How good is this skimmer, I was looking at the hang on type HVS2-24, will hang it on my sump, their advertising makes you think this is the best skimmer since sliced bread, I want an opinion from someone who has used the skimmer or that has seen the skimmer in action, not this particular one but any Lifereef skimmer, thanks again.
Lifereef Protein Skimmer Question?
- Thread starter lionfish1
- Start date
I have the Lifereef skimmer you mentioned. Mine is the VS2-24 and sits outside my sump. This thing skims like crazy. I get the smelliest, goopiest, gross stuff out of it. My skimmate is dark green to almost black sometimes when I crank it down and get a really dry foam. I really like this skimmer and highly recommend it. Good luck with your decision. There are pictures of my skimmer hooked up on my website under the hardware section if you are interested.
Have a good one...
Have a good one...
I'm using a VS3-24 from Lifereef and absolutely love it. It's simple to adjust and maintain and constructed well. Not really sure why you want to hang one on your sump. The VS2's and 3's are stand alone so you can plumb them in or outside of the sump. BTW, these things produce some serious scum.
Thanks guys, they both kind of the steep side $400+ for a skimmer, I might get the SVS3-24 (in sump) for my new 110 galon tank, or the hang on one the HVS3-24, depends of the room in my sump, the only problem is I am still confused, someone else on another board has said that they have tried all the skimmers above, and the one he still has is the Euro-Reef CS6-2 it does produce lots of foam go to his website and check it out under equipment in use www.geocities.com/proceed17/ , he sold all the others inclkuding the Lifereef, damn I never knew that getting a good skimmer would be so difficult, I mean they all do the same specific thing mix water with air to produce foam, now which one has the most efficient system, I guess it varies with the user the tank or tanks they run feeding habit stocking and so on, am I making this more than it realy is.
Lion, I can only comment on the EV-150, it is the only quality skimmer I have owned. I can say that I have been very happy with this skimmer (5 months) and Jason the owner is a real nice guy to deal with if you have any questions etc... The other skimmer I had was a low end model and the difference between these 2 are like night and day, I see now why the good skimmers are more expensive.
Steve
Steve
SPC what makes the EV-150 better then those other skimmers, I heard it pretty tricky to find the right adjustment for these EV-150, and what about it's patended spray injection skimming, what size tank are you using it on and how stocked is it, and what pump are you using with it, thanks again.
Lion, I think all the skimmers you mentioned are great skiimers, everything I have read on the boards has been positive about them, I don't think you would go wrong with any of these.
I have my skimmer on my 180 that is lightly stocked with fish but fed quite a bit for all the critters. I debated and did alot of resarch on the 150 and 200 but decided to go with the 150 mostly because it takes a smaller pump, and I would eventually like to run my tank without a skimmer and I felt I wouldn't have to wean my tank as far. I use a Sen 700 pump, this pump has a large footprint but I had room. I also have it dialed back some with a ball valve between it and the skimmer. I choose this pump over the Mag 5 or 7 for two reasons, 1. I had a Mag 5 on my old skimmer and it would not start back up after a power outage. For some reason this is a problem with this pump experienced by many other reefers on these boards. 2. The Sen was recommended to me by a couple of experienced reefers that run the 150 skimmer with the Sen 700.
The main thing about the Aqua C series is to keep the output above the water line. I accomplished this by making a cheap little pvc stand that my skimmer sits on.
Steve
I have my skimmer on my 180 that is lightly stocked with fish but fed quite a bit for all the critters. I debated and did alot of resarch on the 150 and 200 but decided to go with the 150 mostly because it takes a smaller pump, and I would eventually like to run my tank without a skimmer and I felt I wouldn't have to wean my tank as far. I use a Sen 700 pump, this pump has a large footprint but I had room. I also have it dialed back some with a ball valve between it and the skimmer. I choose this pump over the Mag 5 or 7 for two reasons, 1. I had a Mag 5 on my old skimmer and it would not start back up after a power outage. For some reason this is a problem with this pump experienced by many other reefers on these boards. 2. The Sen was recommended to me by a couple of experienced reefers that run the 150 skimmer with the Sen 700.
The main thing about the Aqua C series is to keep the output above the water line. I accomplished this by making a cheap little pvc stand that my skimmer sits on.
Steve
No lion i have not yet received my skimmer yet. I dont get it until january. The reason being is i told jeff no rush since i will be moving into a new house next year and want to wait until then to order a new 180. I just dont want to set it up and then tear it down again so soon.
Jeff at Lifereef tries to keep his skimmers in stock all the time but sometimes runs out of a particular model. From what he told me he builds a bunch of one model at a time. They are not custom built by order like his sumps. Give him a call if you are truely interested. He may have what you are looking for in stock. BTW, he only ships once a week on Tuesdays. IMO the present high end (and expensive) skimmers all work well. Good luck on your decision. It took me a while to make up my mind when I was upgrading from a Turboflotor to the Lifereef. I've never looked back since.
[ September 19, 2001: Message edited by: bowfront ]
[ September 19, 2001: Message edited by: bowfront ]
Lion, you are not limited to the pumps that Lifereef advertises, which were Rio, Mag and Little Giant when I bought mine. I purchased mine with a mag 9.5 and tried it for a while with that pump. It worked ok but now I'm using a GRI 510 which out preforms the mag hands down. If you go with a submersible I would say a mag 12 or sen 900 would work well. If you go with an external I would say something comparible to the GRI I am using or an Iwaki 30 would work well. Thess skimmers are build strong and could probably handle an even larger pump without any problems.
Jeff will put together any package that you want as far as pumps or he will sell you the skimmer alone and you can buy your own pump. Honestly if you are interested give him a call or email him and he will call you. He's not high pressure and will anwser any questions/concerns that you might have. BTW, his skimmers include everything that you will need to hook it up right down to hose barbs, tubing and clamps.
Jeff will put together any package that you want as far as pumps or he will sell you the skimmer alone and you can buy your own pump. Honestly if you are interested give him a call or email him and he will call you. He's not high pressure and will anwser any questions/concerns that you might have. BTW, his skimmers include everything that you will need to hook it up right down to hose barbs, tubing and clamps.
I decided to have the people who are building my tank to build my skimmer, for $580 they will build me a 24x14x20 reefready sump with external ETSS style skimmer, ventury downdraft ball valve type 36" long with mag 950 pump, this skimmer is good for 300gal plus he uses the same type but bigger version for his tanks in the store, and his tanks look great, www.1000islandaquarium.com , is that a good price what do you guys think.
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