[trreherd]

well i need to pick out a hob skimmer because i no longer have a sump. I relly dont want to deal with a skimmer but with my overstocking ways im going to need one. Heres my criteria, No microbubles, i dont care if it spitts out on per hour, i dont want them. It needs to be some what easy to adjust, When i go to a freinds house i need to trust that it will keep cleaning my tank without me babying it. So heres the plan.
so the intake tube of the skimmer goes into the overflow, so it sucks water form the surface, the water tainted with microbubles than goes into the buble trap. i will build both of these out of acrilic, iv seen it done on melves reef.

 

[trreherd]

Ok that post was a little rushed, so here is some more stuff i wanted to explain in more depth(bro kicked me off) So the overflow is simply a acrilic box i will place near the surface of the water, water from the surface will pour into the box and it will be sucked into the skimmer, the skimmer does its job and it empties into another box, now this box has a different purpose from the first, the water enters the top of the box form the skimmer, i will use a peice of plexi with wholes in it to make the water in the box calmer.(trickle plate) now on top of this trckle plate i could place foam, would this reduce bubbles? But anyway the main purpose of this box is the slow the flow,direct the flow downward, and hope the bubbles flow to the surface. Iv seen it done on sumps. look here.
If you scroll down on this page, on the left hand side under videos it says bubble tower. click and see how the bubble trap i want to build will work.
http://www.melevsreef.com/topdown.html
now to decide what skimmer to buy, Price range under 100. 20 gallon reef. Not too many decitions but theres a few out there. So my first pick would have to be a sea-clone skimmer. Iv heard some good things about these but i would do the modifications to it to make it run better. Anyone ever used one of these? Usmc would you recemend one? Now the other one im gonsidering it the coralife sumper skimmer model 65. this thing has a needle weel impeler and is suposed to be simple to adjust and use. But i here the pump is a little bulky. Has anyone ever used one? would you recemend it?
sea-clone
http://www.drsfostersmith.com/Product/Prod_Display.cfm?pcatid=4400&N=2004+113771
coralife
http://www.drsfostersmith.com/Product/Prod_Display.cfm?pcatid=13924&N=2004+113771

 

[caferacermike]

From your pic and the fact that you tend to want quality, I'd first sugest an AquaC remora. That is the second best. First best would be the Deltec ME300 for $300. The third best would be a Coralife skimmer but they don't look very nice when installed.

 

[trreherd]

Ok well its gunna have to be the coralife because thats all i can afford. By the way im am currently in boston on a trip in the hotel, and tomarrow im going to the new england aquarium. im gunna snap some pics and ill be shareing them soon.

 

[caferacermike]

I'll bet you can find a clean used AquaC used for the price of a new CSS.

 

[fishiness]

there was a comparison here between the Aqua C and the remora Pro, but everything I read everywhere else basically agrees with Mr. Ornery - one guy said it lives up to and even exceeds the hype

hey mike you know what you're talking about, huh? how long have you been doing this?