Calling all ATB Skimmer Users!

[reeftivo]

All needle wheel skimmers will be sensative to fluctuations so an ato is critical for optimal performance. Air injected (venturi/becket/mazzie) skimmers like PM, lifereef & mrc are not sensative to water level fluctuations like needlewheels but they are usually louder and require more powerful pumps than your average needle wheel skimmer. They are very good performers though and your can use practically whatever pump you want (usually sold separately) granted they meet the gph needed for the specific model to perform.

I would recommend an ato either way you decide

Happy reefing

 

[reeftivo]

How sensitive have you found the ATBs to be with a slight water depth variation? Reason I ask is because I get about a ½ to ¾ inch at most drop or gain due to manual topping off. I have no ATO, always manually topped off.

What kind of sump are you running?

 

[Troylee]

I loved mine and built one from the ground up many years ago.. I’m not sure if the motor block is still the same or not, Laguna pond pumps are the old air star and red dragon pumps just rebranded..

 

[Pyrogens]

What kind of sump are you running?

100g with no baffles.

I loved mine and built one from the ground up many years ago.. I’m not sure if the motor block is still the same or not, Laguna pond pumps are the old air star and red dragon pumps just rebranded..

Good to know about the laguna pumps. I wish ATB didn't go to all DC pumps and still atleast offered the AC airstars.

 

[Pyrogens]

Another wrench thrown at me, I found a Bubble Magus BM160 recirculating skimmer for sale. Now I'm heavily considering that since it looks like the old DAS recircs that I used to fiddle with like 10ish years ago. Those were great performers and didn't care about water height!

 

[SoLiD]

What did you end up going with? I recently just resurrected my ATB Elegance 200 Pro cone skimmer with a Laguna MaxFlo 1350 pump body after 10 years out of commission in the garage. Wow! I forgot how much of a beast this Skimmer is. It pulls exactly 54 watts just like the original Airstar pump body. I have to thank all the information out there in these forums for giving me the faith to try it out. The replacement pump was $190 on Amazon. After years of deliberation I finally bought one and gave it a try and I’m glad it worked. ATB SKimmers have a great design. I did modify some things and made it better.