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Protein Skimmers 300g +


Sascha D.

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Hello Everyone!

Black Friday is coming and I'm in the market for a protein skimmer. Skimmers rated for 300g or more don't come up on the forums much so I'm going to have to suck it up and buy new. I would really appreciate it if members could chime in with experience or recommendations. Hopefully others can benefit from the exchange of information.

The tank I'm planning is going to be around 400g total water volume with medium bioload. I plan on being pretty heavy LPS and don't want to over skim. The only skimmer on this list that I have any experience with is the ASM G4x, but that was in 2002 and things may have changed.

Criteria:

  1. Noise - I'm going for as quiet as I can get. The Reef Octopus that I had previously sounded like a hive of hornets and it drove me crazy!
  2. Size - Not an issue. The sump has not been built yet and the tank stand will be large enough for any skimmer that I've seen.
  3. Price - Below $500

Some Black Friday deals that I've seen so far:

  1. Bubble Magnus Curve 9 - Rated 400g - $348.50 on marinedepot.com
  2. ASM G4+ - Rated 400g - $398.65 on marinedepot.com
  3. ASM G4x - Rated 450g - $412.95 on ebay.com
  4. Bubble Magnus C9 - Rated 530g - $383.15 on fishtanksdirect.com
  5. Skimz Monster SM203 - Rated 528g - $349.99 on bulkreefsupply.com
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After further research, the Aquamax CO-3 has the best reviews by far. One problem that I have had with past protein skimmers is disassembly when the pump is housed in the body. I like that the CO-3 and ASM skimmers have the external pump.

Several reviews of the Skimz say that the pumps are loud and fail often. Does anyone have experience with this pump? If this is the case then I have to rule it out.

The ASM is 30" tall, which is HUGE! My tank back in 2002 had an external sump so it wasn't a big deal. This tank I'm planning will have a 36" tall stand, but I'm wondering if I'll have the clearance to remove and maintain the cup. Based on reviews, the skimmer also needs two modifications to perform well.

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On sale now at Drs Smith and Foster for $339. I have used Eshopps and love their control and skimming power with the super quiet Sicce motors They come in multiple sizes but I believe the S-150 is just what you are looking for in a cone skimmer. I use the straight body PSK skimmer but only because they are half the price at ~ $160 and still a great working skimmer, and the pump is external

Innovative protein skimmer boasts compact design, silent operation AND power to remove dissolved aquarium waste. Eshopps Snow Cone Skimmer takes an innovative approach to skimmer design by installing a silent-running Italian Sicce pump INSIDE a waste-concentrating cone-shaped reaction chamber! This unique design results in a powerful in-sump protein skimmer with a space-saving footprint.

Eshopps Snow Cone Skimmer features a Sicce needle wheel pump. This high performance pump boasts Italian technology featuring an advanced synchronous motor that delivers silent power without sacrificing energy efficiency. Venturi Intake with silencer further reduces potential noise while supplying a flurry of waste-removing bubbles. Bubble Plate within the reaction chamber enhances the cone-shaped design to concentrate protein-skimming bubbles. More bubbles mean better removal of dissolved protein and organic waste materials in marine aquariums. Removable collection cup allows convenient skimmer maintenance and disposal of collected waste material. Simple adjustment of outlet tube controls water level within the protein skimmer reaction chamber. Quality acrylic construction. For in-sump use in saltwater marine aquariums. Best skimmer performance at 8 to 10 inches water level.

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Thanks for the suggestion. I checked out the skimmer, but I think they may be under rated for the system size. The S-150 is only rated to 150g with heavy bioload. I would probably need two of them. The larger models S-300 might work with a 350g rating, but it's $100 more than the ones listed above at higher ratings.

The PSK-300 looks like the best option of this brand. It's rated for 200-300g and is the lowest price at $297. In a 400g system this will be very under rated to keep up with the bioload.

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I've heard good things in passing about the Aquamaxx line of products as well. The "Shark" pump is a modified Sicce pump and I've heard good things about that brand as well. I just finished reading a thread ranging from 2013-2015 about this skimmer brand. It looked to be wildly popular a few years ago.

Thanks for the feedback Josh! The curve 5 looks to be popular with some of our members.

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  1. Bubble Magnus Curve 9 - Rated 400g - $348.50 on marinedepot.com
  2. ASM G4+ - Rated 400g - $398.65 on marinedepot.com
  3. ASM G4x - Rated 450g - $412.95 on ebay.com
  4. Bubble Magnus C9 - Rated 530g - $383.15 on fishtanksdirect.com
  5. Skimz Monster SM203 - Rated 528g - $349.99 on bulkreefsupply.com
  6. Aquamax Q3 - Rated 420g - $369.74 on marinedepot.com
  7. Aquamax CO-3 - Rated 450g - $382.49 on marinedepot.com

I've only had experience with the Reef Octopus, Skimz, and ASM brands, though I heard great things about the Aquamaxx skimmers.

I'd never go back to an ASM again, made of cheap extruded PVC and those Sedra pumps are the loudest I've ever heard. I had the ASM 3 and the ASM 4+, they ran fine but again, the noise was so distracting and loud. It seemed to vibrate the whole sump and stand. Plus, their size, with the newer more efficient skimmers out there, you can get more efficiency out of a much smaller package.

