BakPak vs. Prism skimmers - pros/Cons??

[jcm1229]

Will be setting up first reef tank next month using my idle 37 gallon. Any recommendations, pros/cons on either the BakPak or the Prism?? Cost?? Noise?? Ease of maintenance - cleaning?? Anything else??

Thanks!

 

[Anonymous]

Having used both, I'd reccomend the bak-pak. It just seems to skim better in my opinion.

Glenn

 

[benneb1897201vw]

I have a BakPak on my 46 gallon, and I'd recommend it. I really like mine, just be sure to clean the RIO regularly if you keep it. I have 2 other friends that have BakPaks, no complaints from them either. Both have had theirs well over a year, mine about a month and half.

Ben

 

[Josh]

Ben,

What do you do to clean your RIO? Are you using the RIO that came with the bakpak? Do you get a lot of waste in your collection cup? I seem to get hardly any.

Thanks,
Josh

 

[Rich-n-poor]

I have a bak pak and am very pleased. If your not getting enough skimmate just lower the collection cup further down in the water column.

Heres how I clean mine. I take the power head off and place the power head in a bowl of water with about 1/2 cup of vinger in it plug it in and let it run for about ten minutes.

thats it rinse it off and put it back in the tank
_________________
Dating Advice Forum

 

[bigtank]

I recommend the Precision Marine HOT-1. It is realistically recommended for up to a 90 gallon aquarium and will do an awesome job on a 37. This skimmer blows away the BakPak and the Prizm, no comparison. There are people on this board who started with either one and upgraded to HOT-1s later on. Much, much better skimmer. It is built extremely well, loaded with features, and has an 18"x3" reaction chamber for much more contact time than other HOT skimmers. No hype, no fuss, no kidding.

www.precisionmarine.com has info. You can e-mail them too. Premium Aquatics and many other online places have them, run $165-180 but excellent value.

[ December 19, 2001: Message edited by: bigtank ]</p>

 

[HARRISON]

A bunch of us had this debate last week if you look up the post. I would say if your planning on getting something bigger in the future then pay the extra 40 or 50 bucks and get a bigger one and save the money in the long run. I have run a CPR for a year and a half and it has never been a problem. I don't have any experience with the bigger one but for 40 bucks it might be worth it. I don't think you will be dissapointed with the CPR if thats what your budget allows though.

My website will tell you about my system that "still" uses a CPR. And its an 80 gallon.

Good luck

 

[gregmookelly]

After alot of research, I just ordered the precision marine hot 1. I have not used any of the skimmers mentioned but it seems that if you are on a budget like me, then it is worth the extra 50 bucks. I have never read anything bad about them.

 

[Josh]

Rich,

I leave my collection cup on my bakpak on the bottom without the screw in it at all and don't seem to get much more than 1/2" brown water in it. No matter how long I leave it in without a cleaning it does not fill up.

Any ideas?

-Josh

<blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by Rich-n-poor:
<strong>I have a bak pak and am very pleased. If your not getting enough skimmate just lower the collection cup further down in the water column.

Heres how I clean mine. I take the power head off and place the power head in a bowl of water with about 1/2 cup of vinger in it plug it in and let it run for about ten minutes.

thats it rinse it off and put it back in the tank</strong><hr></blockquote>

 

[benneb1897201vw]

I just disasemble the RIO to clean it. I have the original Rio that came with mine. I take out the impeller and clean the shafts and all, and clean the air and water supply lines connected to the powerhead too. I know of 2 people that have had problems when the little tube that runs water from the input to the output on the outside of the powerhead get clogged. I replaced the original tubing with silicone tubing, it seems to hold up better than the one rio used, and doesn't get clogged as quick. I would recommend cleaning the tube out every 2 weeks. I get about 1/4 to 1/3 a cup a day of waste. I empty mine everyday regardless of how much waste is in it. I think the amount of waste will depend on your bio-load and how high or low your cup is set in the skimmer. The first few weeks, it was hard finding the right postion for the cup, but give it some time, a little trial and error, and you'll find just the right spot to keep it all the time.

Ben

[ December 19, 2001: Message edited by: benneb1897201vw ]</p>

 

[scooterr]

I have 2 prizms. fairly pleased with them. THe collection cup is difficult to remove. Also the prism doesn't have enough GPH for my taste. But It produces a lot of bubble for the amount of GPH. They are a bit loud but I think the bak paks are too.
The bak pak comes with a rio I believe. You can change that to a Maxi jet 295 GPH for $20 though. Either one will be adequate for you tank though.
HTH

 

[2poor2reef]

I have a bakpak sitting in my garage. I run a PM HOT-1. The BakPak is a decent skimmer for the money. Mine is from a few years ago when there weren't as many alternatives. But if I were you I would spend the extra $40 and get the HOT-1. It's well worth the extra money in my opinion.

 

[Andrew_Adrian]

hmmmm, BakPak good,..Prizim BAD
Bak Pak-possible to change quality of foam, not noisy, good gph, gots a place for biobale/heater, kinda $$, looks nice, adjustable air control-just turn a knob.

PRIZIM-Pitiful,LOUD!, to small, not enough reaction time,ypu get what you pay for (which isint much,

I own both of these skimmers- I like BAK PAK!~