Which skimmer?

Sailingeric · May 31, 2019

My Coralife skimmer died and have narrowed it down between the Reef Octopus Classic 150int or the one with the varios pump. It is $200 more but is it worth it?? I have a varios 4 as my return pump and it works great but I cannot really see a difference in the skimmer other than controlling the pump's speed and feed mode to justify the price difference.

Bryson.bobby · May 31, 2019

I use the reef octo 110 int. It works well but I wish it had a varios pump. I can’t really say for the 150

Js.Aqua.Project · May 31, 2019

Personal opinion, but I like as few points of adjustment as possible on skimmers as I have found them easier to maintain consistent skimmate production. Give me a skimmer with just a water height adjustment over any others.

Just to be clear, I have worked with RLSS skimmers (air, pump, and water adjustment), Red Sea C-Skim 1800 (all 3 adjustments), and Reef Octo Varios skimmers (all 3 adjustments).

I prefer my Reef Octo 110ss, 150ss, and Eshopps S-300 (2 adjustments) skimmers.

Orm Embar · Jun 1, 2019

https://www.advancedaquarist.com/2010/1/aafeature

Skimmers reduce total dissolved organics by 20-35%, and per Advanced Aquarist different types all work well. What you're paying for is convenience/reliability/ease of disassembly/other features. I certainly wouldn't spend a lot on a "super skimmer" based on the data, but rather but one with good performance, a nice set of convenience features, and a good price.