thoughts on the Red Sea Prizm protein skimmer please

[goofyreefer]

I was looking at protein skimmers and came across the prizm by Red Sea and was curious about what others thought about it. Would anyone who has one post there likes or dislikes about it. Is it any good?

 

[kijak]

I just received mine, today. hooked it up and plugged it in. the collection cup filled up with water right away. when taking off the cup to empty, I had water spraying over everthing. There is an adjustable flow valve on the intake, similiar to some powerfilters, I have mine turned almost all the way closed, It really cut the flow down, but now it is foaming normally. I will have to shut it off everytime I want to empty it. Also another down side. I have it on a 46 gal bow front. and the top glass will not sit normally, it hits the intake tube before sliding all the way back, but that could be the top I have, as the space on the Emperor filter is very tight. Even though there is a inch clearance on my 75gal gold fish bowl.

 

[kumiko]

i have had mine for about a month now, and it is working great. didn't actually start collecting yucky stuff until a couple weeks ago, but now it's collecting everything. it seemed noisy at first, but now it's not so bad. my hood also does not fit on properly now because of it. cleaning the collection cup is very easy. just unplug, clean it out, plug back in, and it starts up again perfectly. i would recommend it for a smaller tank, but i have no experience with it on a bigger tank.

 

[fishfood]

I just got one about 2 weeks ago. I like it. It is a good step up from the air stone skimmer i had. It started collecting stuff within an hour. There is low flow but it has been taking out so much stuff in that low flow. As for noise it can be kind of loud. The fan in the hood hums louder though. All you have to do is put an air filter on the air intake. I had a bunch laying around from different powerheads. To clean it out all you have to do is shut the intake and take the cup off. It stops bubbling up and nothing overflows. I also took the cup off without turning down the intake and had a little mess. I've learned since then. I like it and it was affordable.

 

[marek]

yea.. I just love mine right now. I also have one remora (not pro) and it sucks compared to my prized prizm (IMO!). in about the fist two weeks it was loud and required too much tinkering, but eventually it just became quite and I just learned to stop tinkering with the adjustments and just let it be. this skimmer has a nice big collection cup and collects great skimmate IMO - BUT ONLY AFTER SOME INITIAL BREAK-IN PERIOD. Apparently the break-in period has to happen in order to remove some of the manufacturing residues and bubbles when first introduced. Anyway, in the first two weeks I hated the prizm and declared it crap, but my oh my, have I learn better now. I wouldn't want any substitute (at least not for that tank).
Good skimmer, great price.
You will need to give it sometime before you like it.

 

[ebeckels]

I like mine a lot. It's an upgrade from the air stone stuff at *****, then to the sea clone, and now to the prizm. It was cheap on ---- so i got it. I think it's a little loud but it works fine. If you keep the flow going slow it collects "thicker" and more green stuff, rather than just greenish water. You'll have to do more top offs if you let it suck up all ur water. Anyways, it's loud but i like it.

 

[reefaddict]

I have had a prizm for about a year now. At first I had it on 29gal reef in the bedroom and it was loud. I emailed red sea and they shipped me a new 18 blade propellar free. It had originally came with a 12 blade prop.that comes with it. This 18 blade prop. quitened it down alot. It also seems to work better now. I have since got a 65 gal reef for the living room and I moved the Prizm to it and it's doing great. The only draw back is I have a 20 gal tall tank for the sump and the prizm want reach the water level so I have it on the back of the tank. I was told I could extend the input and it would work but I tried it and no luck. It does need to be ajusted to the almost closed setting for it to work correctly. I love it!!!

 

[dizzy]

I have had mine on for about a month. The water is moving in the proper manner inside, but I have yet to see any overflow.
Should I be happy with this? or be concerned?
It's on a 29-gal with an OTB Filter. I have only a False Perc and Firefish Gobie, 35 lbs lr, 3 peppermint, 1 coral banded, 1 cleaner, and 1 camel back shrimp, emerald crab, 10 scarlet hermits, 4 feather dusters, and 10 turbo snails.
All are doing quite well.
Diz

 

[angief]

I have had my prism for about 4 weeks now and it's doing ok. I was thinking of posting about where the flow adjuster should be but thanks guys you have answered my question. The only thing I though was it was a little loud but once I adjust it to nearly closed then hopefully it will be quieter. I like it because you can just remove the collection cup and whip it back on real easy. I'd recommmend it to anyone.

 

[k.lee]

I have a red sea berlin hanger, and it works great on my newly set up 45 HEX 9perfecto yep). I plan to ditch it in the future for aesthetic and plankton purposes, and use it itermittenly when needed on my existing 70 with the 45 too.
HTH

 

[chrismilano]

Loud.
Great customer service though and easy enough to use.

 

[reefaddict]

Everyone that has complained about the Prizm being loud. I am tellling you if you email red sea they wiil give you a 18 blade prop. that will quiten it down and make it more efficient. There service is awesome, I had my free part in less than a week.

 

[justinl]

I have 2 and am very satisfied. Although they both have 18 blade impellers they are still noisy, but the only thing you hear is the slight churning of bubbles- nothing really anoying.

 

[kijak]

A few days have past, and my opinion as adjusted. It is really collecting a lot, and I pivoted the intake over, so the top fitts better. I have learned to shut off the flow, but i am setting up a surge protector with individual power switches, I can control by UV, Protein skimmer, lights pumps etc... I will try to email red sea for a noise solution, but mines not to bad. Jack

 

[fishfood]

Well i had mentioned that mine was loud but that was because the air intake tube was loud. Like i said all i did was put an air filter on the end of that tube. I had some from different power heads. I don't hear it at all now. I guess that is because the wisper air pump that ran my old skimmer was loud.