Best HOB Skimmer ?

[427HISS]

I have the Aquamax HOB skimmer and their, um..... ok to pretty good.
I would hate to dismiss it, as this is my first HOB.

I'm sure most or all won't work as well, when matched up against the same gph sump skimmers.

For Q/T, ...I like the all in one tanks for ease of use. I have one of my Aquamax HBO on my wifes 29g BioCube and works really well. It does release some micro bubbles into the display though, even with a sponge to help keep them in the bio chamber.

I have the same on our 55g.

The only issue is after about a week, the plastic air tube gets clogged with salt creep, then pretty much stops working. I have to take it apart and clean it out with a torch file cleaner, drill bit, or something simular.

So, what is your favorite HOB and,.....why ?

 

[Fritzhamer]

The in tank tunze blow the doors off the HOB skimmers. Arguably the best piece of equipment in a reef tank is the overflow. It skims all the surface proteins and gunk and concentrated, drops it somewhere for you. Back in the day people would gravity feed their skimmers but now mostly people just dump that concentrated junk into their sump to mix back up again.

The tunze surface skimming protein skimmers take advantage of the naturally floating oils and proteins, as the source water for the skimmer is taken from the surface. In terms of size they are much smaller than an overflow would be. They are amazing skimmers and really pull a ton of air.

 

[Maacc]

I would recommend the deltec mce400. Pulls 2 cups of nasty skimmate a week, truly foul stuff out of my jbj 45. And Adam at Battlecorals is hands down amazing for support.

 

[Holy_makerel]

I have the Aquamax HOB skimmer and their, um..... ok to pretty good.
I would hate to dismiss it, as this is my first HOB.

I'm sure most or all won't work as well, when matched up against the same gph sump skimmers.

For Q/T, ...I like the all in one tanks for ease of use. I have one of my Aquamax HBO on my wifes 29g BioCube and works really well. It does release some micro bubbles into the display though, even with a sponge to help keep them in the bio chamber.

I have the same on our 55g.

The only issue is after about a week, the plastic air tube gets clogged with salt creep, then pretty much stops working. I have to take it apart and clean it out with a torch file cleaner, drill bit, or something simular.

So, what is your favorite HOB and,.....why ?

I had this issue as well(aquamaxx hob1) but i found the culprit to be reduced flow because of stuff clogging the intake. now i clean the intake every few weeks and have not had that issue again.

 

[Finatik]

Reef Octopus HOB-90

 

[SuperDragon]

I'm oldschool, I like and use AquaC Remora's since 2007. No venturi, silent with new silencer pads, almost maintenance free. Great for smaller tanks, if you get above a 75g then need to look elsewhere because injection skimming requires power.

 

[427HISS]

The in tank tunze blow the doors off the HOB skimmers. Arguably the best piece of equipment in a reef tank is the overflow. It skims all the surface proteins and gunk and concentrated, drops it somewhere for you. Back in the day people would gravity feed their skimmers but now mostly people just dump that concentrated junk into their sump to mix back up again.

The tunze surface skimming protein skimmers take advantage of the naturally floating oils and proteins, as the source water for the skimmer is taken from the surface. In terms of size they are much smaller than an overflow would be. They are amazing skimmers and really pull a ton of air.

Which Tunze ?

 

[427HISS]

I would recommend the deltec mce400. Pulls 2 cups of nasty skimmate a week, truly foul stuff out of my jbj 45. And Adam at Battlecorals is hands down amazing for support.

Used, modified and missing a part. Who stocks them ?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Deltec-Exte...000321?hash=item3adcf2c301:g:LlQAAOSwx2dYIBcc

 

[427HISS]

I'm oldschool, I like and use AquaC Remora's since 2007. No venturi, silent with new silencer pads, almost maintenance free. Great for smaller tanks, if you get above a 75g then need to look elsewhere because injection skimming requires power.

