# protein skimmers



## leveldrummer (May 27, 2005)

any of you on this forum know that im researching to switch a 46 gallon cichlid tank to a salt/fish only tank. im now looking at thousands and thousands of protein skimmers and im totally lost. im thinkin about going to the under tank versions but nothing really explains what i need to do to do this. do those operate like a sump? do i need a tank below to pump everything into?i have a couple extra tanks that i could do this with. but im just lost. i thought about the hang on the back design but im not completly sold on that. its bad enough with the large filter i have on there. (i lean more toward over doing it with filtration.) and ill probably do the same with the skimmer. would it be worth the money and time to get the combo filters (filter and skimmer in one) run the pipes and such and put it under my tank? i have a custom stand that i can easily cut up and run pipes through. any suggestions out there? should i not worry so much and just get a hang on the back type?


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## flamingo (Nov 5, 2005)

Just get a hang on back.

Theres a lot of types out there and theres not a definate one out there that's the greatest.

Just take the recommendations of others and go off of that and maybe do some research. I used to think seaclones were good but actually they kind of suck and need a lot of tweeking to get them to be a little good.

Other than that I would recommend the following: remoras, coralife needle wheel skimmers, or bak paks.

Personally I prefer the coralife one. Cheap and easy to set up and work from what i've heard.


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## Fishfirst (Jan 24, 2005)

I'd go with a aqua c remora... quality for a reasonable price


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## leveldrummer (May 27, 2005)

what do those generally run? what is "resonable price?"


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## flamingo (Nov 5, 2005)

For a good one they are usually 75 dollars and up.

Im not sure how much the remora c's go for though.


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## leveldrummer (May 27, 2005)

haha its ok, i dont even know why i asked, i did a quick search. at marine depot they sell for around 150. what brand did you see for 75? all the other sites i checked were all about the same price.


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## Fishfirst (Jan 24, 2005)

the ones that are 75 dollars is probably the seaclones or prisms... which seaclones do "okay" however I have to tweek mine almost daily. prisms I've heard worse reports... I'd vouch for aqua c's as they get better reports and for a reasonable price... $150 dollars isn't a bad price for a skimmer... some can be twice that.


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## leveldrummer (May 27, 2005)

well thats not too bad since i already have everthing else, if thats the most expensive thing i have to get. i should be just fine,


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## Fishfirst (Jan 24, 2005)

cool... and don't worry about posting so many questions... we like answering them


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## flamingo (Nov 5, 2005)

I meant other skimmers are usualy 75 and up if you want a good one.

Seaclones suck though. Like fishfirst said, they need a lot of tweeking and adjustments, they also inject the air into tghe wrong place or osmething like that.


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## leveldrummer (May 27, 2005)

Fishfirst said:


> cool... and don't worry about posting so many questions... we like answering them


haha thanks fish guru, i just feel like alot of you are at homing screaming at your computer for me to go buy a book. haha but its much more helpful to actually talk to people to me. books are great once you get a little more knowledge and want to take it to the next step. but for a beginer, going from fresh to salt, its really hard wrapping your head around somethings.


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## Cichlid Man (Jan 19, 2005)

Yeah tell me about it.:roll:My wife still doesn't realize that goldfish don't come from the sea, and that some of my fish tanks need salt while others need acidic conditions.


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## TheOldSalt (Jan 28, 2005)

GO BUY A BOOK!

jk

I thought I'd save a few bucks by making my own skimmers... well... that didn't exactly work out as planned. Oh, I made some truly awesome skimmers, but they wound up ultimately costing almost as much as a commercial unit. Apparently there's not much profit in the skimmer biz, despite the high prices.


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