Another skimmer thread :)

[Len]

So, one of my friends just showed me the "latest and greatest" skimmer:
http://www.atbskimmers.com/product.php?id=57

It's mind boggling how expensive these things are getting, and how many people are actually willing to pony up for them. Skimmers are almost like fashion accessories nowadays.

 

[Anonymous]

Man, people are willing to pay a lot of money for funny shapes and wacky colored acrylic.

 

[Anonymous]

Don't need much of a skimmer for a softie tank Len

 

[Ben1]

They are nice looking though.... :lol:

I can't help it I go through a lot of skimmers. I do like the equiptment end of it. I've drawn up so many specs for skimmers over the years. I always think I can make better ones then whats out there, but never do lol.

Ive owned lee's wooden air stone CC skimmer, seaclone, skilter, Aqua-C Remora Pro, Aqua-C ev 240 I think it was, Top Fathom of some sort, Euro-reef CS8-3, PM Bullet 3, ASM G3, and now I have a Euro-reef RC135 which I am replacing soon lol, and a remora on my son's nano. Ive been in the hobby since 95'ish so have gone through a bit of them in my time. I am sure I forgot a few as well lol.

Thinking back I do think I got some of the best results from my bullet 3 but now adays wouldnt want to go back to that since they still use those damn thumb screws and they require a large pump.

Plus I like new gadgets..and always think someone else's skimmer looks bigger then mine. :lol:

Seriously though, I do think skimmers are getting better with these new designs. They are like CPUs they get a tiny bit better, new ones come out all the time, and the newest ones are always super pricey.

 

[jandree22]

Yeah well I don't get it. First let's assume that ATB skimmer is da' bomb in performance, great. Now let's say in actual material, labor to build, and retail markup bring it to $500... really the other $1500 you're paying for is R&D, and nothing else.

Now, if you sell your $500 skimmer for $2000 and get 50 suckers to buy it, ATB profits $75,000.

Now OTOH, put this in the realm of a normal joe reefkeeper that's willing to pay $700 for your $500 skimmer, now perhaps 1,000 people will pay this somewhat sane price (35% of their insane actual asking price, if you're keeping track), ATB profits $200,000.

Maybe I'm missing something here, but this is a perfect example of how this hobby sucks... equipment being expensive just for the sake of being expensive. Seems like in this hobby you're stuck affording a Kia or saving endlessly to jump right up to a Bimmer. Where are the Accords and Camry's? :lol: