Personally for smaller tanks I prefer the Aqua c Remora hang on skimmers. They work wonderfully and I have never had an issue with them. They are fairly expensive however at around $165. You might try shopping around or seeing if anyone has one they might be getting rid of either here or craigslist, ebay, etc. I used one on my 29 gallon reef and have since moved it to a 50 gallon FOWLR in favor of a cheaper skimmer. Mostly because it was removing too much from the system and I was getting hardly any dark skimmate at all. I also run a refugium on my 29 gallon and I don't feed much so it was probably to be expected that It would overwork my tank. It is doing fantastic on my 50 gallon, although I only have a few green chromis in there right now. Ive always said that you need to purchase the absolute best skimmer that you can afford. Same for lighting if a reef tank. These things are 2 things that you shouldn't skimp on or try to make do with. They are extremely important in the success of the system. That's not to say you can't find a used one for a great price and have it work wonderfully. The great thing about this hobby is (this sounds mean lol but its great for us who stick with it) that alot of people don't find success and give up. When they do its difficult to get rid of equipment that many people aren't interested in so they sell it for extremely reduced prices. Ive found brand new skimmers never used for less then $50 on craigslist and im sure if you spend enough time looking you'll find something you can't pass up.
