Hang on Skimmers
 

So I have run into a big dilema. I previous bought a skimmer(less then a year ago) from CNC Marine (canadian) and it is now not working correctly(making a horrible noise) and it seems like they have gone out of business as they are nowhere to be found now. So I need to go and spend another $300-$500 to buy another one. What would you recommend? I am considering the Deltec. I want to go through a well known company as I don't want to get ripped off again!

More info? What's making the noise? What's not working correctly? Could be an easy fix. Even though the manufacturer is now defunct, there's still a possibility of fixing it without necessarily having to spend big bucks on another skimmer. How was the performance before it starting giving you trouble?

When the pump on gets noisy on mine (I have the same skimmer) it means its time to clean it. Which is a big pain in the butt and makes me want to throw the damn thing off my deck but it does fix the noise :mrgreen:

Yeah we thought the same thing so we cleaned it......now the whole motor sounds terrible. My husband tried taking it apart to fix it and nothing helped??? How long can my tank go without a skimmer? I am a little worried about that.

That depends on your bioload, and your other nutrient exports. If can't fix the skimmer, Deltec is a very good choice for hang on.

I have a 44 gallon fish and coral tank. I have 6 fish. I don't want to cheap out on a skimmer. I am wondering if I should go with the 300 or 500 model? I wonder if I should buy it from J & L?

You don't need a new skimmer just a new pump. Which CNC model is it? You probably need a Sicce 1100.

HOw do I know what pump to get and from where? WHen YOu say pump I am assuming you mean the motor inside?

I don't know anything about the CNC...
But I have the Deltec MCE600, and I have to say... best damn skimmer I ever bought. Pulls more out of the tank than my in-sump turbofloter in the old system used to. Easy to install, exceptionally low maintenance, and it's very quiet. Even has a compartment for chemical filtration media!
Deltec is a good name. Failing that, another good choice is the Remora Pro... never used it personally, but it has good reviews.

Don't get a remora pro, they're noisy, ugly and they don't pull out anywhere near the skimmate that the cnc does.
When I got the Cnc It was a toss up between that or the deltec 600. I decided on the cnc, first because the cnc's air intake was 700lph as compared to deltec mce-600's 300lph and second the cnc was nearly half the price :mrgreen:

I went from a Remora Pro to an MCE600 (which has now been replaced by an in-sump RS80) ...

For me, the Deltec was a much, much, much better performer (the walls of the collection cup accumulated a lot of crud though ... so it has to be cleaned frequently; also it was much more sensitive to certain types of food in the tank so I found it necessary to shutdown while feeding) than the Remora Pro.

After having heard so many positive Deltec testimonials, I had expected "more" out of the Deltec ... but perhaps I was unrealistic ... it doesn't perform miracles, but it will certainly out-perform the Remora Pro.

Aside from better performance, the Deltec was generally quieter, smaller in-tank footprint, easier to maintain (other than cleaning the collection cup), and the Remora Pro also had a large O-ring for the collection cup that needed to be replaced every now and then (it kept cracking).

If you don't mind ordering from the states Octopus and Warner Marine have a number of HOBs out now that are getting good reviews and come in cheaper than the Deltec HOBs.

The problem with the Remora is that it's underpowered. Mine didn't really start performing until I got a Mag5 on the end of it. The problem then was that the Mag would always be on the cusp of boiling the tank. The remora is also noisy, but that can easily be remedied with a wet paper towel over the injector. You can prevent the remora's o-ring from cracking by adding a little silicone grease occasionally, but AquaC will send you free o-rings if you ask them.

MCE600 as well.
works good.

If you have a lot of room, I recently bought a Turboflotor Blue 1000 from the US and I'm reasonably impressed. It can be HOB, but I use it in sump. Pulls more than my Tunze9015 ever did and cost less than half.

Only problem I see is that it's a big HOB...versus some of the others.

Well I tried putting in a new pump and that didn't really work. It still made alot of noise. I am kind of leary about spending a lot of money on another skimmer as I am being told that the size of my tank doesn'tneed a high end skimmer.......I've been told the Prism would suffice for my size of tank???

Whoever told you that gave you very poor advice. If you buy a Prism you may as well go throw your money in a trash can. The size of your tank has nothing to do with whether you should have a quality skimmer or not. Did you try a new Sicce pump?

I concur...I have a prizm on my nano tank and it's the biggest POS that I've ever encounterd. Coming from the Interior, you don't want to know what I paid for it either when I first setup my 70G.

Just off the cuff, I just bought a Bubble Magus BMQQ nano HOB skimmer. I cleaned it thoroughly and then threw it in as a secondary skimmer on my main tank to test it out. Pulls about 5x in a day as a secondary skimmer as my prizm pulls as a primary on my nano. It's really pretty well built and I'm impressed with it. Here's a link...it says it can do up to 55G...but remember that it's a small skimmer.

http://www.nuocean.com/skimmers/bubble-magus-bmqq.html