Skimmer set and forget

[JonoH]

I have a Great White GW-7 and it has been great, never adjusted it since it's been in (around 2 years now)

 

[Aquarist76]

you're never worried with it leaking ? Send some photos of the setup

Here's some pictures of my Regal 300EXT. When I first moved to Hawaii I needed to MacGyver a large setup for my fish before I could get a custom tank built. Skimmer worked great and never leaked.

 

[JonoH]

Here's some pictures of my Regal 300EXT. When I first moved to Hawaii I needed to MacGyver a large setup for my fish before I could get a custom tank built. Skimmer worked great and never leaked.

Bottle of skimmate for garden fertilizer :)

 

[Been Caught Reefin]

If you want set and forget, back to old school then you’re talking LifeReef. You Can use any pump with its Venturi style, and you don’t really need to clean the body. With all needle wheel skimmers they really have to be cleaned frequently to keep them running well (skimmer body and the pump wheel).

 

[JJT]

Does anyone have a skimmer they set and forget about ?? I'm tired of tuning my quantum nyos daily. It's the last piece of equipment that requires way too much attention. It's roughly 100 gallons overall

Check out Lifereef. The reason skimmers fluctuate is that the venturi gets clogged with salt. Lifereef cured that problem 25 years ago with a self-cleaning venturi! Set-and-forget is what hobbyists call the Lifereef skimmer!

 

[JJT]

Been using a Bubble Magus Curve 5 Elite and it is definitely a set it and forget it skimmer. No tuning required set it to max and a water line of about 8-9 inches and it's going to work. Also Have a Reef Octopus Elite 150 and I'm constantly messing with it in order to produce skim.

You cannot set a protein skimmer to produce foam. You can only adjust the foam stack once the water is foaming. Remember, skimmers just pump bubbles into the "tube" and it is completely up to the water to foam and sometimes it doesn't and sometimes it does. If it isn't foaming there isn't an adjustment that can be made to make the water foam.

 

[Apotack]

Lifereef 20+yrs not a single problem. Every few years I take the Venturi apart and soak it in vinegar

 

[edsbeaker]

I have a Reef Octopus Classic 200 INT. All I do is empty the cup once per week, and clean the pump every six months. It’s definitely a set and forget skimmer.

 

[nickng]

Been using the Tunze 9410DC in my 100 gallon tank for a year now. No break in period. Place it in 6.5 to 7 inches of water and no adjustments needed. Only knob is the DC pump speed.
Skimmer is designed with two different overflow protection. I’ve not adjusted the skimmer at all for the entire year. Pump is just screwed onto the outside of the skimmer body.

The only other skimmers I will consider are the Deltecs and the lifereef.

I’ve always wondered what is the noise level of the lifereef.

 

[nickng]

Lifereef 20+yrs not a single problem. Every few years I take the Venturi apart and soak it in vinegar

how loud are the lifereef skimmers? Ie are they louder than say the reef octopus classic 150 with a dc pump

 

[Tangdora]

you're never worried with it leaking ? Send some photos of the setup

Worried… it’s always a thought but have redundancies in place should it happen to limit a major flood. Plus the regals have a shut off if the cup were to over fill with the varios controllers. As for the external fitting only ever had one union leak and that was due to my own doing forgetting to tighten a union after reinstalling it post cleaning. But I’m always tinkering in my stand for the fun of it so I’m alway periodically checking every union under the tank.

Also external just look way nicer seeing all the exposed piping and keeps the outside body clean of build up

 

[Hallowhead]

Worried… it’s always a thought but have redundancies in place should it happen to limit a major flood. Plus the regals have a shut off if the cup were to over fill with the varios controllers. As for the external fitting only ever had one union leak and that was due to my own doing forgetting to tighten a union after reinstalling it post cleaning. But I’m always tinkering in my stand for the fun of it so I’m alway periodically checking every union under the tank.

Also external just look way nicer seeing all the exposed piping and keeps the outside body clean of build up

That's beautiful skimmate lol. I yearn for that. I'd be too nervous with it being external

 

[JohnC86]

Does anyone have a skimmer they set and forget about ?? I'm tired of tuning my quantum nyos daily. It's the last piece of equipment that requires way too much attention. It's roughly 100 gallons overall

I currently use a Maxspect sk-800 and sk-400 in my tanks. I took a few days fine tuning and seasoning them, but after 6 months of run time I haven't had to do any adjustments at all. These skimmers are almost completely quite. They are great skimmers at a better price point than the Octopus

 

[JohnC86]

I currently use a Maxspect sk-800 and sk-400 in my tanks. I took a few days fine tuning and seasoning them, but after 6 months of run time I haven't had to do any adjustments at all. They are great skimmers at a better price point than the Octopus

S

 

[Sonor]

Lifereef, located in my sump under the display tank. the only time you would hear the skimmer is when you opened the doors on the cabinet. Friends would ask me if the filtering system was turned off, it was so quiet. Maintenance was minimal, just clean out the collection cup. The system was up and running for 11 years, the skimmer ran flawlessly.

 

[Hallowhead]

Someone send some shots of a life reef setup, really never heard of it until this thread

 

[OutColdCRNA]

I

Someone send some shots of a life reef setup, really never heard of it until this thread

can take some pictures of my lifereef when I get home but it’s nothing special to look at. Would for sure be the last skimmer you ever buy based on its design and the ability to put whatever pump you want on it. The lifereef website is super old school looking but these things just work!

 

[Hallowhead]

I

can take some pictures of my lifereef when I get home but it’s nothing special to look at. Would for sure be the last skimmer you ever buy based on its design and the ability to put whatever pump you want on it. The lifereef website is super old school looking but these things just work!

I saw the website and got discouraged

 

[Apotack]

I saw the website and got discouraged

Don’t be, his products are made to work and last a lifetime.

 

[nickng]

Lifereef, located in my sump under the display tank. the only time you would hear the skimmer is when you opened the doors on the cabinet. Friends would ask me if the filtering system was turned off, it was so quiet. Maintenance was minimal, just clean out the collection cup. The system was up and running for 11 years, the skimmer ran flawlessly.

Any pics of the skimmer? which model do you have? Thanks. I've some thoughts/experimentation DIY that could possibly silence the lifereef skimmer depending on how the noise is generated.
My interest in the lifereef is because of the flexibility to use any high powered pump and that I plan on upgrading to 250 gallon tank in near future.