180 gallon protein skimmer question

tudamxm · Jan 14, 2014

Hello folks. I had a 125 but the tank crashed during a move. Had all broken out in two 100 gallon tubs for 3 wks until I knew where to set up the tank. All was fine and dandy til one day went to check on them and I got a smell of cooked seafood bisc
A heater malfunctioned in one tub and lost all coral and fish.

Well that was in June and the wife and I are talking an upgrade
I haven't put the tank together (125 since we lost most). I have it running but just with the live rock that made it in the other tub so I didn't loose it

Well any ways, for a 180 gallon reef ready tank, what are good economical protein skimmers that you would recommend?

Thanks and of course. Once I buy the tank/stand in march/April time frame, I will start a thread
Just want to plan a few things prior in case a used one goes up for sale

Thx

Mike

JMSKI333 · Jan 14, 2014

I would reccomend anything Reef Octopus that is rated for double your total system volume. You honestly can't go wrong with Reef Octopus.

Reefing Madness · Jan 14, 2014

Gotta have some boundaries here. Whats your cap on the skimmer?
In sump economical skimmer would be the SCA but, thats at you rtanks limits, so that on is out.
So
SWC Xtreme 230 Cone
Reef Octopus Super XP 3000
Bubble Magus-BM-NAC77 CONE
Skimz E-Series SK201
Your choice at 300g, they would all do you well. Remember, this is the one piece of equipment that does the most for water quality, you don't want to skimp on this thing.

Ron Reefman · Jan 15, 2014

I have an Aqua Medic Turbo 5000 shorty on a system that has a 180g DT, a 70g anemone tanks and 120g sump/refugium/DSB and it has worked great. It can be fed water from a pump, but I gravity fed my direct from the DT. And the really big collection cup holds a gallon of skimate. I've had other skimmers and I wouldn't trade this one for anything cheaper. I had a Reef Octopus and didn't really care for it that much. It was hard to keep the body cone clean. The Aqua Medic has the cone in the collection cup (which is why the cup is so big. It's a 1/4 twist to remove and you can clean the cup and the cone at the same time. Super convenient.

jschultzbass · Jan 15, 2014

I have the SRO-3000INT which I really like on my 180. I like it better than the reef octopus 3000XP cone skimmer plus it is cheaper.

tudamxm · Jan 15, 2014

Thx guys. I will have to look at these options to see what would work
Yes, it would be an in sump set up

Curious, where did you guys buy yours? I.e. Are there good sites that offer great prices

general0 · Jan 15, 2014

I have the Bubble Magus NAC77 and it's been a pretty good skimmer for my setup. One issue I have had recently though is one of the Atman 2500 pumps died on me. I replaced it with a Sicce PSK 2500 just to see how it would work out and it's been pulling junk out better than ever before! I have ordered two PSK-600's to replace the pumps on it and it's really easy to swap them out with nothing more than a barb fitting on the Sicce.

The newer NAC77's come with the Rock 2500 (Aquabee 2500) pumps so this hopefully is not a issue for them now. I had before this skimmer a Reef Octopus NWB200 which was a good skimmer and pulled reasonably well but was a bit louder than I like and before that I had a Reef Dynamics INS250 which was a beast of a skimmer size wise and worked extremely well but was just too big for my new sump area.