Need a new skimmer
 

So I am thinking of a new skimmer to help keep my nitrates in check and cut down on noise . I have about 180 g total system . I have a naso tang, powder blue , yellow tang , coral beauty , flame hawk, Mandarin , five green Chromis two small clowns and a cleaner wrasse . I am not sure if that is medium or heave bio load. I have a limited budget and tight 24" of hight and a foot print of 13"x13" . My main goal is to keep sps in my tank from this point on after a recent tank crash . I have a few skimmers in mind , I am thinking about the Vertex Omega 150 the CAD Lights 220 Gallon TIA-1220 or the Bubble Magus Curve9 Cone Skimmer. Any one out there with feed back on these skimmers would be cool. Also is there any other skimmers I should be considering? I want to keep it under four bills if possible . I also started running bio pellets in the cad light bio reactor about two week ago. I am impressed with the quality of the reactor so I am leaning towards the cad light skimmer.

another good skimmer that i know that isnt to costly is the csc-150.
from what i have seen lately the curve9 cone skimmer work wonders.

Thought of trying Tunze?

+1 the CSC-150

lots of buzz about the aquamaxx skimmers on reef central

http://www.reefsupplies.ca/online-store/AquaMaxx/

I have a Super Reef Octopus 3000 internal. It's got the water blaster pump on it, not the newer diablo DC motor.

It's completely silent. I don't hear air sucking in, I don't hear water moving around, it skims really really well, and pulls tons of junk out of the water.

I've only owned SRO skimmers, so I can't comment on others... but I really like mine.

I know SRO is spendy, but imo this was worth it.

Vertex omega and Csc are pretty much on par with pricing, size and use of the same pumps, sicce.

Although the omega looks like a baby bk it says it has a rating of 150g, the Csc on the other hand says 200g

The curve 9 I am not a huge fan of and don't think it will fit your space as its 23" tall.

I have two Diablo Octopi 300 with the DC motor and I love them except for when I have to clean out the collection cups; then I'm cursing their efficient design because the skimmate is just disgusting coming out. They're silent as can be, easy to tune in, and do a great job at skimming.

2.5 days after cleaning:

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b2...psa10d7b74.jpg

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b2...ps6b61b834.jpg

WOW that is a lot of skimmate. especially after 2.5 days.

They service a lot of water; about 550g right now actually.

That photo is about two weeks old. The skimmers are slowly starting to settle into about 1/2 collection cup every 7 days now.

After having bought a Diablo DC skimmer 6 months ago, I will never go back to a non-DC brand (well maybe other than BK). My Diablo 170 is not audible outside the stand, is very consistent and stable, and produces some great skimmate.

Skimmer
 

Thanks for all the feed back . It turns out that all the skimmers I was thinking about are going to be underpowered for my system . I have been advised to think big :) I like the Diablo Octopi 300 and the other Reef Octopus Skimmer but they have a very large footprint . I think I need to find a skimmer with an internal pump to save space in my sump. Most likely a cone skimmer of some kind so I can through my budget out the window . I have been recommend a alpha cone or a bubble king mini . I also was thinking about a skimz :noidea:

i have a bubble magnus curve 9 that halls ass, and the price is very good 400 bucks taxes in

bk mini 200
 

http://i1343.photobucket.com/albums/...ps25dfc28a.jpg

Problem solved
BK MINI 200:laluot_03:

Good choice. You never hear much negative from those that actually own a BK