Protein skimmers on a budget.

Steve34k · May 10, 2019

There are some cheaper skimmers online. Are any adaquate. Instant ocean. Or blue ocean. Both have mixed reviews. 60$ range. 72 gallon tank. Or is there other budget friendly choices.

BestMomEver · May 10, 2019

The thing about skimmers that’s important to me is ease of use. If they are hard to dial in then they become a royal pain. That’s where the higher priced ones seem to have an advantage. If you get one with less capability of fine tuning, You’ll find yourself messing with it all the time. The general idea of skimmers is pretty simple. They all function the same. Back in the early 2000’s we built our own. Instead of a $70 skimmer, save a little more and get an Octo S. Mine was abt $150 I think and it’s amazing. I have it running on a 90 gallon tank.

sbash · May 10, 2019

Being adequate is relative. If you plan on keeping SPS or a lot of fish, then you are better off spending some cash on a good skimmer.

However, since your tank seems to be new, a budget skimmer should be okay to start with. My softy tank is about 30 gallons (with a half dozen juvenile clowns), and I built a skimmer out of two pop bottles and an airstone, lol... Everything in that tank looks spectacular.

KorD · May 10, 2019

IO skimmer is junk IMO. It broke down after a few months.. i picked up a Pro Clear Aquatic skimmer at a garage sale on the cheep for a 70 gal tank.. new ones are on the low price side. It has a really small foot print of about 6 inches by 6 inches and skims like a beast!
I could not be happier about the skimmer.. even though I told the company I got it at a garage sale, they still helped me like I bought it from them. The owner heard my concern and built me a new collection cut for free..

I will definitely buy new from them next time.

NS Mike D · May 10, 2019

I've learned to understand what problem I am trying to solve before spending money to add equipment to my tank.

I pulled my nano skimmer out of my 20 gal tank more than a year ago and haven't looked back. Plus I only use my filter socks right after weekly maintenance for a day or two then pull them out. I do have 2 sumps (HOB and under the tank) so I have a decent macro algae, rubble rock, pods and microfauna helping keep things in check. I think a good deal of my set backs in the beginning was chasing zeros which caused my corals to struggle and gave an advantage to the nuisance algae/bacteria

I am not against skimmers. I just think to remember that the organics they pull are coral food too. IMO, run a skimmer to remove excess organics . There are members here who's skimmers are too efficient and thus run their skimmers only part of the day or dose back what they pulled out.

Steve34k · May 10, 2019

The blue ocean pp75. Is 60$. They say with a new pump or addition of an air stone. It works great. Anyone have one.

Steve34k · May 10, 2019

One is 62$. One is 150$ same unit different pump.

Steve34k · May 10, 2019

One is 62$. One is 150$ same unit different pump.

Salty Lemon · May 10, 2019

Do you have a drilled tank? A HOB skimmer can be a real pain in the butt to deal with. They work great, but you have to stare at fish yuck all day, and if you don't pay attention to it, it can overflow onto your floor.

Zohar78 · May 13, 2019

oceanbox and ice cap both have chep decent skimmers ( i have an oceanbox) for a good price. it may be worthwhile to save up a little extra and go ahead and get a solid one. plus a little more info on tank. . Most manufactures much like HOB filters seem to highly overate their products performance. ex. if it says rated for 100 gallons, thats probably light bio load, with 75 for medium and 40 for heavy. something like that.