Which Skimmer for a 75 reef under $300

FLReeferMadness · Jul 15, 2014

Looking to get rid of the crappy coralife skimmer I have now. Constant adjustment and never seems to be right.

I have a 75 reef, 2 yo system, 5 fish and a bunch of coral.

If you could choose what skimmer would you have hanging on or in your sump? Looking to stay under $300, $200 would be preferable.

Thanks

nitro'sreef · Jul 15, 2014

RLSS R6-I Internal Protein Skimmer w/ Waveline DC4000

FLReeferMadness · Jul 15, 2014

Thanks Nitro I will read into that brand some. Seems like good reviews. Any others?

How about the Reef Octopus or Vertex?

FLReeferMadness · Jul 16, 2014

Bump for the day

Any other suggestions? The more I read about the RLSS I like what I hear. Any first hand users can chime in? Or any other brand recommendations?

Bad Company · Jul 16, 2014

I have an Eshopps skimmer on my 63 gallon cube that I love. Fills the cup half full in about a week with black gunk. I love it, it cleared up the tint in my water,an only cost $129. PSK-100H

ifarmer · Jul 16, 2014

There are quite a few SRO that are under 300 that can handle that volume.

TankCrasher · Jul 16, 2014

If you don't mind a HOB I've used my Remora for years and have been very happy with it.

Jimbo662 · Jul 16, 2014

I've got the vertex 130 on my 75g. It's totally silent and does a great job pulling dark skimmate.

SloppyJ · Jul 16, 2014

I have the RLSS R6i and it's a beast. One of the best purchases I made on my new setup.

FLReeferMadness · Jul 16, 2014

After reading more on the RLSS R6i I believe it might be the one! A little toward the high end of my allowance but I think it will pay off in the long run was looking in the $200 range with $300 max.

Any cons of the RLSS so far?

NanaReefer · Jul 16, 2014

SCA-302. I use the SCA-301 for my 40B/20L sump and it totally rocks!

pickupman66 · Jul 16, 2014

ya know.. I got one of the SCA-302 skimmers from amazon. it claims to be rated at 180 gallons but I think that is way over stated compared to my previous SRO3000-XP-INT. But I digress. after a break in of 3 or 4 days in my old sump, it started to produce a nice amount of skimmate. Adjustments are pretty slight, but once dialed in, it really puts a nasty in the neck. I need to quit tinkering with my tank so I can truly watch it produce. for $170, its well built and feels quality.

mainereefer · Jul 16, 2014

ebay you can get sca302 for under $140 got one for $20 with a starphire tank I purchaced new. but I would go with an asm g2

I ru a sca302 and I would compare it with an asm mini-g both produce the same skim... now my g3 on the otherhand it would take 5x sca302 to compare

gar732 · Jul 16, 2014

I've heard good things about the rlss, another to look at would be the aquamaxx cone s co-1. Great reviews coming out of that one. You won't find a better built skimmer than the vertex omega and for the price you can't beat it. If you can see one in person you will understand the reason those skimmers fetch the prices that they do. It's made with superior materials and it all machined and it performs great to boot. If you have the room in your sump you can't go wrong. I'm currently running a reef octopus pov dc-1 that I'm very happy with, it is constructed very well though it's not as nice as the vertex. You can sometimes find a used atb 840 for around $300 that is a great performer and built as well as the vertex. There are a lot of good options in that price range. I'd stay away from the stuff with the cheap Chinese pumps, side by side yo any of the one I've mentioned here and you can clearly see the difference in construction and performance.

FLReeferMadness · Jul 16, 2014

Well after reading more and due to size and a few other variables I liked. I bit the bullet on the RLSS R6-i will be here friday and I will post up some pics of assembly.

Thank you everyone for the detailed responses on all the different models.