anyone know anything about seaclone skimmers like a seaclone 100 for a 55 gallon tank i know it says it is for a 100 but lets be realistic but has anyone used these skimmers or know anything about them thanks for your help
Seaclone skimmers have a terrible reputation for not performing well. For a small skimmer, I would recommend an AquaC Remora or a Coralife. Alternatively, the folks that are using the RRMAS DIY skimmer that we built during our Reef Splash last year are getting good results too.
Ok, here's the skinny on SeaClones. They work kind of. They are terribly finicky. Just looking at one wrong will cause it to not run properly. There are modifications people do that help a little. I have one running on a 55Gal and it is just a headache. I have to adjust it almost daily to get borderline results. I would recommend you pick up a Remora if you are looking for a HOB skimmer. For in sump drop the cash (save save save) on a decent skimmer like a EuroReef or ASM. Remember, no skimmer is best, some just perform more consistently and require less tinkering than others. Bang for your buck the ASM is probably a good choice. Take into consideration foot print size for in sump.
I have found for me the easiest to set and maintain and still do a good job is the coralife skimmers. I have several and I am happy with their function and ease of cleaning so far. Their a medium price range and some of the LFS's stock them.
IME I have found that the needle wheel designs are relighable and basicly trouble free. An example would be the Euro Reefs, ASM(basicly a generic Euro Reef) or the cadalac of needel wheels the Geo, The only problems I have had with the needel wheels is the needel wheel impeller of the pump, it has a tendancy to freez/plug with the calcium deposits, also the impeller needeles get brittle and break off, thus sacrificing performance. So I would say ither the pump or impeller would need replacing every two to three years. But over all a needel whell is a plug and play skimmer. My absolute personal preference for a skimmer is the Beckett style, one that incorporates a high pressure pump and beckett foam nozzels. The one that I am using at the moment is rated for like 1,100 gallons, actually I have to clean it every two days for all the gunk it pulls out. So if I were you I would go with ither a needel wheel style or a beckett depending on your situation, If you do anything stay away from the red sea berlin skimmer, thats the bigest POS skimmer there is. The most important thing I have learned in my five years of reefkeeping is "do not skimp on equipment" . Continue to do your research as you are doing now, and purchase or build a skimmer that meets your needs, If you plan to expand to a larger tank in the future keep that in mind as well on your skimmer choice to save you money down the road.
I was recently given one of these skimmers thats why I asked the ? umm how would you modify this to make it a little better what im trying to do is my reef tank is setup w/ a cpr backpack skimmer i know not the best but it is effective I am wanting to set up a 55 gallon tank put 3 or 4 damsels in it b/c my wife loves them dont ask me why except the velvets they are pretty and a puffer probably a porcupine do you think this skimmer would be ok untill i bought a new one in a few months or is it just junk and use it on a hospital tank thank you all again for your comments i appreciate all the help i can get i have been doing reefs for about a year now and love it this will be the first time I will have tried a aggresive tank travis
It will definitly help. Puffers are messy eaters, and will litterly indulge themselfs on the cleanup crew . So frequent water changes would be your best bet. A refugium/sump would be of great advantage as well. I don't have any personal experience with triggers though. But with puffers you have to keep in mind that there tooth is like a rodents tooth constantly growing so choose apropiate foods, like frozen krill and shrimp in the shell. feeder clams and what not.
I will try to catch up on my picture taking and get you a picture of what I did to mine and it seemed to help a little. First throw away that thing they call an air adjustment valve and put on a regular airline valve. It will let you adjust the air more precisely. Next, if you can get your hands on some kind of neoprene, or some other kind of soft thin gasket material. you need to make a gasket to make a seal between the collection cup and the inner tube. I will try to take a picture of this (and everything else I have said I will take pictures of) tonight. What this does is ensures the air going up that inner tube has to exit through the collection cup. If I can find the stuff I used I will make you one and I can mail it to you.
\ like i said before anyhelp i can get would be greatly appreciated and thank you all for all your knowledge the local fish store ppl i just get duh um huh well not all but most of them thats the vibe i get well c-you all later
If the sponge filter in the intake is still there take it iff, just leaving the little plastic venturi adaptor for the airline to connect to. Youwill have to clean the little adaptor about every 2 months or so. Also once you put the airline valve on add some extra air line to the end of it so saltcreep doesn't build up in the tube. I will get the pics up soon
sweet i wonder if one could beef up the pump on one of these skimmer by just finding one that produced more gph i dont see why it wouldnt work but just figured i would ask and see if it has ever been attempted and if it worked out or not
Beanhead and I are planning to build some pretty heavy duty skimmer in the coming months. The design is a recirculating skimmer that was originally built at our Reef Splash event a year ago and has since bin enhanced to be a skimmer that is as good and possibly better than my MRC II which is a becket skimmer. I have been really impressed with this DIY skimmer and you are welcome to join us if you like. The ones we will be building will be 6" diameter skimmers but you could build a 4" which I still have pipe for. There is a thread in the DIY forum on the Reef Splash skimmer that you might take a look at.
would you mind shooting me that link i would be interested in building one that would work great. thanks for the reply
This is the link that I started for the new skimmer that we are planning http://www.razorbackreef.org/old/phpBB ... .php?t=464 This is the link for the skimmer that we built at Reef Splash last year. http://www.razorbackreef.org/old/phpBB ... .php?t=346
The problem with beefing up the pump on a SeaClone is if the water is flowing too fast it just washes the bubbles right out the skimmer without doing any good.
why didnt i think of that crap well you sure know how to bust a bubble dont you lol im just messing w/ you crap back to the drawing board
Here are the pictures of the gasket and the top of the inner tube I was talking about... Gasket on collection cup: Top of inner tube:
again my brain has went to sleep what is the gasket made out of and where do you get it and it does what exactly does it just tighten the seal between the two and alow it to skim better thanks bean head
Yes... My gasket is made of a water proof mat that goes under one of those cheesy desktop fountain things to keep whatever it is sitting on from water damage. It is a very thin foamy material. I doubled it up. If I can find the piece again, I will make a couple more.