Which one here ?
Do you also have their surface skiming box ?

https://www.amazon.com/s/?ie=UTF8&k...&hvtargid=kwd-747843160&ref=pd_sl_dv44poxgi_e

 

[427HISS]

I had this issue as well(aquamaxx hob1) but i found the culprit to be reduced flow because of stuff clogging the intake. now i clean the intake every few weeks and have not had that issue again.

I keep it clean, but that's not my issue. I'll see if I can take a pic of the small tube that clogs with salt creep I spoke about.

 

[Maacc]

Used, modified and missing a part. Who stocks them ?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Deltec-Exte...000321?hash=item3adcf2c301:g:LlQAAOSwx2dYIBcc

Adam over at battlecorals can probably get the pump and parts once you are sure what you need. No idea what it would cost to refurb.

 

[427HISS]

Which HOB's have the longest dwell time ?
Some are so short that they can't perform that well. Kind of like UV's.

I still beleive that the older tall skimmers,....(air stone & venturi) that have longer dwell time, are better skiming than the short, fit in the cabinet skimmers, doing a much better job.

 

[40B Knasty]

Reef Octopus BH2000 hands down. I have the BH1000 on a 40B and it works great. Clean it out every 3 months. Motor is out of the tank. So no heat fluctuations or vibrations. Runs really quiet. About a gallon and a half extra water volume. Easy to clean collection cup. Great pump with a needle wheel. You can cut the intake pipe to make it skim the surface. Micro bubbles are not to bad. I wish I had the BH2000.

 

[427HISS]

Adam over at battlecorals can probably get the pump and parts once you are sure what you need. No idea what it would cost to refurb.

Thats the problem,. $100 for the skimmer and buying the parts ?

 

[Maacc]

Thats the problem,. $100 for the skimmer and buying the parts ?

The skimmer retails at 350. Maybe you can get the guy on ebay to budge. I picked up the mce400 on sale from Adam.
I would hit him up he runs some great deals and he always takes great care of his customers.

 

[Fishninja]

Reef Octopus BH2000 hands down. I have the BH1000 on a 40B and it works great. Clean it out every 3 months. Motor is out of the tank. So no heat fluctuations or vibrations. Runs really quiet. About a gallon and a half extra water volume. Easy to clean collection cup. Great pump with a needle wheel. You can cut the intake pipe to make it skim the surface. Micro bubbles are not to bad. I wish I had the BH2000.

I just got the reef octopus 2000 used. It is two years old and it is LOUD. Any idea how I can get the pump to quite down.

 

[Gator1970]

I keep it clean, but that's not my issue. I'll see if I can take a pic of the small tube that clogs with salt creep I spoke about.

Have you tried to dip the air intake tube into the tank water and let it draw water through for a couple of minutes? This does the trick for me for salt creep. If it's calcium carbonate deposits you can run it in a bucket of vinegar to clean it out.

 

[Fishninja]

Have you tried to dip the air intake tube into the tank water and let it draw water through for a couple of minutes? This does the trick for me for salt creep. If it's calcium carbonate deposits you can run it in a bucket of vinegar to clean it out.

Thanks for your input! I will try both of those and see if that does the trick.

 

[40B Knasty]

Thanks for your input! I will try both of those and see if that does the trick.

With it being loud. That sounds like 1 a of 2 things. It wasn't maintained properly. That's all part of being used. I do mine every 2-3 months. The only thing I hear is sloshing from the waves from the Jepao sw-4 doing its job. Your best bet is rip the pump apart and do a good cleaning job. Qtips and a pipe cleaner. See if the pin that the needle wheel sits on is bent. The pump is two years old. It is not a MJ1200 that lasts for decades. The chamber itself is still fine. You might have to get a new pump. Also the prior owner could have dry run the pump. That sounds more like the issue when a pump ends up being to loud. Mine has been running for a year nonstop. Not one complaint.

 

[SuperDragon]

Which one here ?
Do you also have their surface skiming box ?

I have the regular Remora with skimming box. I don't use the box because it's cumbersome. The skimming is so powerful you won't have any oil slick on the water. I run my Remora with a MJ1200. Recommend any of them. The Pro S is my preference.