Skimz, great quality, made of thick acrylic. One of the most silent skimmers I've ever had, but this was also the first skimmer that I owned which had the pump within the body of the skimmer. Nonetheless, I think it would have been just as quiet if the pump was outside the housing as the pump hardly made any noise at all. I'd buy another Skimz in a heartbeart as I had nothing but good experiences with my SM201. My only complaint would be that their size ratings are awfully generous. I tend to agree with BRS on their recommended skimmer capacity on their website regarding the SKIMZ line. Skimz says the SM203 unit is rated up to 528 gallons. First off, the ratings you get with skimmers are usually light bioload, which almost nobody runs in your average reef tank. We're talking sparse corals and a few fish, I'd guess less than 10% of hobbyists run a light bioload. You're estimating a medium bioload, according to BRS, they say it'll handle 240 gallons for a medium bioload, which would be underpowered in your setup. You'd have to go one model up.

I know you mentioned it you didn't have a good experience with the Reef Octopus you had. Not sure which pump it had but I currently run the SRO5000 with the bubble blaster pump. Amazing pump, nice and quiet for an external pump, and the amount of bubbles is ridiculous. FWIW, it was rated similar to the Skimz SM201 unit I had but after running both back to back, this one definitely pulls more skimmate than my Skimz. Again, I think Skimz are great skimmers, just a little overstated on their ratings. In regards to the BRS ratings, my Skimz was suggested to handle a heavy bioload of 190 gallons, while the Reef Octopus was stated to handle a 400 gallon heavy bioload... even though they are both stated 500+ gallons by the manufacturers.

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Great write-up Ty and thanks for the feedback. I checked with the manufacturer and the Reef Octopus that I was using had the old discontinued pump on it. The newer pumps run less watts so it makes sense they are quieter. Reef Octopus skimmers are the most expensive of the ones I've been looking at. I would have to go with the 5000INT. I don't see any on sale and they're over $600.

I believe I have ruled out the ASM skimmers. They were a great value 15 years ago when I bought my G4X for $200 brand new, but at today's prices there are better options that don't need mods to function.

The Aquamaxx CO-3 and the Bubble Magnus Curve 9 are rated for 300ish heavy bioload. I'm not really sure what they consider "heavy" bioload, so it's difficult to determine if these are adequate.

BRS doesn't rate any Skimz in my price range over 300g heavy bioload.

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While searching the forums I found a link that Capt. Obvious posted a while back about building your own skimmer. There's a video that shows you how to do it and the skimmer is rated 300g heavy bioload. It does require a pump, which costs extra.

http://www.avastmarine.com/collections/you-built

https://youtu.be/fDuiWmKYeTo

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Thank you all for your input on skimmers! It was definitely hard to find any useful information on the internet and I wish more people had responded to the thread. Plenty of the products have the general "It's awesome!" reviews, but nothing really useful regarding performance or noise level. Skimmer ratings are also extremely vague and "heavily stocked" could mean different things to different user or manufacturers. On Friday the Aquamaxx EM500 went on sale for 33% off and the Reef Octopus Regal 250INT for 10% off. Here's a breakdown of some of the highlights that I found important.

Reef Octopus 250INT

  • Rated 600 light stock to 300 heavily stocked
  • 10" body
  • External pump, which increases the reaction chamber size
  • DC controllable pump, 35-50W, 1200-2000 LPH
  • Gate valve on the output makes tuning easier, but tough to redial if changed

Aquamaxx EM500

  • Rated 500 light stock to 300 heavily stocked
  • 10" body
  • Internal pump, which reduces noise
  • Sicce pump, 43W, 1500 LPH
  • Great forum and local user reviews

I ended up choosing the Aquamaxx EM500 largely because of the pump. The tank will be in my living room, central in the house, and needs to be as quiet as possible. Several people reviewed the Sicce pumps as quiet and reliable while those I had talked to weren't very keen on the Bubble Blaster pumps. The best feedback I had gotten on the Reef Octopus skimmer basically translated to it being tolerable. The Regal 250INT uses a controllable DC pump, which I thought to be a negative. Being able to control the skimmer velocity might be nice for someone with low bioload so that they don't overskim. Being worried about overskimming on a mature tank is like being worried about getting too clean in the shower and I think it's an unnecessary feature that will eventually break and need to be replaced. Ideally, I hope to have the skimmer a long time and would likely replace the pump at one time or another. The price of replacing the DC pump was over $100 more than replacing the Sicce and that price would double if the controller needed replacing. The big 33% off sale also made the EM500 more attractive at $150 less expensive.

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Come back and update the forum on how you like this skimmer. I have prepurchased everything for my 330 gallon tank and I choose a reef octopus that I am sort of regretting. I can not stand noise, and everyone's skimmer that I hear that is on the larger side, seems to have a bit of a noise. The only big sized skimmers that I have found didn't have noise, were the ones that have a few smaller pumps running on them in a recirculating type skimmer.

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Will do. There is so little information out there that it makes it hard to make a good decision. I don't like the pay and pray mentality. The most quiet Reef Octopus that I have personally seen was using the DC 5500 pump on one of the lowest settings.

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