prism skimmer

[flgator]

Hello,
I am new to saltwater, has anyone used the Red Sea prism skimmer? Is is worth the money. I am doing a 46 gal reef tank (softies) and maybe 3 fish
Thanks

[DuhJeepster]

You either love them or you hate them. I've owned one for over a year, and have used it on a 29g and my new 55g. It's a little finicky when adjusting it, but other than that for the money I think it can't be beat. It doesn't take up much tank space and is fairly thin. Like I said it's finicky, and I've found that MY small adjustments can be too large. Sometimes after a water change it may need adjustments, but other than that it's a pretty good skimmer for the money.

HTH
/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

[Chuck S]

I have never owned one but I will add something on what the prior comment was saying. Most skimmers have pro's and con's. You can get some of the old 10 dollar Lee's skimmers which use air pumps and they work great. Probally one of the best skimmer's I ever had is not on the market any more. The Big Mombasa by Marine Enterprises. They are the ones who put out that wonderfully made salt Ron Shimek touts about Cystal Sea. I have used it for years. Well they use to make an entry level skimmer which ran on a rio 800 HP Powerhead. That thing cranked out the nastiest stuff. I have owned Aqua-C EAS etc and the best skimmate I ever get comes from that 100.00 skimmer. It is still in use today on my 29 gallon aquarium. I bought it almost 6 years ago for my first tank which is a 55gallon. While most skimmers can be tricky at times to adjust they all have their merits.

[captivereefs]

When ever i sell one to some one I tell them not to run it on anuthing over a 29G. It is a good skimmer after it breaks in; which can take 1-2 weeks. After break in it may need constant adjustments for a week or so. After that it seems to run fine. If you do adjust it wait at least an hour befor messing with it again because it takes that long to stabalize.Also make sure the collection cup is cleaned at least every three days or the foam won't make it past the crud on the neck of the cup. It is also kinda loud. You can fix this by running the air line down under your stand. I have one one my sons 26 reef and like it. It has drawbacks but like someone said every skimmer does.


Darin

www.captivereefs.com (http://www.captivereefs.com)

[YodaHart]

I used a prism skimmer on my 29 gallon and didn't have much luck with it. I had lots of algae when I was using it. After awhile, I replaced it with an AquaC Urchin Pro and all the algae went away.