Need help with protein skimmer options on a system with no sump

[nim6us]

Hey all I'm back for more!

I'm beginning to see how a saltwater tank can be an ongoing, and expensive hobby. However the last purchase I want to make before letting the tank settle for a while is a protein skimmer, but the issue is I have no sump. In the future I may add sump to my setup, but in the meantime I just have a canister filter. I'm finding it hard understanding what the best option would be for a non-sump skimmer.

Initially I was hoping I could get a skimmer that would sit in the cabinet next to my canister filter. After some research it looks like the skimmer can't be stand alone with just a tube going to the tank. It actually needs to sit in the water, either in the tank or in the sump. Like everyone I want something that's not going to be an eye sore. I got sold on the Reef Octopus line, but then looking at their Classic HOB, the thing is MASSIVE hanging off your tank. Ideally I was hoping for something that could hang off the back but with a low enough profile you couldn't see any of the apparatus over the lid. Which got me looking at the Tunze DOC 9004. It's got a low enough profile that I think it should be fine with the lid on.

Let me describe my tank, and then you can give me your feedback, actually here's a link Boyu LZ-810. I've got a poster covering the back of the tank because it's right in front of a window. So anything that would hang off the back, as long as it wasn't taller than the lid would be perfect. Barring that, something like the Tunze in tank would be the next choice.

As always I look forward to hearing anyone/everyone's thoughts.

 

[Fritzhamer]

I ran the Tunze 9012 on my sumpless system and it was a beast. I switched that tank over to a sumpless and after many skimmers I have yet to find something as good as the 9012 was. They are very low profile and like most things Tunze, extremely well designed.

 

[nim6us]

Excellent! That's what I was hoping to hear

 

[mcarroll]

Tunze would get my vote.....but I will say that an AquaC Remora is still a killer solution for a hang-on. Whether the aesthetics bother you is for you to tell me. You can probably pick one up for <$100 used if you're patient and they use any ordinary pump to make bubbles – cheap set up, easy to own!

Check out the Tunze Reefpack 250 or 500 if you want to have most of the capabilities of a sump without adding a sump. Very slick.

 

[nim6us]

Thanks mcarroll!

 

[GoVols]

The Blue Aquamaxx HOB skimmers look good and do a great job but the Deltec MCE400 and at Battlecorals is the best HOB that I've used. If you could work in the Deltec MC500 and make it work then call Battlecorals and pull the trigger on that skimmer. When I sold my old RSM 250 the only mistake that I made was throwing in the MC500 as part of the deal.

 

[lion king]

What size tank and what is your bioload. I ran the tunze 9004 on a bc29 and was not completely satisfied. It does work and pull some stuff out, but it is very minimal. Considering the amount of difference it made on my tank, it wasn't even worth running to me. If your tank is larger than say a 30g and you have a moderate to high bioload, a hob skimmer is the way to go; I've used the eshopps psc75 on a few tanks with great success. I now use an algae reactor on that bc29 and my tank is so much cleaner and nitrates and phosphates are always negligible. The reactor is in the cabinet. The tunze skimmer would also be seen in the the tank if there is no back compartments, may also put micro bubbles out; which in a back compartment gets diffused or broken up by a bubble trap sponge before entering the display.