hi guys again. i ve searched over the internet and i ve found some little things that confuses me. deltec, tunze, hydor, euro-reef and vertex. all of them are the almost same price. so my question is what would you buy ifyou were me? i am thinking to buy hydor or tunze. what do you guys think about that guys. tell me your opinion pls because it will help me alot :D

Between Hydor and Tunze? Def the BK =)

Money was an issue for me as well so I simply sold something dear to me haha. In this case it was my music collection.

Seriously...I just set my tank up and the water looks super clear and still this thing is pulling the nasties out.

If i would be you
first ;
i would buy one with at least 600 l/hour air mixing.
All Skimmers are water / air mixing devices and denser thicker air foam is your way to find a good one.
Second parameter is how quiet it is? is it silent? if not it will drive you nuts! and it will cost you more $ for power used.
Third is ;how easy it is to clean? if it is easy then you will clean it and clean skimmer is performing at its best.

Which Vertex are we talking about? IN-series or Alpha? PM me and I can answer any questions you have about either.

i ve heard a new brand name. ATB have you guys had any experience with that ps? if yes so how is it working? will you get what you pay for?

lots of good reviews and opinions But its going to come down to your decision that you make we can through out them, in the end your money remember.
Im not going to blow my horn here. but i have owned many skimmers $$$$ ones and crappy ones, someone hit it on the head.
How quiet huge
How big is it rated for
Air mixture with the pumps
Oh ya $$$$$$ how much
is your tank going to be drilled if so you have alot of options on what you want.
here is what i can tell you.
Bubble King Mini 200 ya its there didnt impress me much that was the mini 200
quiet, low power, easy to clean, just wasn't that big not enough collection time

Bubble master 250 great loved it, easy to clean set it forget it, pulled alot of crap, and but the pumps were crap ceramic shafts.

Euro reef CS 250 great skimmer pulled easy to clean, need a huge sump for it thou dual pumps. pumps went on them too fast cermaic shafts.

Beckett's LOve them, pulled amazing stuff , $$$ to run them, however you need a degree to set them up always have to tweak them. not good not easy for the wife.

Hang on the backs like the deltec's 300, 600 great but IMO /IME no way that a 600 will do 170 gal no way. to take aprt move this take this off ,push this in and over flowing itsays it wouldn't but it will.

Deltec that is my skimmer that im using. AP851 EXT, quiet, easy to clean, set it forget, however even with this skimmer the pump can run ya. the impeller is $269 alone:sad: i like it due to the ext ,if you run fast water through the skimmer u will cause it to over flow. Murphy's law it;s going to happen.

H&S havent used it to much HIPE, actually Chaloupa sold her's before I could buy it........:cry:

HTH
at the end its your Skimmer we can just push you in the right direction all skimmers are great. everone is going to have a opinion and agreements and disagreements.

I have personally used the following:
- EuroReef RS180 - easy to setup and clean, pulls alot of stinky stuff out, decent quietness

- Tunze 9010 - Almost silent to run. Easy to setup - basically set it and forget it, decent size cup for the size of the whole unit, and the simplest to clean. Works very well... I actually have this one for sale!!!

- Hydor 1000 - took a bit to get it to fit in my refuge/sump, it is a recirc unit and has 3 pumps... Once setup it only took a few hours and was pulling crud out. over the next 2-3 weeks of break-in I would tweak settings, but overall very easy to run and pulls alot out. Probably my favorite now.