Prizim Skimmer

[Dan81]

I've got a prizm skimmer on my 30 long hat has been set up for about 3 months. It is kind of a finiky skimmer to me at least. I was just curious if any of yall have had good or bad experiuences with this skimmer or what you think about it.

 

[Anonymous]

I have one on my 10 gallon nano. I have had it for a year. I would say cumulatively it seems to have worked properly for less than 24 hours of that year. I would say you need a backpack or better.

 

[munchieiam]

overall i would say i'm satisfied with mine. took a couple of weeks to get a good setting but not that i have found it things are good. just wish it could be a little quieter. i've got a 58gal tank and i will deffinatly get a different one when i move to a bigger tank.

joe

 

[Something Fishy in NY]

I have had my Prizm for a little over a year and it has been working quite well. I have had no problems to speak of and agree that it is fairly noisey. I am using it on a 45 gal. FO tank.

SFNY

 

[Kyle McClain]

I have had one for about a year and for the most part not been very happy with it. Mine tends to flood the skimmer cup every so often. You can call redsea and get a new impeller that makes it run a little bit quieter. All in all I think I will go with a lifereef next time.

 

[Dan81]

Make sure that you have your air intake hose plugged back into your collection cup this makes it much quieter

 

[Anonymous]

Plugging the air intake hose into the collection cup will eventually add "dirty" air into your skimmer,which in turn puts it back into your tank.

 

[Anonymous]

IMO it is garbage. I have one that after 2 days leaks all over the place, Noisy and after a couple of days doesn't pull out that much stuff. I have to heep increasing the water flow to get any slime out.

 

[Something Fishy in NY]

I have not had to re-adjust the water flow more than three times in the year since I have had mine. One suggestion, if it stops skimming after a few days, leave it alone i.e. don't re-adjust the flow rate. Check the collection cup to make sure that the plastic tube leading to the collection cup is clean. If there is any junk in there, it will significantly decrease the ability of the unit to skim. I have also found that it skims more some days and less others but I believe this may be common among all skimmers?! I would not give up on it. Let me put it this way, while it may not work as well as some other competing skimmers, it works 100x better then my SeaClone, so I am happy.

SFNY

 

[Roach]

I've had one for over a year on my 18 gallon reef.
I have to say that it has worked pretty well for me. It does have a tendency to overskim without any kind of warning. Right now it's the only means of filtration on my tank and things are doing great.

 

[Dewman]

Plugging the air intake back into the cup is a good idea. Less noise.
I wouldn't worry about "dirty" air, since the skimmer cup is not air-tight, it will always have an ample supply of fresh air.

 

[trybka]

I'm cycling a 55g right now. I have a 35g that I used a Bak Pak 2r on (the bak pak is on the 55g). I bought a prizm for my 35 because I'm turning it into a Seahorse tank and there won't be such a great bioload as my reef.

I'm really pleased with it. I think it's pulling as much and as dark a material as my bak pak did and I'm not having the serious bubble issues I had with my bak pak.

I've heard a lot of complaints about the prizm but I like mine just fine.

 

[Dewman]

Plugging the air intake back into the cup is a good idea. Less noise.
I wouldn't worry about "dirty" air, since the skimmer cup is not air-tight, it will always have an ample supply of fresh air.

 

[edburhop]

If it ain't working right, you don't have it set up right. I have one on a 55 reef and it works great. Just a few things.
1. the air hose MUST be plugged into the right nipple on the collection cup. Read your instructions.
2. Make sure the cover on the collection cup is pushed on tight, this keeps it from ever overflowing.
3. Fill the chamber with the intake tube with water. This quiets the unit.
4. Keep the top of the collection cup off. Set the water adjustment so that you just see popping bubbles every so often in the throat of the unit. Be patient and wait until it settles into a rythm. Then replace the cover and let it alone.
5. When the collection cup fills, UNPLUG THE UNIT, and clean the cup. Replace the cup and plug the unit back in. This keeps you from having to readjust the setting. I have not touched my setting in about 4 months. It fills at a very constant rate, I dump it about every 3rd day, and it is a dark green syrupy skimate. My tank looks crystal clear.
6. If you want to get fancy, go buy one of those 10 dollar surface skimmer attachments for an aquaclear or Eheim filter. Remove the bottom cone on the prizm and tape the end of the skimmer hose with electrical tape. Set up the skimmer to only skim from the top. I set mine up this way, and it totally eliminates the surface crud.

Hope this helps.

Ed

 

[Terry McGee]

We agree with Ed Burhop, we have them on a number of small tanks , 75 gal and smaller and they work for us. Take care Terry