meschaefer

One to Ignore
Location
Astoria
Rating - 100%
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I have been looking all over for information on the ATI skimmers, footprint, sizing and price but can't find anything other than a bunch of people over at Zeovit who seem to be beta testing these things. If need be I will call over to Reefgeek, but I would like be more informed before my call.
 

cali_reef

Fish and Coral Killer
Rating - 97.3%
36   1   0
No guru here, just like to waste money so I can stare at fine bubbles:lol2:.

Euroreefs was\is plague by pump problems, I had one long ago and it was, a big POS(not as bad as a MRC). Pecan have a newer one with a bad sedra pump, it looks crappy with the uni-seals and the pump is too costly to replace. They are finally coming out with Eheim pumps on some of their skimmers. It is not too hard to copy a skimmer design from Deltec or H&S, its sad to see it took them this long to get there. Their copies are way too expensive to be competitive with the imports, for a little more just get the real deal from Deltec or H&S.

The only thing I like about their skimmer is they are equipped with a drain port on the skimmer body, making it easy to drain the skimmer when you need to replace those pumps or fix the leak on the uni-seal:D.

Its funny when people think they have the BEST equipment and argues about it, I always ask if they tried ALL the similar equipment to determine that? I thought my 400W MH was the best light when I upgraded from 175W MH:lol2:.

You should be able to find some Euroreef for sale cheap, they had 55 of them to raffle off at MACNA and I heard some guy won 10 of them.
 

cali_reef

Fish and Coral Killer
Rating - 97.3%
36   1   0
I have been looking all over for information on the ATI skimmers, footprint, sizing and price but can't find anything other than a bunch of people over at Zeovit who seem to be beta testing these things. If need be I will call over to Reefgeek, but I would like be more informed before my call.

Matt, just call Reefgeek and ask for Greg, he is a very nice guy and a former(I am not sure if he still have a tank) hobbyist him self. I didn't take any dimension of the three they had on display but I do remember their foot prints are not huge, in fact the bodies seems shorter than similar size skimmers.
 

meschaefer

One to Ignore
Location
Astoria
Rating - 100%
30   0   0
Cali, the reason i value your input on skimmers is because you have spent to long staring at the fine little bubbles and have tried a quite a few different skimmers. That makes you my skimmer guru.

House/Master have me considering the Bermuda Aquatics 3C, If I am going to consider the becketts, are their any others that I should look at?
 

cali_reef

Fish and Coral Killer
Rating - 97.3%
36   1   0
My favorite is Barr Aquatics when it comes to a Venturi based skimmer, but they are now being manufactured by a different company:(. Beckett is a trade name for an unique type of Venturi device, Bermuda uses something else and I don't think they can inject as much air. All the beckett skimmers I owned had more bubble concentration in comparison to the two Bermuda skimmers I saw at MACNA.

Few draw backs on venturi type skimmer, large(er) pump requirement to drive the venturi, that comes with the added heat, noise, and power usage. I would not have one in my living room.
 

meschaefer

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Location
Astoria
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I was looking at the barr aquatic 1000, can I run this skimmer in sump? Found nothing one way or the other on either the barr aquatic web site or Austin Oceans
 

tomzpc

Advanced Reefer
Location
Pawling, NY
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
I would stick with the needlewheel(or ATI) style skimmers. You can't go wrong with the ASM G3 or the ER RS135. If you have more to spend than look at the Deltecs, H&S, ATI, Bubble King.

As for Euro-reef pump problems that's a first to me. I've been using ER skimmers(with the sedra pumps) for about five years without a hitch and know a bunch of people using the same pumps with ER's or ASM's and have yet to hear of anyone having an issue.

I saw the Bermuda skimmers for the first time at MACNA. The build quality looks excellent. I can say though that the bubble density and size doesn't match what you get from the NW skimmers mentioned above. Personally, I'd wait to get more feedback on these before I purchased one.
 
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fritz

OG of this here reef game
Location
Marine Park
Rating - 95.9%
47   2   0
I run an AMS G2 on a 58 gallon sps tank and I'm quite happy with it. If you check the SPS forum on RC you'll find lots of people running ASM skimmers and most of them aren't that overpowered for their tank size either!

House what was your rule of skimming, +20% tank volume to find the correct rating?
 

meschaefer

One to Ignore
Location
Astoria
Rating - 100%
30   0   0
I have been looking at skimmers for a long time, and had previoulsy decided on the ASM G3, with the gate valven recirc mod from ASM Skimmers, because they would do the mod for me. While I am completely capable of doing the mod, I just can't see buying a new skimmer then placing it on my drill press to drill a hole into it. I am sure it is very easy and no big deal, but with my luck I will crack the body, or screw it up in some other way.

