Best skimmers in the industry: Who gets your vote?

[Robthorn]

Had a few different skimmers over the years coral life 65g , bubble Magnus curve 7, Skimz SM 163DC, reef octopus 300ext but now running Deltec TC 206o. The Deltec has been a reliable work horse and worth it's weight in gold. Build quality is top notch. Never goes nutz and overflows the collection cup no matter what gets throw into my system.

Skimmer going nuts when something bad is put in your tank is actually a good thing. going nuts for no reason sucks.

 

[jason2459]

By far my favorite skimmer I've used so far is my current one. I've tried many but none have come close to the reliability, consistency, and performance of my MTC MVX 36" mazzei venturi injected skimmer. I'm powering it with a waveline dc12000 apex ready version with around 23' head height rating.

I'm getting around 6 and even up to 8 cups per day out of it and that is NOT wet skimming either.

My review and testing out different configurations thread here
http://reef2reef.com/threads/mtc-mvx-skimmer-review.252436/page-4

He also makes a beastly dual venturi model up to just about any height you want.

I just love this thing

Draining to a 5g bucket with a pump in it to push to a floor drain a room over.

Just cleaned out

Next morning

1 day

3 days

Neck cleaner is awesome and
darry queen approved upside down blizzard thick foam. Definitely not wet skimming and still producing a ton of thick skimmate.

 

[jason2459]

No more?

 

[West1]

I have owned Reef Octopus NWB 110, and have been running a Skimz SV203 Oval for the past two years. Skimz has been great, extremely quite low power, small footprint, consistent operation. The only problem I see is the availability of spare parts, which appear to be scare particularly for this design. Admittedly, I have been tempted recently by the non-needle wheel "old school" designs due to the simplicity.

Im in the market for a skimmer and was leaning towards the skimz sn143. Then I seen quite a few complaints about the impeller cracking so I ditched the idea of skimz.

Now im torn between the reef octopus 110sss and the rlss r5i. More so since i just found the rlss for 150.00 w/free shipping and I can't find any poor reviews rlss.

Im so stuck as to which direction to go... (Biocube29 w/20 gl sump).

Can a Noob reefer get some help on which to buy pls?

 

[adhd_nerd]

Currently use BK and Deltec. Both excellent. I think the BK materials is a little bit more heavy duty (thicker); but does not affect performance. If you plan on being in this hobby for a long time both are well worth the money.

 

[West1]

Currently use BK and Deltec. Both excellent. I think the BK materials is a little bit more heavy duty (thicker); but does not affect performance. If you plan on being in this hobby for a long time both are well worth the money.

Ty, I'll look into the deltec mcx 300. Very little info so far on a few different forums.

 

[limbhanger]

Lifereef, they are simply awesome

 

[CJBuckeyes]

I've had 4 skimmers. CPR, custom made, reef octopus nwb110, and life reef. I modified the reef octopus a lot (bubble blaster pump, neck cleaner, etc) and got it to work decently. Got the life reef for my new build and hated it at first. It seemed really inconsistent for the first 6 months. I realized that I was trying to skim way too wet, and after that this thing has been a beast. I mean.. look at that skimmate. It's like motor oil..

 

[CJBuckeyes]

ps.. @revhtree is there a plan to quantify this data somehow? Seems difficult to get statistically significant data, as there are a huge number of skimmers and most people have only tried a small number of them.

 

[helldiver]

CoralVue reef octopus these are built like tanks

 

[jason2459]

ps.. @revhtree is there a plan to quantify this data somehow? Seems difficult to get statistically significant data, as there are a huge number of skimmers and most people have only tried a small number of them.

Yep and even those that have tried their fare share of skimmers can't say for sure which is best of the best. I've gone through at least 10 different skimmers over the years but would still love to try more out. I'd like to get a deltec, bubble king, aquac ev, life reef, bashsea becket, etc

But I would be surprised to have any of them produce more then my current mtc mvx.

 

[iiluisii]

Simple assessment of skimmers I had.
Reef octopus. It was ok but even going 2 sizes up I still had to use other filtration methods for nutrient export

SWC. Went 2 sizes up and still had to use other filtration method for nutrient export

Vertex omega 200i. 2 size up and had to add nutrients to the tank.

Vertex alpha 200. 2 size up and had to add an insane amount of nutrients to the tank.

So my conclusion is vertex and royal exclusiv spent more time doing R&D to properly rate their skimmers for actual tank sizes and others don't.

 

[ReefTec]

Lifereef 24" W/ Mag 18

 

[fabutahoun]

Super Reef Octopus got excellent and high quality skimmers, I have SRO 3000 and love it. a great thing that they have an accurate tank size rating for light, medium and heavy bioload. and i Think they gave the best Performance/Price ratio.

If you want the best skimmer and budget was not an issue nothing can beat bubble king skimmer, a friend of mine use it on his tank, it is a beast.

At the end i'll choose the SRO and spend the extra money on something else

 

[revhtree]

Keep the opinions coming!

 

[spidercrab]

So far tunze 9001. Its a beast for that tiny footprint.

 

[Stunna]

I love my LifeReef

 

[NanaReefer]

I'm totally impressed with my IceCap K2-120. It's a newer skimmer so reviews are limited. This skimmer has an awesome footprint, designed to take up less room without compromising performance. Which it doesn't at all. Running a Sicce pump means it's not only powerful but silent! Using a gated design means adjusting is a breeze.
I highly recommend the IceCap K2 series!

 

[ss95003]

I have had 3 Bubble kings now, no doubt in my mind the best skimmers on the market. Quality and performance.

 

[ycnibrc]

Bubble king super marin 250 this skimmer is like an 18 wheeler no matter from 250g to 600g it can handle with ease. Extremely quiet, the cup is super easy to remove, no thread or turn it's gravity seal so all you do is to pick t up. The red dragon pump is connected with the body by a silicon tube so 1 pull it's out for cleaning. The body design with 2 pump input so u can adjust according to your skimmer sump section. Just a few design which I can point out vs all others skimmer.