Skimmer for 150g

[globaldesigns]

Originally Posted by Myka

I have two SWC cone skimmers and they skim very well. The skimmer itself is well-designed.

The pumps on them are cheap, can't argue that. The Sicce PSK-2500 has restart issues which can be fixed by using a White Lightening or Red Devil needlewheel instead of the stock purple one. The way I see it is when the pump eventually dies, replace it with a better one. I find it is easier to spend $350 now, and $150 in a year or two for a replacement pump than spend $500-600 all in one go. Plus you got a year or two out of the first pump "for free".

The Vertex skimmers and EuroReef are good too. I have a couple of those as well. They are noisier than the SWC, but come with better pumps. You could mod the Vertex with a silencer on the air intake maybe..? Never tried it.

+1, I have had the pump quite on me on my SWC160... But I will say Jason at SWC was great to deal with and had a new one to me asap, under warranty. I wouldn't hesitate dealing with him again.

In regards to the restart issue, yes they do have this problem. The original pump that died and the new pump, both won't restart if unplugged then re-plugged. Easy fix was to just blow into the tubing of the air intake, always starts. The problem would be if the power goes out, well then it won't restart, and if you are not there, most likely will fry itself.

SWC is well built, and if possible, I would upgrade the pump right from the start. Not sure if you can do this, but contact SWC directly and ask.