Peninsula 650 protein skimmers

Oceanbear1 · Jan 14, 2018

hi again.

Looking for skimmer recomendations, haven’t bought a skimmer in several years, so a lot of new competition in the market. I know skimmers with DC pumps are popular, but are they worth the extra price point?

I am thinking of a max price of $500, and would like to purchase from BRS as I have some points there. I have read through their options, but having trouble really deciding. Small footprints are a plus. Anyone have some recommendations of skimmers they have had good experiences with for tanks around the 140-150 range?

mjlash22 · Jan 15, 2018

I'm assuming by the title that you have a Red Sea Peninsula 650. For that size of tank, Nyos 160, Bubble Magus Curve 7 or a Deltec 1455 would be my recommendations. Unfortunately none of them are sold through BRS. Vertex and Reef Octopus seem to have descent reviews on BRS, though I do not know much about them personally to make a recommendation.

Jamie7907 · Jan 15, 2018

Nyos 220, quiet, reliable and skims well wet or dry.

rockskimmerflow · Jan 15, 2018

Oceanbear1 said:
hi again.

Looking for skimmer recomendations, haven’t bought a skimmer in several years, so a lot of new competition in the market. I know skimmers with DC pumps are popular, but are they worth the extra price point?

I am thinking of a max price of $500, and would like to purchase from BRS as I have some points there. I have read through their options, but having trouble really deciding. Small footprints are a plus. Anyone have some recommendations of skimmers they have had good experiences with for tanks around the 140-150 range?

Reef Octopus Classic INT - 6 inch skimmer. I think it's like 240 retail at BRS. I've got probably 10 or 11 operating on tanks in the field right now. Really easy to adjust. Quiet. Easy to clean. Works great on tanks up to around 220g depending on stocking levels of course. Super stable foam head once broken in and with proper adjustment of the precise outlet gate valve. Not worth the extra money to get a, likely shorter lived, DC pump skimmer unless you're the type of person that wants another controller to mount and fiddle with all the time. Otherwise go with a set and forget AC option. Have yet to have one of those basic AC pumps on the classic reef octos fail me yet. Have a few in the 2+ year range still running like a top with only 1 vinegar soak cleaning after the first year of continuous running.

Oceanbear1 · Jan 15, 2018

mjlash22 said:
I'm assuming by the title that you have a Red Sea Peninsula 650. For that size of tank, Nyos 160, Bubble Magus Curve 7 or a Deltec 1455 would be my recommendations. Unfortunately none of them are sold through BRS. Vertex and Reef Octopus seem to have descent reviews on BRS, though I do not know much about them personally to make a recommendation.

You know I keep going back to the nyos 160... just wish I could use my credit! but suppose I will always end up using it elsewhere

Jeepguy242 · Jan 15, 2018

I have had my reef octo NWB 150 for 8 years. Had to replace the pump in December.

No complaints here

mjlash22 · Jan 15, 2018

Oceanbear1 said:
You know I keep going back to the nyos 160... just wish I could use my credit! but suppose I will always end up using it elsewhere

You will definitely find other ways to use it. Between supplements and other odds and ends you later on decide to get for the tank, you will end up using it.

rockskimmerflow · Jan 16, 2018

Oceanbear1 said:
You know I keep going back to the nyos 160... just wish I could use my credit! but suppose I will always end up using it elsewhere

Careful with those Eden derived Nyos viper pumps used in their skimmers. The pumps themselves are quite good on paper and would probably last a long time but Eden's power cord insulation is not saltwater safe and are well known for delamination after a year or two in saltwater. These are the same as the no longer made Eheim Compact+ pumps which have been changed to a different motor block in the new CompactON series. I have been lit up by more than a few Compact+ pumps and have heard the same from people in the industry who had skimz skimmers with pumps using those motor blocks. I always replace any compact+ with an old school eheim universal hobby series pump when I still see them in new service account tanks. It's a known danger and unless I got full assurance that the issue was resolved with the new motor blocks Eden is shipping to NYOS I would not use any brand that had an Eden based pump. They are very dangerous after a year in SW.

