Which skimmer to get?

[haninja]

Which skimmer to get for a budget of about $700 on a 180 gallon with a 100 gallon sump?
Not a lot of room for an in-sump: 11 x 18. Plenty of room outside though.
My initial choice was the Alpha Cone 250 if I can find a used one in my price range. But looking back, It might not fit in my sump...
Any experience with the Reef Octopus SUPER SRO series? What about the Super Reef Octopus XP series?

 

[dawgface]

There you go! Good guy, I've bought plenty of things from him in the past.

 

[reefkeeper]

I have a Super Reef Octopus XP 5000 running on my 400 gallon system and I love it. Had a Euro Reef RS250 on my 220 and love it too, but this new cone skimmer does an awesome job.

My XP 5000 is inline with the overflow drains and I'm using a TEE with a gatevalve to control the flow to the skimmer and sump. The skimmers performance is simply OUTSTANDING!!.

It's a in or out of sump skimmer with a new Bubble Blaster HY5000S
pump that has an Airpull: up to 90SCFH and the pump wattage is just under 50 Watts. For the price you can't go wrong. The pump is super quite and that was a big factor in purchasing the skimmer. Hope this helps!!

 

[haninja]

I didn't expect so many opinions. wow thanks;

 

[acroholic]

Hanin,
I have a Vertex Alpha 250, and you have a pretty big sump if memory serves. If you can determine if it will fit, I'd get one. My 250 does a great job on my 400 gallon net system, so I would think a 200 like Dawgface pointed out would be a good choice. It also has a smaller footprint.

The thing I absolutely love about my 250 is that it is set and forget. Dial it in, and it makes regular amounts of skimmate, and all you do it empty the collection cup and clean the cup once in a while. My first skimmer was a Beckett type, and while they are very good skimmers, they are fiddle city, requiring regular tweaking and such. They are also energy hogs, requiring high draw pumps to make the Beckett injector work. My 250 Red Dragon pump draws about 38 watts to operate

 

[haninja]

My sump is pretty big but I only have one chamber 18 x 11 that can be used to host a skimmer. I was seriously considering the Alpha 200 but also the SRO XP 3000 which for the money looks like a better deal. Just wanted to get a few more opinions.