I need a good skimmer

I am going to buy a new protein skimmer and i was wondering what one should i buy that's good and at a descent price. Not too cheap though, cause i know that its better to buy something at good quality and have it for life than a crappy 80 dollar skimmer that brakes a week later.

Any skimmer suggestions?

And does the sump make anyy different

 

What size tank? The sump will make a difference because of water height and physical size/space.most in sump/ external skimmers need constant water height aswell as proper water height

Im a big fan of the aquac ev series skimmers

 

i have a 36 gallon, so what size sump should i get?

 

I have this one in my 46 bow front.
150 Gallon Fresh Saltwater Fish tank Protein Skimmer | eBay
$115.00 shipped. There is a huge thread you can read on it in the skimmer forum. It comes with a really nice pump and its a cone! (something you usually find on much more expensive models). I even had good customer service with them and they sent me a new impeller for free. It's not overkill for a 36 gallon and it fits in my 10 gallon sump. Good luck with your decision

 

The brands I trust to Skimming (budget minded) are Reef Octopus, Vertex and Warner MF series. There are others who do the trick but these models tend to perform like much more expensive models. All 3 I think you could pick up for your sized tank for under 200 shipped. Of the 3, The Warner MF is my favorite and skims my 100 gallon tank right now. I am running a Vertex over a reef octo downstairs and it skims my 55 well. I also picked this skimmer up for 100 bucks so you can't beat that!

 

I would avoid eBay knockoffs like the one posted. As it may look similar to bubble Magus or such. You don't know if its a quality pump. Also a lot goes into the r and d of a company to properly size the chamber to match to the supplied pump and venturing intake to produce effectively. Companies like the eBay sellers don't do this and copy products and use similar dimensions with usually cheaper parts hence the attractive price. Skimmer is a large piece of the filtration and will aide you in a more heavily stocked tank.

With this if you spend the extra dough on a good skimmer it will pay you back with a cleaner tank.

 

The atman 2500 is a good pump and it matches the model perfectly. I got a 8inch column of micro bubbles to thick you can't see your finger in front of your nose

 

the knockoff works great, runs an atman pump

 

That knock off skimmer is the exception to other ebay items for the most part. That is a pretty tough price to beat as well. The brands suggested up above by Tom.n.day are all great brands, i would chose the one that best meets your needs from those. Just my opinion.

 

I'll agree with the last three post, there is exceptions and the Sc brand of skimmers run branded pump .. There great skimmers !