Jamie7907 · Jan 16, 2018

FWIW I have the quantum 220 and 4 of the quantum 300 in service with no manufacturer issues so far. The 220 was the first and went into service in late 2015 with the 300s starting all at the same time in the middle of 2016. On one of the 300 we killed one pump from mixing medications that basically “cemented” the impeller in place, the other pump in the same skimmer we were able to free the impeller but damaged it in the process, we got both pumps replaced at no charge despite it being a user fault. I do wish there was a way to find out about the cords though as I use so many of them and have another 300 about to go in service for my personal tank.

rockskimmerflow · Jan 16, 2018

Jamie7907 said:
FWIW I have the quantum 220 and 4 of the quantum 300 in service with no manufacturer issues so far. The 220 was the first and went into service in late 2015 with the 300s starting all at the same time in the middle of 2016. On one of the 300 we killed one pump from mixing medications that basically “cemented” the impeller in place, the other pump in the same skimmer we were able to free the impeller but damaged it in the process, we got both pumps replaced at no charge despite it being a user fault. I do wish there was a way to find out about the cords though as I use so many of them and have another 300 about to go in service for my personal tank.

Sounds like you've been lucky. I hope they've remedied the issues with the cord brittleness, but dig up some old threads on various boards and you'll find all kinds of reports of the Skimz skimmers that used the eden motor block shocking people badly after less than a couple years. I have had some compact+ pumps that were reported to have been running to the tank 3-5 years with no issues prior to my replacing them, but I've had enough jolts to not even want to risk it. It's such an expensive hobby I can't see any point in using equipment that has electrical fault as a common failure mode. Just too much investment in livestock and time, not to mention our own health for me to even consider taking a chance with it. It sucks too because other than the cord issue I think those Eden motor block pumps are really good value from an overall technical spec perspective. I actually like them a lot better than the comparable sicce pumps since they have much higher starting torque on the rotor than sicce's seem to. IMO Askoll motor block skimmer pumps are hands down the gold standard, but they ain't cheap so they typically only feature in the upper echelon of skimmers like the Vertex Alpha cone series etc.

VJV · Jan 17, 2018

I have never heard any such complains on the current Nyos Quantum skimmer line on any forum, either US or Europe based...

I would go Deltec SC1456 or SC1660. I personally use my old SC1455 in a 200g and works like a charm.

Never used Nyos but only heard good things about them.

rockskimmerflow · Jan 17, 2018

VJV said:
I have never heard any such complains on the current Nyos Quantum skimmer line on any forum, either US or Europe based...

I was simply speaking to the fact that Eden motor blocks are known for failure of power cord lamination issues and subsequent electrical faults within a few years of operation in saltwater. I too have not heard anything specific to the Nyos skimmer line, but since they use that motor block and I have not heard any word that the cord issue was positively remedied after the known danger surfaced with the skimz branded and eheim compact+ pumps I felt it was pertinent to offer the concern. NYOS skimmers themselves seem well thought out and built pieces of kit.

Have you never heard of any of the issues with Eden motor blocks?

VJV · Jan 17, 2018

Yes, I have, but as I said have not heard any such failures from the Quantum line. Given how eager people generally are to post product failures I would say that the fact that there are no such posts regarding the Nyos should imply that the problem has been solved.

But as I said, have not had one myself.

SPR1968 · Jan 17, 2018

I’ve got the NYOS Quantum 160 in my Red Sea Max S650 and out of the box it’s like a work of art. Excellent built quality.

When I was researching I asked 3 LFS what was the best skimmer at the moment. All 3 said NYOS without hesitation.

I’ve been running it for around 12 months and it works perfectly and pulls out all sorts of Skim. It’s also very easy to adjust once you get the hang of it to set your desired Skim requirement.

It’s virtually silent, easy to empty the cleaner cup (use some food grade silicone grease on the joint) and also has a drain hose and I put this into a large container.

I can highly recommend the NYOS if this helps you decide.

rockskimmerflow · Jan 17, 2018

VJV said:
Yes, I have, but as I said have not heard any such failures from the Quantum line. Given how eager people generally are to post product failures I would say that the fact that there are no such posts regarding the Nyos should imply that the problem has been solved.

But as I said, have not had one myself.

Lol. I certainly hope you're right.