying one instead. If you haven't been on RC you might consider going in and asking them about skimmers (lighting and filtration forum), especially good, cheap ones. Some of the guys who hang out there have a lot of experience and know more about skimmers than I think I would ever want to.

 

[RyanG]

You should look into a DIY Beckett style skimmer but keep in mind. Everything to build it is EXPENSIVE! Acrylic valves pumps injectors etc. You would probably be better off buying a needlewheels skimmer. For about 200 bucks you can get a decent Octopus or ASM g series skimmer and save yourself a headache and some money!

 

[ronboy]

i have a berlin triple pass venturi skimmer but it dosent work worth %[email protected] had a seaclone that produced more skimmate than this berlin. i have been on rc and that were i got the idea of building my own.i want a etss 600 or barr skimmer style.thanks for your input i appreciate it

 

[ronboy]

i just spent 200 on this damn berlin i hate so much.....

 

[d.french]

how deep of water is it in, i had a classic berlin that did awesome but it was in 8 inches of water, in sump not hang on.

 

[ronboy]

its in the sump...its under about a foot of water.

 

[RyanG]

Have you adjusted the water depth? I would play with it a bunch before I gave up on a 200 investment.

 

[ronboy]

ya know i have done evrything i could think of. when you first plug it in it works sweet, massive bubblesand a lot of skimmate for only around an hour.then the bubbles start to dissapear then eventually nothing.its brand spankin new w/mag 7.i have read the instruction 100 times and nothing changes.could it just be defective in some way.or i just have bad luck.

 

[d.french]

i don't know about a foot of water, i had mine in 8 inches and the guy i got it from had it in 9 inches. So far i have read in sump skimmer being in 6 to 10 inches of water never a foot, can you put something under it to raise it up higher. plus make sure your air line is out of water and clean. Salt creep will build up in air line so dump hot ro water in air tube to dissolve build up every so often.

 

[McCrary]

I would go out and get a MSX-200, that should be able to handle your tank pretty well. They run around $350, which is definitely some coin, but it should be able to handle your tank and you won't have to keep shelling out cash to replace skimmers that don't cut it.

 

[fatman]

The Corallife skimmer is about the best bang for your buck. An octopus needle wheel is better made but more expensive. A Turboflotor has the best pump between an Octopus and the Turboflotor but the Turboflotor is made of cheaper plastic just like the Corallife. An ASM also is made of cheap extruded plastic. The above skimmers all pretty much perform close to each other. The technology is the same and the pump capacities are pretty near the same. Adjustments are made differently with each skimmer other than taht the only differ in their materials and pump qualities. A really good needle wheel could be made using good cell cast acyrlic tubing and a replacement pump sold for a Turboflotor, but it would cost as much or more than any of the before mentioned skimmers not including any tools you might need to buy to make the skimmer. Some people are still making homemade skimmers out of PVC pipe and fittings with Becketts (fountain foam jets), but it is hard enough to run a skimmer well when you cn see inside it and you can not see inside a PVC skimmer. A Beckett is also noisy and inefficient, but cheap for the large capacities they can handle. However, operation costs for Beckett type skimmers are higher than for any comparable capacity needlewheel skimmer.