Ok, a friend bought a salt water setup and before he got to get it going, his company sent him on the road. Now, first of all, after my repeated attempts to make sure he purchased the best items that he could afford, he went with his LFS suggestions instead of mine. I'm sure some of you can see where I am going with this. Ok so, here are his purchases and costs.
1- 55 g oceanis tank with stand and lights, flourescent lights $650.00
2- bags of Oceanic salt mix $60.00
60 lbs. of the finest silt for sand $125.00
And the biggest disgrace of all 1- Coralife 33000 Supr skimmer protein skimmer for 65 gallon tank $225.00
Ok, now we must all agree that they saw him coming. Ok so He gets transferred by his work and gives me everything.
Here is my gripe about this skimmer. This skimmer is made for hang on back or in sump. I have no sump as the tank is not drilled. So I assemble it as per the directions. This skimmer does not in any way shape or form fit on an Oceanic tank . The brackets just barely catch the edge of the tank rim, and if the skimmer is not wedged between the tank and a wall, then it will fall. Now the skimmer requires you have the tank six inches away from the wall. Holy ugly! Then once you have all of that done, there is a breather canister that is supposed to attach on a certain part of the skimmer body. Well when you do what it says, the canister is below the water line, The direction also clearly state this thingmust be "above" the wtaer line. Hmmm... how is that possible? Ok and speaking of water lines, the directions say that the water line must be 3-5 inches above the pump, but on the return side it says the water line must be below the clollection cup. Just great, now my water level is about 3 inches below the bottom of the canopy. Looks like crap. That is the only way this skimmer will even come close to performing and it is sub par performance at best. The collection cup fills up so fast even on the lowest/off setting that it wont even do its job. then there is this difficult collection cup that has a massice nut you need to unscrew just to get the cup off. Very hard to take off because the skimmer needs to be wedged between a wall and the tank. So you need to take the collection cup off to empty it. Great , seems easy enough. Well you have to shut the skimmer down/unplug it and let all the bubbles diffuse then you can take the cup off. So I go to the sink and empty this nightmare everyday. Then I reattach it to the skimmer body all the while fighting to get that nut tight and then the unit must be plugged in again. Well whenever you restart the skimmer it is like the first time you ever used it, the skimmer cup fills up immediately (within 10 seconds) and you have to repeat the process all over again without stuffing a shotgun in your mouth. After 3 attempts and holding back pressure in the return with your finger, you can finally get it going. But, everynight when I go to bed, i wonder if it is overflowing again. I am sure some people out there have had no problems with this pile but as for me, not so much. I have had several skimmers in the past and this is by far the worst excuse for a viable product that I have ever come across. Please avoid this skimmer if you value your sanity. There is no reason a product like this should be such a headache. Oceanic is a very popular tank and all equiptment out there should be somewhat compatible with that tank. Ok well there is my rant and I hope I have saved someone out there a possible suicide.
1- 55 g oceanis tank with stand and lights, flourescent lights $650.00
2- bags of Oceanic salt mix $60.00
60 lbs. of the finest silt for sand $125.00
And the biggest disgrace of all 1- Coralife 33000 Supr skimmer protein skimmer for 65 gallon tank $225.00
Ok, now we must all agree that they saw him coming. Ok so He gets transferred by his work and gives me everything.
Here is my gripe about this skimmer. This skimmer is made for hang on back or in sump. I have no sump as the tank is not drilled. So I assemble it as per the directions. This skimmer does not in any way shape or form fit on an Oceanic tank . The brackets just barely catch the edge of the tank rim, and if the skimmer is not wedged between the tank and a wall, then it will fall. Now the skimmer requires you have the tank six inches away from the wall. Holy ugly! Then once you have all of that done, there is a breather canister that is supposed to attach on a certain part of the skimmer body. Well when you do what it says, the canister is below the water line, The direction also clearly state this thingmust be "above" the wtaer line. Hmmm... how is that possible? Ok and speaking of water lines, the directions say that the water line must be 3-5 inches above the pump, but on the return side it says the water line must be below the clollection cup. Just great, now my water level is about 3 inches below the bottom of the canopy. Looks like crap. That is the only way this skimmer will even come close to performing and it is sub par performance at best. The collection cup fills up so fast even on the lowest/off setting that it wont even do its job. then there is this difficult collection cup that has a massice nut you need to unscrew just to get the cup off. Very hard to take off because the skimmer needs to be wedged between a wall and the tank. So you need to take the collection cup off to empty it. Great , seems easy enough. Well you have to shut the skimmer down/unplug it and let all the bubbles diffuse then you can take the cup off. So I go to the sink and empty this nightmare everyday. Then I reattach it to the skimmer body all the while fighting to get that nut tight and then the unit must be plugged in again. Well whenever you restart the skimmer it is like the first time you ever used it, the skimmer cup fills up immediately (within 10 seconds) and you have to repeat the process all over again without stuffing a shotgun in your mouth. After 3 attempts and holding back pressure in the return with your finger, you can finally get it going. But, everynight when I go to bed, i wonder if it is overflowing again. I am sure some people out there have had no problems with this pile but as for me, not so much. I have had several skimmers in the past and this is by far the worst excuse for a viable product that I have ever come across. Please avoid this skimmer if you value your sanity. There is no reason a product like this should be such a headache. Oceanic is a very popular tank and all equiptment out there should be somewhat compatible with that tank. Ok well there is my rant and I hope I have saved someone out there a possible suicide.