Does anybody else no of a retailor who will do the mods for you other than ASMSkimmers.Com
 

cali_reef

Fish and Coral Killer
Rating - 97.3%
36   1   0
I was looking at the barr aquatic 1000, can I run this skimmer in sump? Found nothing one way or the other on either the barr aquatic web site or Austin Oceans

Yes, you just need to elevate the water outlet of the skimmer to above your sump's normal running waterline. otherwise, the changing water level in the sump will cause the skimmer to fluctuate.
 

meschaefer

One to Ignore
Location
Astoria
Rating - 100%
30   0   0
based upon a couple of considerations, I have deceided that I should go with a needle wheel skimmer. Those considerations being power consumption and the amount of heat added to the system by the pump needed to power a beckett/becett style skimmer.

Over on reef central there is a strong following for Octopus Skimmers, and the DAS seem to have somewhat of a following over here (if you can avoid the tilted cup)

In the DAS category are the DAX EX-1 and the DAS EX-2. Cali reccomended the EX-2, and I that is what Jhale uses. I reviewed Jhales posts in the skimmer thread (thanks , it is the best information on DAS skimmers on the web) and the EX-2 looks like one hell of a skimmer for the money.

My concern with the EX-2 is the footprint. (16.1"x11") Currently my sump consits of a 20 gallon long (30 inches long), but I wanted to knock it down to 15 gallon (24) inches long, each is 12 inches wide. the reason being that with the longer sump I can no longer fit my top off water under the stand, and this makes the wife unhappy.

The DAS EX-1 would make a slightly better fit, but not by that much, as most of the increase in the foot print is in the width and not the length, it's foot print is 15.4"x7.1". The EX-1 also has less power consumption, but it has a narrower body and is shorter.

I also wonder if the DAS Ex-2 is overkill, remeber this is a 65 gallon tank...although i could fit a whole lot more fish! I think Jhales is using this skimmer on 120 gallon tank.

The other option is the octopus recirculating NW-150. This has a slightly wider body and is taller than the DAS-EX1. But I am cncerned about the pump quality in comparison to the DAS if DAS is using relabled Aquabees. These skimmers have a following over at RC
 

cali_reef

Fish and Coral Killer
Rating - 97.3%
36   1   0
Matt, I have a EX-3 on my 150 reef, it is too small for it. I have a BK300 skimming about 350 gallons of water, it is too small for that.. Skimmer size relates more to the bio load in the tank than the size of the tank. You should be okay with a EX-1 if you think you won't get fish crazy like me oneday:lol2:.
 

meschaefer

One to Ignore
Location
Astoria
Rating - 100%
30   0   0
Matt, I have a EX-3 on my 150 reef, it is too small for it. I have a BK300 skimming about 350 gallons of water, it is too small for that.. Skimmer size relates more to the bio load in the tank than the size of the tank. You should be okay with a EX-1 if you think you won't get fish crazy like me oneday:lol2:.


That is a problem, I really have trouble predicting where my lunacy will go tommorrow. And fish crazy could be around the corner.

ARGH this should be a much easier decesion to make. I am thinking I should go with the EX-2, but I am concerned about fitting it where it needs to go.

Jhale, or anybody else who has this skimmer. Can you tell me how tall the EX-2 is with the cup removed. I am concerned that If I shoe horn it into a 15 gallon sump (24 x 12), I may hove trouble removing the skimmer if work need be done.

Someone here said, "GET A BIGGER SKIMMER" once, and it's stuck like an echo in my head.
 

jhale

ReefsMagazine!
Location
G.V NYC
Rating - 100%
52   0   0
without the cup the ex-2 is about 21" high.

I have a tall sump, with only 10.5" clearence to the inside of the stand.
I have to take the cup, pumps, and plumbing off to get the skimmer
in and out of the sump.

I feel the ex-2 is just large enough to handle my 120, I would feel better having the ex-3. I used to have a heavy bio-load but now have very little.
I know this can change and I think the ex-3 would give me more skimming security. But like cali said every one is different. Sollby is running a ex-1 on his 120 and I have not heard him complain about it at all.
I think the ex-2 on a 65 would be a great fit. if you have the room go for that.
 

meschaefer

One to Ignore
Location
Astoria
Rating - 100%
30   0   0
How much water do you have the skimmer standing in?

If you can get it in and out with only 10.5 inches of clearance, I might be able to do this. I think that I may rearrange the interior of my stand to make it fit. I have been sitting at work trying to imagine my tank teeming with fish and I think I might like it.

I can just see it now.......

games_reefcreatures_home_0510.jpg
 
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