Which skimmer for 50g sps tank

Nht · Dec 2, 2012

Like the title says. Looking for a new skimmer that will take care of a medium load 50g cadlights cube tank. It's going to need to fit inside my limited sump area of 7x14 inches and water level is at 9.5 inches. I don't want to have to spend over $275 so pretty much looking for bang for the buck. Thanks all in advance for your help.

stunreefer · Dec 2, 2012

I have the Octopus 4 skimmer and love it, would work great for your tank.

Nht · Dec 3, 2012

Thanks for the reply. I looked at the link and that looks like a pretty good skimmer. Is the pump reliable? Restart issues?
I'm open to more suggestions

wakeboardgeek · Dec 4, 2012

I'm also shopping for "the best bang for the buck skimmer" for my 70 gallon sps build. My latest research points me towards Skimz protein skimmers.

clowndude · Dec 4, 2012

I just went with a SWC 160 Cone for my 65 and really am happy with it. No start issues either

I've had a nwb 150 reef octopus skimmer before and hated it. Every time I turned around I was tuning the darn thing. Then when restarting it I would have to prime the pump because it would get air locked. Even my friends that had them have all switched away from them so that should tell you something about them. Most of them went to a Bubble Magus 7 or Seaside CS1. The Bubble Magus 5.5 is is good skimmer also which is alittle cheaper.

Good luck

dougers31 · Dec 4, 2012

Reef octopus sro-100int is an excellent skimmer and the pump comes with a 3 year warranty. I have mine on a 40 br with a 30 gal sump(60 gal total) It skims some nasty stuff and is sooo quiet:) First couple of weeks it went crazy on my new tank but now it has settled down and is very consistent.

Nht · Dec 4, 2012

How're the pumps on the Bubble Magus? I was looking at the nc7. These look to be good valued skimmers but was wondering if they suffer performance wise

clowndude · Dec 4, 2012

It uses an atman pump, but seaside who owns bubble magus has excellent customer service. I can personally speak that how much you pay for a pump doesn't make a difference I know people here are going to say stuff about that comment, but I have a red dragon pump that is less than 3 months old with a bad pump block and I'm still battling through that issue.

Wildman926 · Dec 6, 2012

dougers31 said:
Reef octopus sro-100int is an excellent skimmer and the pump comes with a 3 year warranty. I have mine on a 40 br with a 30 gal sump(60 gal total) It skims some nasty stuff and is sooo quiet:) First couple of weeks it went crazy on my new tank but now it has settled down and is very consistent.

I also recommend that skimmer. I had it on a 110g and it was a workhorse. Coralvue's customer service is great, and the pump comes with a 3 year warranty.