skimmers are a black mark on the hobby!

[murph]

My search for a decent protein skimmer has finally ended almost literally in my own back yard. I have been through the sea clone and prizm which where junk but the only ones that the retailers in my area carried (my suspicion is these are the ones that provide them with the largest profit margin and customer be damned) Each was given about 25 days to produce. They had to be returned within 30 days if I was unhappy with them and I was most definitely unhappy with them.
I finally found a small time lfs in my area and asked about protein skimmers. He almost laughed out loud and said he didn't carry them because the vast majority of them where junk. He then handed me a card for a guy in my area that makes his own. I called the number and sure enough he had several in his garage for sale never used. I bought one for the same money as the useless sea clone and went home and hooked it up. Well slap my ass and call me sally, this is what a protein skimmer does?! To make a long story short it has produced as much as the sea clone and prizm did in 50 days after just three days of use.
Grant it this is my total experience with PS but why a relatively simple concept has degenerated into complexity that rivals the confusion of the tax code is beyond me. My fear is that the big time manufactures of this device are motivated mostly by profit rather than performance which makes the grossly overpriced device know as the protein skimmer, this hobbies biggest black eye.
Rant has now come to an official end

 

[computrgk]

well i have to agree with the fact these are way overpriced but here is an idea why don't you give us the specifics of this miracle skimmer so that we may make our on or maybe a pic of it with some detail maybe if all of us use these homemade skimmers and no longer use the junk off the shelf and everyone we meet begins to use these maybe just maybe we can do one of two things bring the quality up and price down of the junk manufacturers or we could completely put them out of business. just my 2 cents worth.

 

[chipmaker]

I agree a lot of skimmers out there are way over priced, mainly because they do have a design that works, as compared to the others who are mediocre, so they tend to capitolize on the price they asked, as surely there is not that much more money in materials involved......HOwever a coral life super skimmer is a good decent skimmer, not oputrageously priced, and it does work......I have access to lots of skimmers that I am able to try from my friend that runs / owns a LFS.......and he has gone through lots and lots of skimmers in the 30+ years he has had this business, and whats on most of his tanks right now are Coralife Super Skimmers. I have played with the Remora, CPR bak-paks, Seaclowns, Prisms, Lee, Berlins and a few others in deciding on what I wanted to use for my 6 gal bowfront, and when the smoke settled, or that should be when the skimtimate formed the winner in the end was the coralife needle wheel skimmer hands down........Its a great skimmer that WORKS and is not overly priced if you shop around........I have seen em for 2X as much $$$ on some websites as compared to others. There is a few bugs, I'll admit, but coralife has those worked out and a simple fix which does not include any drilling or replumbing or such to the skimmer to make it work and work right is a simple 2 minute job, and when you get right to it, its not really any additional time needed to fix it its merely using the new set of install instructions to set it up in the first place as the originally supplied instructions are out in third field somewhere and are not close to being right........There are a lot of homebrew skimmers which work equally well, and lots of folks, myself included would rather scratch build a skimmer even if they did have the money to burn to purchase a factory made one.........So some pics would definately be appreciated of this new super duper miracle skimmer that works right off the backyard workbench that you found........Inquiring minds want to know and see......
As for the lfs not carrying any, I think that owner is feeding you some detrius......There are skimmers out there and they are beneficial and they work........and any skimmer is definately a boost and plus to any system.........I seem to think he has a business relationship with an individual that peddles skimmers and he can get a percentage in the end, and leave any problems or setup issues for the backyard maker to handle and not him........Right now the best bang for the buck and very reasonable in cost is the coralife line of super skimmers, PROVIDED you have the up to date revised set of install and setup instructions on hand........

 

[hagfish]

I was thinking about getting a coralife super skimmer. Is it safe to assume that I get the good instructions if I purchase a new one? And how do I know they are the good instructions? And is there a place where I could get them if it comes with the old instructions? Thanks.

 

[texasfish]

chipmaker i'm glad your coral life super skimmer is working for you, however the one i got leaks around the red adjustment knob.

