SWC Protein skimmer
 

I'm in the market for a new protein skimmer and checking out some options. Does anyone have any suggestions from experience on a skimmer that works exceptionally well for $1000 or under? I have been looking at the SWC 350 extreme which seems like a good choice for the price point but I have no experience with these. Any experienced advice would be muchly appreciated. Thanks.

I have an MSX 200 Extreme which I love. It is really a relabelled SWC 200 Extreme. It even has a big SWC sticker on it. It performs extremely well and I think it is well designed and constructed. The weak point is the Sicce pump. They can be hard to get started after turning them off. I don't ever turn off my skimmer, so it is not an issue. Other than the pump being hard to start, it is a great skimmer and tremendous value for the price. I think a lot of skimmers are ridiculously over-priced. The SWC has a good design and makes a great froth.

SWC is from Winnipeg, so you would be supporting a Canadian company, another plus for me.

Here is a link to the MSX skimmer club from RC. Lots of discussion you can peruse.

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/sh...readid=1614133

Good luck in your decision.

I've heard good things about the new Royal Exclusive Alpha cone skimmers. Same basic design as the SWC cone skimmers but with Bubble King build quality and powered by a red dragon pump. All parts are CNC machined instead of injection molded and the cone is seamless cast acrylic. I don't think they are being carried by any Canadian distributors yet but Premium Aquatics has them on sale right now with free shipping to Canada. The Alpha 250 is on for $999 US right now so this would be the time to buy. They also have a 170 and 200 model on for under $1000 as well depending on your system size.

I believe J&L aquatics carries the Alpha cones

Cone
 

Gotta ask. Is the cone shape that much superior to the traditional shape? I could see it maybe helping a little with more laminar flow but...Maybe it's just me looking at price point too(the ol high and mighty dollar is always somewhat in the back of my head). lol. $600 for the SWC vs $1000+

That question is still up in the air. The theory is sound, but whether cones offer appreciable real-world advantages over a good cylindrical skimmer is open to debate. Among skimmer nerds cones are haute couture right now such that Klaus of BK (who was on record as questioning the advantages of cones a few years ago) has jumped on the cone bandwagon.

For the record, Klaus didn't jump on the bandwagon so to speak, Vertex did. They picked up his initial cone design from 2004 or whatever and bought out all the molds. Klaus is still adamant that the Supermarin is strictly superior to a straight cone.