Have I just bought a crappy filter!?!?!?

owlett

Member
I just bought a skilter filter today thorugh an online auction and I just discovered that they may not be that good!!! Please don;t tell me I bought a piece of junk! I don't have any corals yet but I do have two little one inch fish so far. Will the skilter be okay that way or what should I do with it? The online guy won't let me return it!:eek:
 

mr . salty

Active Member
Depends on a few things,,,
Wich one did you get???The 250,,or the 400???
What are you expecting it to do???They actually make a great mechanical filter,,but the skimmer SUCKS...
And what size tank are you planning on using it on??? I had a 400 running on a 55 for over a year,and the filter did a great job...I never could get the skimmer to work worth a damn...
And how much did you pay for it??
 

owlett

Member
actually I bought it for both reasons to filter and to skim, mainly to skim though. I paid about forty bucks for it plus shipping and handling. It's for a 29 g tank. It was the 250 skilter. I bought it so that I wouldn't have to spend so much money on both a mechanical filter and a protien skimmer, it's hard to find one that isn't for 100 g tanks around here.
 

owlett

Member
oh, great. I feel terrible. Well, at least I've learned, maybe I can throw the stupid thing at the lfs girls head later on. At anyrate, maybe I'll just keep it as an expensive mechanical filter :( . Well then, does anybody have any idea what kind of inexpensive protien skimmer I could use that would be great for a 29 gallon tank?
3 hermits
1 snail
1 neon goby
1 red lined wrasse
grocery store bought clam
 

broomer5

Active Member
owlett
Don't feel too bad.
I'm sure most every hobbyist has purchased something they wish they hadn't.
I bought a Skilter 250 before too, my first month in the hobby.
I did absolutely zero research on it - and listened to a lfs sales person.
I paid good money for something that was not designed very well.
But it was my own fault - not the store clerk's. They sell what they have on the shelf at the time.
Nothing to worry about - it's a good filter, just a crummy skimmer.
Mine went in the trashcan after a year or so :(
 

owlett

Member
Thanks broomer, maybe I won't throw it at her after all :p
anyways, is the red sea skimmer internal or external? I was hoping for somthing that would be good to hang on the outside of the tank if that is possible (or maybe that is not the best way?) I don't have a sump or anything too, just the tank with powerheads in it right now. Also, how much does the red sea one run ?:)
 

iceburger

Member
wth a little tinkering a skilter 250 can acually skim a decent amount of crud out of your tank, I took off the air valve and added a airstone in the place that catches the bubbles on the way to the catchcup...i get a cupfull every couple of days now, and there are almost zero microbubbles in the water now.....
 

slothy

Active Member
cupfuls of water was all i ever got when i had my 400... and they are loud as heck... alteast my seaclone gets come thick crude out... cant wait to get a real skimmer
 
N

newreefers

Guest
sorry to tell you junk. I also bought one, it is now taking up space in my garage. I then bought a real skimmer, a remora with a 1200 maxi jet. I paid 164.00 for it on line. It is very quiet and skims so juch gook out of my tank I can't believe it. I recomend it highly. I never got the skilter to get anything in the collection cup. It does work fine for a filter though.:)
 

jim672

Member
Yeah, I agree with everyone else. The skimmer was loud and didn't catch much. The filter was okay but inflexible. That is, if you have a need to use something like a phosphate sponge, there's no room to add it internally in the filter.....no extra chamber for stuff like that. Mine has been in a box in my basement for some time.
Jim
 

kevin j

Member
I bought a skilter 250 for my 20 gallon and it didnt skim at all so now that I have a 75 my skilter is going in my q-tank. Also when I did try to skim like it was stated before it was very loud! You could hear it upstairs and it was in the basement.
 
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