Time to buy a Skimmer

[Neopimp]

Well this is the next pruchase to make and I am looking for some info/ experience/ biased opinions

My system will be 120 gal DT and a 75gal Sump, so figure total water volume will be 160ish.
Assume average bioload, ( not really sure what that means but lets jsut say I am not going fish crazy)

I am looking to keep it around 400 bucks in my hands.

The Choices:

SWC xtreme 180 Cone - Sicce

SWC Mini S  - Sicce


Vertex In-250 -  Kinda tall especially since i built my table 4ft off the floor already.


Super Reef Octopus XP2000 - Bubble Blaster


Open to other suggestions as well.

 

[crazybizzle]

Ive got the swc xtreme 200 just one step up from the 160 and its a maniac for real and the 160 is awesone to but if u wanna save dough im selling a aquac urchin pro in sump with mag 6 for 140 but if u want it u can take it for 120 ;D

 

[Neopimp]

I was looking a that one as well.... 100 bucks cheaper compared to the 180 cone

Any issue with the Sicce pump?

 

[crazybizzle]

No no prob with pump all good besides being loud until break in

 

[Blob-79]

my SWC 160 cone out of the box was great, about 3 days for me for full break in. The pump out of the box, was pretty quiet...but now its almost silent. I highly recomend the SWC skimmers after my experience with mine. For the price..they rock

 

[teebone110]

My SWC160 cone kicks! Pump is quiet and its a workhorse. Highly recommended, a lot of bang for the buck!

 

[Neopimp]

Got a lot of SWC owners here it seems The reason the Octopus is up in becasue of the pump, I have been reading that the bubbleblaster is a better pump than what the sicce are.  Of course reading through the interenet you will find unhappy people before you find happy ones.

 

[phi delt reefer]

when i did a group buy on the SWC skimmers back in November  - the owner of the store told me the SICCE pumps are just garbage and he absolutely hates them and couldnt wait til they changed the pump to something else.

on the other hand he had nothing but praise for the atman 2500 which is a cheap @ss made in china pump. They use em in the bubble magus lines and the swc lines. He said he's probably replaced 4 pumps in the 1000+ skimmers he sold that carry that pump.


If you got the money though - try to source a skimmer that uses an eheim pump. I have the ATMAN 2500 in my SWCBMK 150 and its pretty quiet but definately not dead silent like the eheim. Once i get some noctua fans for the stand and swap out the damn jet engine fans in my ati sunpower light the swc will be the loudest thing in my setup.

 

[Blob-79]

thats the first ive heard about the sicce pumps sucking... the SWC 160 runs an atman 2500.  I havent done any maintenance on it yet..so time will tell.

 

[Neopimp]

Is the 160 enough for what I want to do with it?

 

[teebone110]

120 + 75 = 195g minus rock, so maybe you will have around 160g net water volume.

The specs on the swc160 are as follows...

Xtreme 160 cone Skimmer Light Bioload Medium Bioload Heavy Bioload
Tank ratings 150, 130, 100

I would consider the SWC200,
Xtreme 200 Skimmer Light Bioload, Medium Bioload, Heavy Bioload
Tank ratings 350, 230, 175

My thoughts are to go with what you need plus one, to handle potential biopellets, sudden bioload increase (dead fish), or in case you ever upgrade to a larger tank.

Get the best you can afford, you won't regret it!

Good luck.

 

[pulpfiction1]

personally i suggest the biggest one you can afford,load is a funny thing,heavy feedings,detris,fish types.you can usually dial a skimmer back to accomodate your tank and load where as dialing up is a different thing

 

[phi delt reefer]

thats the first ive heard about the sicce pumps sucking... the SWC 160 runs an atman 2500.  I havent done any maintenance on it yet..so time will tell.

specifically the psk-2500 pump is what the retailer was speaking of (i should have been clearer) because i had asked if there was any benefit to swapping the pump to a name brand unit like the Sicce.

I purchased my SWC unit through Luke at Reef-Filtration in the States. Top notch customer service + free shipping to the border

 

[crazybizzle]

I dont know how the swc 160 cone works but just want to let u know that for the extreme 200 once u dial the setting in if your water level in sump goes to high it will raise the level in skimmer and overflow so u just have to make sure that u dont add to much water in ur sump and if u do u just have to dial level in skimmet down but overall its amazing im using it with the mesh mod on propeller

 

[Neopimp]

I love the whoel border town thing Somebody somewhere will ship what you want in canada for free or to the border for free/pickup.  Gotta go love the strong dollar as well Thanks for eveyones input,  anyone have any experience with the Bubble Blaster line of pumps?