 

[joker_ca]

i agree a huge amount of the skimmers on the market are just junk
but the best skimmers are the ones that always cost a ton of money....so i yes, the manufactuers are making a good profit from us

 

[fishamajig]

really interesting rant... I approve
I too have had problems with skimmers and since I do not run a sump I have had to find the challenge of finding a big enough hang on skimmer for a 125 gal. I go to a place in queens that sells these skimmers that a guy makes in jersey. (marine aquatic concepts) or something like that. it is a typical airstone skimmer but when I tell you that in 1 day it pulled out more skimate than the (2) seaclones did in a month I would not be lying. The skimmer is fantastic and although it prob could have been made for like $10 and i payed over $100 it was worth it and I feel allot better about the condition of my water in the tank.
just my 2 cents.

 

[monalisa]

Originally Posted by Murph
My search for a decent protein skimmer has finally ended almost literally in my own back yard. I have been through the sea clone and prizm which where junk but the only ones that the retailers in my area carried (my suspicion is these are the ones that provide them with the largest profit margin and customer be damned) Each was given about 25 days to produce. They had to be returned within 30 days if I was unhappy with them and I was most definitely unhappy with them.
I finally found a small time lfs in my area and asked about protein skimmers. He almost laughed out loud and said he didn't carry them because the vast majority of them where junk. He then handed me a card for a guy in my area that makes his own. I called the number and sure enough he had several in his garage for sale never used. I bought one for the same money as the useless sea clone and went home and hooked it up. Well slap my ass and call me sally, this is what a protein skimmer does?! To make a long story short it has produced as much as the sea clone and prizm did in 50 days after just three days of use.
Grant it this is my total experience with PS but why a relatively simple concept has degenerated into complexity that rivals the confusion of the tax code is beyond me. My fear is that the big time manufactures of this device are motivated mostly by profit rather than performance which makes the grossly overpriced device know as the protein skimmer, this hobbies biggest black eye.
Rant has now come to an official end

,
This has crossed my mind SO many times!! Another thing that comes to mind is lighting...hmmmm. I feel another rant coming on...:thinking:
Lisa :happyfish

 

[killergoby]

What size tank do you have?

 

[popnfrresh]

You guys wanna give address/email/phone for these skimmers?

 

[hot883]

Originally Posted by Murph
My search for a decent protein skimmer has finally ended almost literally in my own back yard. I have been through the sea clone and prizm which where junk but the only ones that the retailers in my area carried (my suspicion is these are the ones that provide them with the largest profit margin and customer be damned) Each was given about 25 days to produce. They had to be returned within 30 days if I was unhappy with them and I was most definitely unhappy with them.
I finally found a small time lfs in my area and asked about protein skimmers. He almost laughed out loud and said he didn't carry them because the vast majority of them where junk. He then handed me a card for a guy in my area that makes his own. I called the number and sure enough he had several in his garage for sale never used. I bought one for the same money as the useless sea clone and went home and hooked it up. Well slap my ass and call me sally, this is what a protein skimmer does?! To make a long story short it has produced as much as the sea clone and prizm did in 50 days after just three days of use.
Grant it this is my total experience with PS but why a relatively simple concept has degenerated into complexity that rivals the confusion of the tax code is beyond me. My fear is that the big time manufactures of this device are motivated mostly by profit rather than performance which makes the grossly overpriced device know as the protein skimmer, this hobbies biggest black eye.
Rant has now come to an official end

So Murph, here is my email: bcool831@pldi.net please contact me. Please!

 

[nofish]

I Can't Wait To Go On A Rant :thinking:

 

[murph]

I will get you guys the info as soon as I revisit the LFS. The card like much of everything else in my condo has been misplaced. Should be soon the LFS is right around the corner of my house.
He only makes them for tanks up to 120. Its a relatively simple design with a 600gph pump which is what maybe making the difference. Something I noticed when I kicked it on for the first time was that was that the micro bubles immediately rose almost a third of the way up the collection cups tube. The seaclone in particular took hours to reach this point would produce some waste and then lack the balls to push it up and over into the collection cup. These are in sump skimmers also.
Something else I have noticed is that it takes major commotion in the tank to disrupts its skim rate. With the SC and prizm just putting your hand in the tank and you were back at the starting gate. It also has a bubble trap that works, no micro bubbles. I will try to get a pic up today at the very least.

