Interesting. SO if I was to buy a laguna pump, could I modify it into a working protien skimmer pump that works as well as the askoll?
Which cone skimmer should I buy?
- Thread starter Akwarius
- Start date
- Tagged users None
Interesting. SO if I was to buy a laguna pump, could I modify it into a working protien skimmer pump that works as well as the askoll?
Probably not. I like to tinker with different things. I'm exctited about the impeller and cup coming tomorrow Luke.
Sig other: Why do you need another fish?
Akwarius: To make my skimmer work better :)
luke33
2500 Club Member
I have 4 tangs, foxface, 6line, pair of perc's and i feed 4 cubes every other day. SPS dominated tank. I don't do water changs more than once a year. I use the 160 cone with the modified impeller and extra large collection cup. Nitrates and phos are undetectable. Corals grow like weeds. I used the 180 cone but don't sell them anymore because ive just had to many sicce psk issue's. I also used the 230 cone on my system for 4mths. It worked well but my tank is just to small. The 160 cone is more matched to my tank and outskimmed the 230 cone because of that reason. Now if i were to throw the 230 cone on a 225g tank and the 160 cone on a 225g tank the 230 would skim circles around the 160. Its just the fact there isn't enough waste to keep the 230 cone satisfied. When i run a skimmer i want to see consistent skimmate every week. With the 160 cone mod i see this, with the 230 i did not. On a bigger tank you would see consistency with the 230 cone.
PS- There isn't a better pump out there than the laguna based motorblock. The laguna model is the max flo 1500. The atman isn't in the same class as the askol, but its quiet, cheap and works well.
PS- There isn't a better pump out there than the laguna based motorblock. The laguna model is the max flo 1500. The atman isn't in the same class as the askol, but its quiet, cheap and works well.
The Atman isnt a bad pump inexpensive yes but it does the job pretty well, The sicce syncra pumps are nice, then the tunze hydrofoamers are about the same pump. Then you go to the bubble blaster pumps. All are going to do the job. is the atman going to skim as well as a bubble blaster ???? well honestly its about balance. water and air to the body size. I have had several of the atmans now and all worked fine. Nothing magical or anything. but none of them set off fireworks... lol
luke33
2500 Club Member
Yea, i think i've pushed the atman as far as it can go too. The modded atman that i make pulls nearly 900lph air and quite a bit more water than the stock skimmer pump. Its even reliable and silent! I kinda like the fact that its inexpensive myself : )
OP
OP
Akwarius
2500 Club Member
I just wanted to thank everyone for helping me make this decision. I set up the SWC Extreme Cone 230 last night and was very impressed when the entire cone turned opaque with bubbles. I also like the fine adjustment knob, which makes adjusting the bubble height a snap and is a luxury compared to what I had before. Here's a pic after about 12 hours of operation:
Ya want to hear about over sized. I got a xp-2000 int cone skimmer on a 75. I got a super deal on it.
Last edited:
luke33
2500 Club Member
Basically if you get to large of a skimmer for your system the foam head won't stay constant, you'll get soda fizz at times because there aren't enough organics to create a foam head. It has to do with neck diameter. If you have a 75g tank and your neck diameter of your skimmer is 6" its going to have a problem building up a large enough foam head to skim. So your skimmer will perform off and on. Your much better off using a skimmer designed for that size of tank. The xp2000 will be fine for that tank.
Right exactly, Yea I do understand how it works.. I have argued for years a skimmer can be too big. xp2000 actually is pulling a good amount of foam, I do think from time to time a small step down may be better.
Aquaph8
Love The Fish
I was scared mine would be too big but after giving it a shot Im glad I went bigger with it. I run an Alpha300 on a 225 and it works just fine, I probably pay more in electricity than I need to but I like all the extra O2 it provides.
Similar threads
