Three skimmers, which one wins?

[unknown]

So I'm trying to put together my order for my 100g mixed reef and can't decide on which skimmer is best. I've narrowed it down to these three but have never had one so I'm looking for a couple reviews on what you guys think.
First : Reef Octopus classic 200INT ran with a mag 5.
Second : Aquac EV-120 w/jg fitting ran with a mag 5
Third : ASM G-3

Now I haven't made the baffles in the sump yet so level isn't a issue. Anyone who has good or bad to say on these three skimmers please chim on with your .02 so I can choose which skimmer would work best for me.

Thanks guys

Vince.

 

[silverado61]

I don't have any personal experience with this particular skimmer but I've had nothing but awesome results from Reef Octopus products. I own two of their skimmers.

 

[pegasus]

+1 for Reef Octopus. No experience with AquaC, but have seen some good reviews on the EV-120. ASM is basically a knockoff of the EuroReef/Reef Dynamics skimmer. I've used EuroReef before, and as long as it's large enough, it does a good job. Sold my ER125 and upgraded to the current RO. No regrets. You'll need about 4 weeks of break-in with the RO to get maximum performance. I ran mine in a tub of saltwater from a water change for a solid month before bringing it online. Tried it at 2 weeks and it didn't do much, so I kept it out for another two weeks, while "seeding" it with bacteria from skimmate out of the ER. It was a beast after that. Still is...

 

[unknown]

So far it's,
Reef Octopus : 2
AquaC : 0
ASM : 0

When you talk about the break in period of the RO being roughly 4 weeks. are you saying I shouldn't put it on my system until I have ran the skimmer for roughly 4 weeks since it will be ineffective? Or will I just have to adjust and fine tune it every day until it's dialed in? And what do you mean "seeding" your skimmer?

Vince.

 

[flower]

Reef Octopus gets my vote....

You don't need a skimmer for the first few months of running a new tank. The break in period is when you do start to use a skimmer, it will not be set, sometimes it will overflow of bubbles, other times it seems like nothing, very little skim, you have to keep an eye on it, and adjust the knob to get the bubbles in the right place...This will take a week or two to "break in". Once it breaks in, and you find the sweet spot on the dial, you will pull out a bunch of skim, and not have to keep adjusting it...just empty the cup when it's full of skim.

 

[pegasus]

So far it's,
Reef Octopus : 2
AquaC : 0
ASM : 0

When you talk about the break in period of the RO being roughly 4 weeks. are you saying I shouldn't put it on my system until I have ran the skimmer for roughly 4 weeks since it will be ineffective? Or will I just have to adjust and fine tune it every day until it's dialed in? And what do you mean "seeding" your skimmer?

Vince.

New skimmers come with new pumps which have a "break-in" period before they function at full capacity. They will be cantankerous until they reach that point. When I "seeded" my skimmer, I basically seasoned it with live bacteria. This bacteria forms a slime coating on the inside of the skimmer which makes it more efficient. I knew nothing about this coating until I called to complain about my skimmer not creating any foamate after a couple of weeks. The guy I talked to was very knowledgeable about things like that, so he talked me into waiting a couple more weeks to see if it did, or didn't make a difference. It certainly did.

Knowing what I know now, I recommend putting it in the system as soon as the tank has cycled and there is a fish (or two) in it. Even though there won't be anything to skim right away, it'll allow bacteria to coat the inside of the skimmer body, as well as break the pump in... all at the same time. Just my 2c...

 

[snakeblitz33]

I'm guessing you have a sump.

DC pump skimmers are all the rage these days. Look into a RLSS skimmer or Skimz. You can control how fast the pump is, which may be a good benefit to have.

 

[engineer]

I have a reef octopus 200int and love love love it except the size, it's a monster. There are a couple little things that is do/design differently if I designed them, but they do work very very well.

 

[snakeblitz33]

I've had my skimz monzter mini sn123 for about a month now and it has pulled more skimmate than a bunch of my old skimmers, including the reef octopus.

I like the skimz but I feel like the 143 would be a better choice for a 100g tank.

 

[unknown]

I ended up with the Reef Octopus and absolutely LOVE it! It's still a new tank so it's not pulling out any dark thick skimmate, and it is a little big but it's in a 80g sump with plenty of room. I would highly recommend this skimmer.
Quick question though. There is a small amount of sand that got sucked into the skimmer and is sitting inside the main body of the cone. Is that going to be a problem to were I need to clean that out ASAP or does that type of thing happen every now and then?

 

[silverado61]

If it's sitting in the refugium are where there's sand you should probably move it to the sump area where there's no sand. It won't really have an effect on the skimmers performance that I know of but it could jamb up your pump and burn it out or ruin the impeller and/or needle wheel. I'd move it to be safe.

 

[unknown]

I have it in the first chamber were the DT overflow drains too so there is no sand in that chamber. I think It go into the skimmer when I added the last load of sand. I wasn't sure if it would hurt the skimmer or decrease it's performance though.

 

[snakeblitz33]

It shouldn't bother it much, but I would clean it out the next time you clean your skimmer.

 

[pegasus]

I have it in the first chamber were the DT overflow drains too so there is no sand in that chamber. I think It go into the skimmer when I added the last load of sand. I wasn't sure if it would hurt the skimmer or decrease it's performance though.

It's already passed through the pump, so there's no danger of it hurting anything or affecting the performance of the skimmer. However, you may want to think about putting filter socks on the overflows next time you add more sand. Just saying... lol!!!