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Skimmer Questions.


TonyInVa

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After researching it seems that the Bubble King and Deltecs are getting good reviews. But it seems that so are the Bubble Magus and any other skimmer over $200. With threads talking about running a 120 gallon tank without one I really wonder. Are they really worth it? Other sites they say the Bubble King is. But how do we know? Can anyone offer any insite?

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I've never owned one over $175 so I can't speak to them, but the 3 other one's I owned were not worth the money I put into them. Like you, I also heard you get what you pay for and the expensive ones are worth it. Personally, I saved the cash, got a large sump/fuge and had more money to spend on my corals/fish.

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I can't tell you anything about a Bubble King. But as far as $$$ vs. value - I have an old 'Seaclone 100', which has to be about the cheapest skimmer there ever was. It works great! It just needs to be adjusted frequently.

 

bob

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I can't tell you anything about a Bubble King. But as far as $$ vs. value - I have an old 'Seaclone 100', which has to be about the cheapest skimmer there ever was. It works great! It just needs to be adjusted frequently.

 

bob

 

OMG! I demolished the Seaclone I tried to use on my nano - it produced NOTHING at all - my old AIRSTONE skimmer worked ten bazillion times better than the Seaclone! On the plus side, there was zero nitrate in that tank with NO skimmer.

 

You can run a tank without a skimmer if you have other methods of keeping nitrate level down. Ask Rob (Zygote).

 

I'll post a pic of my cheap skimmer when I find the url...

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Odyssea PS160, cost me about $59.00.

 

cup.jpg

sludge.jpg

 

I use this skimmer in a sump - it is marketed to be used either way, but I tried it as a hang-on before I set the sump up, and it wasn't near as productive.

 

I tried adding an ASM mini to work along with this, but the the ASM wouldn't work at all unless this was turned off... the ASM is in the closet.

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have you checked out GSA cone skimmer? I would suggest you look into one. I have a Deltec but wished I has seen the GSA cone before i bought the Deltec.

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have you checked out GSA cone skimmer? I would suggest you look into one. I have a Deltec but wished I has seen the GSA cone before i bought the Deltec.

+1 but I don't have a deltec.

 

peek

 

I'm running a double pump

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+1 on GSA. Dan makes a very nice skimmer that will be more than enough for a 120. I am running a GS2 with 1 pump on my 150 with no worries.

 

I have had a lot of skimmers. Deltec and Bubble King are very nice but I think having the builder and designer of the skimmer within 30 minutes counts for quite a bit as well.

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This topic is debated endlessly. Head over to www.advancedaquarist.com and search for the articles they did on measuring skimmer performance - that is the only article I've found that has tried to quantify the difference between various skimmers. Definitely talk to Dan about the GSA skimmers. He usually imitates a deltec or similar design, improving on it slightly.

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This topic is debated endlessly. Head over to www.advancedaquarist.com and search for the articles they did on measuring skimmer performance - that is the only article I've found that has tried to quantify the difference between various skimmers. Definitely talk to Dan about the GSA skimmers. He usually imitates a deltec or similar design, improving on it slightly.

I looked for that article but could not find it.

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