Best skimmer on market? (aka Octopus NW200 vs ASM G-3)

[metalac]

I know this question doesn't have a definite answer, but I'd like to see what you think.

I have a 55 gallon tank, that has a light bio load (2 clowns, 1 wrasse, 1 blenny, few snails, few hermits), the load will increase as I add 2-3 more fishes. I have a Red Seas Berlin skimmer. I upgraded the venturi on it, run it with MD9.5 and when it works as it's supposed to it skims pretty good, the problem is that this happens only couple of days in the week, rest of the time I fidgeting with the air intake to adjust the foam production. It seems that every little change affects the skimmer, addition of top-off water, water changes, addition of kalkwasser, etc etc. Seems that I spend a lot more time than I should adjusting air intake, so I decided I should upgrade, unless you have some other solution.

So I'd like to know what do you think is the best skimmer in the market right now? I'm looking for something in a $300-400 range, and this seems to be the high end for my size of aquarium. I looked at Euro-reef ones, but I wonder how much better are they, since they do seem to be the most expensive ones, and i'm not sure if they're worth extra cash.

 

[mr_X]

how old is it? you have to give it some time to "settle in" a bit.

there is a guy selling an ASM G1X for $100.00 here:
http://www.njreefers.org/joomla/index.p ... pic=6988.0

i've had one of these, and i think they are a good quality skimmer. i don't know about "the best" , but it's more than you need for your tank.

 

[metalac]

Well the skimmer I have has been running for about 4-5 months. If it didn't settle in by now I don't know when it will . I guess the problem is that it's just soooo finicky. One day it works just fine, and then the next day it's either producing really wet, and i mean really wet, foam or there is no foam at all.

 

[metalac]

As you can see I upgraded the title of the post to "octopus nw200 vs ASM G-3". The reason is because within an hour of asking about skimmers for sale on my local reefer message board I got 2 offers. One is for Octopus NW200 for $150 and another is for ASM G-3 for $250. Which one do you think is better? Spec wise they seem very much alike, so due to the price I'm leaning towards the Octopus one, but if you tell me that ASM is worth the extra money I'd go for it.

So what do you think?

 

[Anonymous]

For a tank that small, I'd probably go with the Octopus just out of cheapness of myself

 

[trido]

Hah! I caught you. :lol:
Lets give a little more details AFAIK them.

The Octupus is brand new and is $150. Thats all I know

The ASM G-3 is 16 months old. It has a recirc mod, a venturi mod, over flow mod and mesh wheel mod The owner is asking $250 OBO but would likely sell it for $200 for a quick sale before Christmas.

Now let them decide which is the better skimmer.

 

[metalac]

ahh you're here as well . The $200 would be a decent deal with all those mods

 

[trido]

ahh you're here as well . The $200 would be a decent deal with all those mods

I may not post, but I log into both sites every day. I truely dont have a life.

 

[cindre2000]

Isn't the ASM G3 bigger, thus with all those nice mods it would be "better".

I would say go with the smaller of the two unless you really want to overskim the tank and plan on upgrading one day. The octopus will be cheaper to run and fits your size tank better.

 

[metalac]

Is there such thing as "overskimming" though? I do plan to upgrade, but I think I'd upgrade A LOT probably 200+ once I get a house with more space.

 

[mr_X]

then get the G3, but for a 55 gallon tank, that skimmer is wayyyy overkill.

 

[metalac]

then get the G3, but for a 55 gallon tank, that skimmer is wayyyy overkill.

will i see any bad effects of this? Trido is a bit closer to me with his G3, but the other guy is coming relatively close this weekend, so I'd like to make my decission by this Friday.

 

[cindre2000]

You will probably see inconsistent performance from the skimmer, very little skimmate (since there will not be enough to skim), as well as excessive energy usage from the pump (vs. a smaller skimmers pump).

I personally would run it on at least a 100g system. However, you could have it on a timer and only turn on occasionally to save on the inefficient electrical usage.

 

[Anonymous]

IMO octopus are better made. I have a G3 on my 125 and it skimms very well. I do wish that Octopus was around when I was buying though. The craftsmanship is far superior IMO.

Get a new Octopus for the same price as the G3, that's my suggestion.

 

[Anonymous]

If you're going to upgrade go with the cheaper skimmer, IMO the G3 even with all those mods isn't sufficient for a heavy stocked 200+, light stocked maybe, but might as well save money here... besides 200+ you'll be throwing down a bank as it is, might as well not get cheap on the skimmer.

 

[metalac]

i guess it's settled then. Octopus it is, sorry Trido. I'd offload a cooler from you in not so far distant future if you got one

 

[trido]

i guess it's settled then. Octopus it is, sorry Trido. I'd offload a cooler from you in not so far distant future if you got one

Its all good. Someone will buy it. If not, I might run it beside my new BM250 when I set up a 350G system next summer. Ill probably need it considering I think a lightly stocked tank looks like this.

 

[Anonymous]

i guess it's settled then. Octopus it is, sorry Trido. I'd offload a cooler from you in not so far distant future if you got one

Its all good. Someone will buy it. If not, I might run it beside my new BM250 when I set up a 350G system next summer. Ill probably need it considering I think a lightly stocked tank looks like this.

Why did you put a watermark on a picture of Rich's tank? :?

 

[Anonymous]

He didn't Matt! There was a local reef bbq last weekend and some heavy hitting photo guys came over to look at the system. That's one of their shots.

 

[mr_X]

IMO octopus are better made. I have a G3 on my 125 and it skimms very well. I do wish that Octopus was around when I was buying though. The craftsmanship is far superior IMO.

Get a new Octopus for the same price as the G3, that's my suggestion.

how are they better made? the plastic is thicker? the pump is different? what component would decide your purchase?