lmsmith Posted March 7, 2009 Report Share Posted March 7, 2009 So I need a skimmer. Aside from the obvious problems that I don't have any idea what a skimmer does, how to make one, or even how much they cost shop bought, what are the pros/cons of each? I'm looking at the cheapest and best way to skim my nearly marine puffer tank. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suphew Posted March 7, 2009 Report Share Posted March 7, 2009 By the time you buy a pump and pay for plumbing bits, you won't save much. It's also very difficult to DIY skimmers that aren't in a sump. You can make simple air stone powered skimmers but you need a large air pump and performance is pretty poor. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lmsmith Posted March 7, 2009 Author Report Share Posted March 7, 2009 How much are they to buy? I need it to do a 4ft tank. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suphew Posted March 7, 2009 Report Share Posted March 7, 2009 How long is a piece of string, I've sold second hand skimmers for $100 and saw one advertised the other day with an RRP of $20,000. You should be able to sort out a low end skimmer for about he same price as a good canister filter, a few hundred $ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ira Posted March 7, 2009 Report Share Posted March 7, 2009 You can find good secondhand ones occasionally that will work for a 4ft around $300-400, new they're around $1000. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davidb Posted March 8, 2009 Report Share Posted March 8, 2009 Look around for an Aquamedic t-1000 or something similar. I recently sold one for $200 secondhand and I know people with six footers who use just a single t-1000... It pays to know what you are looking for though, you pay for what you get. The t-1000 sticks out in my opinion as one that is fairly common and wont cost you nearly as much as a secondhand deltec etc... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lmsmith Posted March 8, 2009 Author Report Share Posted March 8, 2009 Thanks guys. I really have NO idea what I'm looking at when it comes to skimmers; I'm not even sure I know what they do! I just know I need one. :oops: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ira Posted March 8, 2009 Report Share Posted March 8, 2009 Sounds like you need research more than you need a skimmer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rockerpeller Posted March 8, 2009 Report Share Posted March 8, 2009 Best bet would be to tell us how many litres you have and whether or not you have a sump. And if you have a sump, how much room do you have to work with. As you already know there are HOB, internal, and external skimmers. Letting us know the above info will help us decide which skimmer to keep an eye out for. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lmsmith Posted March 10, 2009 Author Report Share Posted March 10, 2009 The tank is 200L, and I have a sump but am looking at upgrading it from 50L to 100L ish. I think I have a skimmer now thanks to someone from here, so if someone can give me the lowdown on where an in sump skimmer goes and any other important bits I need to know that would be muchly appreciated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dixon1990 Posted March 10, 2009 Report Share Posted March 10, 2009 so if someone can give me the lowdown on where an in sump skimmer goes \ I think they go in the sump, hopefully a pro on here can confirm this Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
livingart Posted March 10, 2009 Report Share Posted March 10, 2009 dixon you are correct and win the prize not a pro but the best result can be to skim the water in the first compartment of your sump where the overflow enters i think it can essentially go in any chamber in the sump Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suphew Posted March 10, 2009 Report Share Posted March 10, 2009 An in sump skimmer must sit in the water (doesn't really have to be in your sump but would look pretty ugly in your tank!) A hang on the back skimmer (HOB), does just what it says, can also be on display or sump. An external skimmer, can be in or out of water, but must have water fed to it either via a pump or gravity from your display tank, so would normally be either in or next to your sump. But there's no reason you can't pump the water out of your display tank to the skimmer. All skimmer's must have the output free flowing out, so the output has to be higher than water level of where ever your feeding it back into. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.