So my LFS told me...

ASM is the way to go!!! Saltycritter or Premium Aquatics have good prices.

 

You might want to look at the thread on the Octopus skimmer. It looks like a very good skimmer and very similar to the Euroreef and ASM for alot less money. Thats the skimmer I'm going to upgrade to.

 

Wow, I've never heard of anyone never running a protein skimmer. It is absolutely ESSENTIAL to the filtration and elimination of pollutants in the water. ESSENTIAL. Get yourself protein skimmer and a good one. Precision Marine makes EXCELLENT skimmers. ASM Mini-G is another affordable HUGE skimmer. Myself, I am planning on upgrading from my "venturi-style" to the PM ES100 for my 30g.

 

Thank you to everyone who helped me on this post!!!!!!!
I just made my decision and ordered a Coralife Super Skimmer (325 gph) from Doctors Foster & Smith. The price was perfect and it looks awesome! You can check it out here: Aquarium Protein Skimmers: Coralife Super Skimmer Needle Wheel Protein Skimmer

I'm really excited about my purchase! Do all skimmers have a "break-in time"?

 

I love the Aqua C line of skimmers as I have a Remora and a EV180. they really remove alot of skimmate. And I do believe that you get what you pay for.
You do not ever want to restrict the water flow from water pumps as it will shorten their life time by making them work harder. To remove the phosphates from your water, try getting a phosphtae reactor(they cost about $ 40.00) and work well. Just don't rely on the skimmer and pump to help remove the phosphates with a phosphate sponge.
If you want to use a phosphate sponge or other media, again use a phosphate reactor or even a hang on filter(ie. Whisper, Emperor, Supreme etc.).
Yes you can get away with not using a skimmer, but why would you...It would require more frequent water changes, less of a bio-load and you would lose your piece of mind that comes along with knowing that skimmate/detritus was being removed from your water creating pristine water conditions for your livestock.
Hope this helps in some way! Good luck-just don't skimp when it comes to the skimmer-spend the money on a good skimmer and get the next size up to handle your tank. For example, you want to get a skimmer that handles more than your tank size so you want something that will handle around 75 gallons or so. When you buy a skimmer the writing will say something like for tanks up to a certain size. The only thing is that the manufacturers do not take in to account the bioload of our tanks in coming up with these assumptions about tank sizes and skimmer efficiency!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Let me second the comment on do NOT get a sea clone. If you dig through old threads, you will see that I was once a big fan of sea clones. That is not the case any more. I just replaced mine. The problem with the sea clone, in addition to being loud, is that the main chamber has two chambers in it. Like a smaller tube within a tube. My skimmer pump sucked some algae into it and blew it in between the two tubes. The algae got caught in there, and then bloomed, pretty soon the whole inside of the skimmer had macro algae in it. I could not get it out. Ended up having to junk the whole skimmer. I replaced it with a coralife super skimmer. I could not be happier. The thing is quiet, it produces skimate like you would not believe. All in all just a great skimmer. Also, Aquarium Supplies, Pet Supplies, and Pond Supplies at Discount Prices has the coralife skimmer on sale of $74.99. comes to $85.00 with shipping. Not sure how long the sale is going on for, but I just got mine last week.

 

I vote for the ASM mini. It blows away the Coralife, hands down

 

All do some are very short some are up to a week I think my coralife started skiming after 48hrs. Just rinse the skimmer in hot tap water dry it out and set it up. Keep the water level below the red ring until AFTER it is broken in. Alot of people make the mistake of cranking the water way up before the skimmer is broken in then at some point, usally when your at work or asleep the skim starts skimming and overflows.

 

my new coralife started skimming in about 36 hours. Just a couple of days ago. it is Great

 

Congrats on your Coralife ..... happy skimming APC. I'm sure you'll love it. In no time at all you'll be getting that nice "espresso" like gunk in the cup.

Hmmmmmm yumm