 

[chipmaker]

Originally Posted by texasfish
chipmaker i'm glad your coral life super skimmer is working for you, however the one i got leaks around the red adjustment knob.
Only to things are going to make it leak at the red adjustment knob.....Its either open too much, or your outflow tube is in the water too deep and is restricted by back pressure or your pump is too deep in the water.
The red adjustment knob is virtually open to the atmosphere, and contains no seals of any kind. If there is no backpressure from the outflow tube to restrict flow, the water will not rise up high enough in the tube portion the red knob is mounted in, so there will be no leaks......Put the pump too deep and it produces less air bubbles from the venturi, and piushes more water, so outflow can not handle this additonal flow so it rasies in the tube and out from around the knob.......Have your outflow tube in the water and it too creates backpressure, which again restricts the water flow, and makes it rise and leak out around the adjustment knob....
If you look at the reactor column, the majority of your micro bubbles prduced by the needle wheel and venturi, will be rising from the bubble infuser cone or outlet in the chamber upwards, and very little if any at all will be traveling downwards to the outflow tube which exits at the bottom of the reastor chamber......results elimination of most micro bubbles introduced into tank through return outflow.......if you have lots of bubbles flowing down to outflow tube in reactor column its too much water flow into chamber from pump being too low in water and back pressure on outflow pipe/tube.
No guarantee you will get a new set of instructions, as there is no telling how long a company has the skimmer on the shelf in stock.........but the changes are supposed to be posted on Coralifes website, and what changes really need to be made are pretty short and simple........
Basically:
1 do not pay attention to specified dimensions or illustraded diagrams with dimensions on them.
2. keep powerhead up as close to the surface 1 to 2 inches or so, higher is better......and not the specified 8" or so distance.
3. Only try and adjust bubbles in the chamber so that they are 1 to 1 1/2" high from the red ring that retains the colection cup assembly........do not get the water and bubbles up in the funnel portion of collection cup as illustrations depict.
4. Make sure your outflow tube is "ABOVE" the tanks water level by at least 1/16" or more.....
5. Don't try and open the red adjustment know fully as its not necessary to run this skimmer wide open and flow provided by pump is more than outflow can actually handle, so odds are your adjustment knob is only oging to be open approximatley 1/2 or so of its full open position. The type valve the knob operates is not a ball or gate or needle, so its still going to flow more than 50% of the water if its set at half way point......
6. Adjust skimmer at max water height, and then remove some water to a point that you usually add top off water to and see how it works. YOu can have the outflow tube inserted very very slightly into the water surface at max water level, but its best copletely out of water......Ditch the supplied bubble diffuser box and use a foam sleeve unless your not concerned with looks and size of bubble diffuser box.

 

[killergoby]

Originally Posted by Murph
I will get you guys the info as soon as I revisit the LFS. The card like much of everything else in my condo has been misplaced. Should be soon the LFS is right around the corner of my house.
He only makes them for tanks up to 120. Its a relatively simple design with a 600gph pump which is what maybe making the difference. Something I noticed when I kicked it on for the first time was that was that the micro bubles immediately rose almost a third of the way up the collection cups tube. The seaclone in particular took hours to reach this point would produce some waste and then lack the balls to push it up and over into the collection cup. These are in sump skimmers also.
Something else I have noticed is that it takes major commotion in the tank to disrupts its skim rate. With the SC and prizm just putting your hand in the tank and you were back at the starting gate. It also has a bubble trap that works, no micro bubbles. I will try to get a pic up today at the very least.
This sounds like the skimmer I have on my 75 gallon. It's rated for something like 140 gallon tank. It's a Pro-Clear Aquatic Systems in sump skimmer. When I first got it the water never reached the water level mark in the tube. It still doesn't after it's been up and running for a year. It does produce microfine bubbles, but they stay low in the chamber. I know it does skim though because the cup and drain off tube (which I have running in to a large soda bottle) fills up both the cup and soda bottle.
It does sound like a 600GPH pump is a bit small for a skimmer rated for a 120 gallon tank (or that size skimmer). The pump I use on my CPR BacPak is a Rio 600, and that's rated for something like 60 gallons.

 

[fishamajig]

I use a maxijet 600 on mine and it works great.
also i just modified my old seaclone 100 with an airstone and a smaller powerhead for my wifes discus tank. and it works better now than when I bought it new. go figure.

 

[bill f]

Murph, where are you located, maybe he's in one our backyards too.

 

[vejomatic]

Originally Posted by Bill F
Murph, where are you located, maybe he's in one our backyards too.

Good rant Murph...I hope something good comes out of this... :joy:
~vm