Archivarium 2004

[TheVillageIdiot]

Ladies and gentlemen,

I've been doing a lot of surfing on the various online stores... www.petsolutions.com, www.drsfostersmith.com, www.marinedepot.com, www.marineandreef.com, etc., and I've seen some skimmers that I like (I.e., they're cheap), but I don't know if they're good quality skimmers...

The tank is a 65 gallon FOWLR and will have a wet/dry filter and mag 5 pump, it is drilled w/ an overflow rated at 600 gph...

some of the skimmers that I've looked at (I'm looking to spend no more than 170.00 INCLUDING the pump):
ViaAqua SK-388 In Sump Skimmer
Red Sea Protein Skimmers: Berlin Pump Package (includes rio 2500) - a little over my 170, but not by much
Aqua Clear Aquatics Model 150

any suggestions or comments on the above three?

thanks in advance,

matt (tvi)
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20g planted - 1.5 wpg - pea gravel/sand/laterite - DIY co2

[KDodds]

Haven't used the ViaAqua or Hagen/AquaClear (I didn't even know Hagen made a Skimmer), but I was never impressed with the Red Sea skimmers. For the money, it's hard to beat the Won Bros. skimmers. As far as I know, you can only get them from www.aquaticsbykr.com online.
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Kieron Dodds
Inside Aquatics
www.insideaquatics.com

[sirreal63]

I tend to agree with the Prism, it is a wimpy skimmer, my favorite LFS has many different ones on his tanks. The Won Brothers line is really a good deal. Not expensive and pulls out coffee black junk in every tank I have seen them on. For the money you will be hard pressed to beat them.
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Jack
29 gallon planted various fish
58 gallon salt, 30g fuge
75 gallon planted, 5.45 wpg

[KDodds]

Yup, mine is on a 40 gallon H. erectus tank (5 full adults) and pumping nice thick black gunk. Definitely a great find for me, since nobody said much of anything about them, or even knew anyone that had one, when I was researching. My plan was that I did NOT want another squared skimmer. The corners really do seem to make a difference in efficiency (or lack thereof), and the most widely recommended smaller skimmer are all squared designs (AquaC, CPR).
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Kieron Dodds
Inside Aquatics
www.insideaquatics.com

[TheVillageIdiot]

thanks for the input guys, those "won" skimmers are described as "hang-on" types, but I'm assuming they are going to be fine in my sump? do they have a requirement as to the skimmer needing to have a certain amount submersed or is it simply the pump that needs to be submersed? Anyway, the price is great, this is likely the skimmer I'll get! thanks again guys!
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20g planted - 1.5 wpg - pea gravel/sand/laterite - DIY co2

[sirreal63]

If your sump is a regular tank, hang it on there. If the dripping noise bothers you, clip a long strip of filter floss on it that will reach the water level, it will eliminate the dripping noise, just remember to rinse it off regularly.
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Jack
29 gallon planted various fish
58 gallon salt, 30g fuge
75 gallon planted, 5.45 wpg

[KDodds]

Yes, the WON Bros. skimmer can be used "in sump".
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Kieron Dodds
Inside Aquatics
www.insideaquatics.com

[LunarFlame]

Sorry to get a bit off topic, but I was wondering, has anyone tried the JEBO skimmers? Are they any good at all?
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[sirreal63]

Not worth the money is what I hear. most cheap skimmers use cheap pumps...so if you replace the pump it will work better, but then why not buy the real thing instead of a poor imitation.
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Jack
29 gallon planted various fish
58 gallon salt, 30g fuge
75 gallon planted, 5.45 wpg

[KDodds]

Haven't used the Jebo or seen them in action, sorry.
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Kieron Dodds
Inside Aquatics
www.insideaquatics.com