Coralife Super Skimmer, Fact or Fiction

[reefexpert]

I would like to dismiss once and for all the negative comments made on many reviews laughing on the Coralife Super Skimmer 65G. This product is not only very inexpensive, but it is very simple to setup and to start skimming efficiently. I have been in the aquarium hobby for over 20 years, and I've had my share of expensive Berlin skimmers and such, and this one performs as good if not better

 

[reefkprz]

they do work they also have a tendancy to overfill causing flooding if you have it set up in the HOB setup. I have had one for years and had several flood accidents because the skimmer is so touchy if you simply bumb the knob while doing something else 2 hours later while your at work it keep pumpin water, all over your floor.
I am sorry to say you cannot "dispell" fact, these skimmers are plauged with quirks. the flooding the bubble trap having to be cleaned constantly. I have one and it works great as long as your aware of the potential problems and yes there are problems. I have never had my berlin 220 or aquac remora do the same things. it does "skim" with the best of them but it has many other problems that maybe you just havent owned one long enough to figure out.

 

[stanlalee]

they arent cheap, they WERE cheap. when they came out the 65 could be had for $79 and the SS125 which I purchased at the time cost $107. I thought it was by far the best $107 skimmer but then they had a price hike and the skimmer when from $107 to $170. NOW that its rumoured they are going out of business everybody has them on sale close to the original pricing. during that time they where high lots of superior skimmers for simular money became or where already available. Who's going to choose a $170 SS125 over a $170 Octopus NW-150 or at the time $190 ASM G1?
Anyway its nothing to write home about. yes it skims decently but it has too many hang ups that are where liveable and acceptable at $107 that werent at $170. strike one: the air intake path gets clogged too easily with salt. Not unique to coralife but due to its hypersensitivity it overflows without warning when this happens where my current skimmer simply decreases performance gradually enough to give sufficient warning. I ended up dremeling out the strainer air port which almost completely prevented the overflowing and learned to be able to tell if it was clogging just by listening to the air intake sound. strike two (which everything else wrong with it is related to): WAY to sensitive to EVERYTHING. too sensitive to water level. needs constant adjustment EVEN with ATO, everytime my ATO kicked on and raised the water level .25" the skimmer level would raise way up. I ended up setting it up convervatively (less performance) to make up for the hypersensitivety to my ATO. this skimmer needs to be set up in a compartment that does not fluctuate at all (which I would have built if I had known after the fact). too sensitive to adjustments. a millimeter turn should not cause a half inch rise in the skimmer. causes constant fiddling and 4x a day adjusting. too sensitive to back pressure. If your silly enough to use the bubble diffuser one wrong adjustment and/or clogged up diffuser will cause back pressure overflowing the skimmer. Now backpressure will overflow any skimmer but not 1" between perfectly fine and a floor full of water. the skimmer does skim okay but its a headache to the point I used to recommend for sump use only because its garaunteed to overflow eventually if you are lapse at paying attention (and maybe even if you do). not that other skimmers arent prone but like stated its just 10x more likely with the coralife.

 

[flower]

Originally Posted by reefexpert
http:///forum/post/3105502
I would like to dismiss once and for all the negative comments made on many reviews laughing on the Coralife Super Skimmer 65G. This product is not only very inexpensive, but it is very simple to setup and to start skimming efficiently. I have been in the aquarium hobby for over 20 years, and I've had my share of expensive Berlin skimmers and such, and this one performs as good if not better

Mine was a pain in the behind to get up and going...it does work great, but what a hassle...I dread every time I have to do any maintenance for fear I may have to tweak it all over again.

 

[roadie996]

Originally Posted by Flower
http:///forum/post/3105760
Mine was a pain in the behind to get up and going...it does work great, but what a hassle...I dread every time I have to do any maintenance for fear I may have to tweak it all over again.
+1 and mine is still not dialed in correctly!!!

 

[flower]

Originally Posted by roadie996
http:///forum/post/3105764
+1 and mine is still not dialed in correctly!!!

Jackri was a big help babysitting me an helping to get it up and running..PM him and see if he can help. I thought you had it all up and going by now...

 

[roadie996]

I'll send a PM to jackri when I'm at home. I was going good until this morning when I woke up to find a plethora of microbubbles and a very shrunken anemone! turn off the skimmer, and then POOF it just blew up and spread itself out.

 

[flower]

Originally Posted by roadie996
http:///forum/post/3105819
I'll send a PM to jackri when I'm at home. I was going good until this morning when I woke up to find a plethora of microbubbles and a very shrunken anemone! turn off the skimmer, and then POOF it just blew up and spread itself out.

You will be happy with it once it is doing like it is supposed to...it pulls lots of yuck out.

 

[dcp17420]

I have the CSS65 on my 75gal reef and the CSS220 on my 110 reef. The 65 is a great in sump skimmer. Its Not good at all for the HOB use. Unless you want a wet floor 2 or 3 times a year. Once i put the CSS65 in the sump with a constant water level. It was alot better. The air tube for the pump does get stopped up from time to time. I pulls out alot more than my CSS220. The CSS220 does a okay job. The 220 has the same issue with the air tube also.