Skimmer for 150gal advice

[theappe]

I want to get a skimmer for my tank as you can see in the title. Ive considered the coralife SS 220. I assume that if they are good on small thanks they should be good on bigger tanks and the best part is that it's pretty cheap too... any suggestion or other skimmers that might be better or recommended.

 

[maelv]

I have an ASM G2 for my 135 gallon and love it.....someone I know has an octopus skimmer rated fir 200 gallons and loves it.....And if I am not mistaken, Octopus bought out ASM...not sure though...Acrylic51 swears by ASM and Joncat loves his Coralife Superskimmer....matter of opinion.....
The coralifes are cheaper though....and Octopus are a bit cheaper than ASM and from what I hear and see, they are a bit bigger for the same ratings...
Soooooo many to choose from...LOL

 

[al mc]

I am also a fan of ASM. I use several on different tanks. IMHO the ASM is very good for the money as an 'in sump' skimmer and the Remoras are very good for 'hang on' type. The Coralife can do both which does give it an edge in versatility. However, if you spend a little extra on the ASM you will not regret it. I personally find the Coralife can be a little finicky while the ASM work great right out of the box.
Sizing....IMHO you can never have 'too much' skimming. Buy a skimmer that is rated to 'skim' 1.5 to 2x you tank/sump size. For your purposes I would go no smaller than an ASM3 (They make sizes 1-6)

 

[joncat24]

I have the ss220 on my 180. It hangs on my 55 fuge and I love it. Easy to use and does a great job. For the money I think it is the best. If funds were unlimited , maybe something else but best bang for the buck IMO. You can get it for $142 online and coralife customer service is the best.

 

[hurt]

I have an Octopus NW-200 and could not be more pleased with it. They are actually made out of cell cast acrylic, something you see with BK, BM, H&S, EuroReef, Deltec, etc. Not the cheap extruded PVC the ASM's and Coralifes are made from. The stock OTP pumps draw more air than the ASM stock sedra's as well. And yet they are much cheaper than the ASM's. It was a pretty easy choice for me.
I originally was looking into an ASM after reading some of the responses on this board. Then I posted a thread(poll) ASM vs. Octopus on --, after reading a few threads about the Octopus skimmers. The responses were overwhelming in favor of the Octopus. Ask(pm) Roland Jaques or Rich Connely on that board. My NW-200 is 25 inches high with an 8 inch diameter. That is the same height and only half an inch smaller in diameter than an ASM G4. Yet the G4 is selling for roughly $350 and you can buy an Octopus NW-200 for $210. I actually lucked out and bought mine for $180 when they were on sale. It was an easy descion for me after reading several threads on --.

 

[maelv]

Hey Hurt......have you done your homework on the mesh mod for that octopus? I saw somwhere on -- folks doing it and comparisons being made to Deltecs or something with the results. I know of a guy with the same skimmer you have who is going to attempt to mod his with some mesh....interesting....

 

[hurt]

Maelv, yes I certainly have. That board is the reason I choose my skimmer, and I've read the Octopus Skimmer Mods thread probably 3 times, all 41 pages. I ordered my enkamat on Tuesday, so once it gets here I'll be done with the RoJac mod. The other mod that seems to be very important is elbow mod. When both of these mods are done they pull a lot of air and pull some serious gunk, similiar to what Deltec's do. Yet they cost roughly 1/5 of a Deltec. I plan on doing the elbow mod in the next couple of weeks. I'll post my results as I go. With both mods, it seems pretty easy to get up to 25 scfh. Some people have gotten up to 40 scfh, but they had to drill the top of the pump output to do so, and at that they said it was a bit overkill, with this much air the neck of the skimmer should be extended higher to accomadate the air. Here are a few pics of some modified NW-200's that are not mine. For a $200 skimmer this is by far and away the best skimmer you can buy IMHO, in that price range.

 

[hurt]

Those interested in modifying their needle wheel with enkamat, google: Laguna Koi Shop enkamat
Only 4 bucks to do this mod.