Which skimmer is better?

[Clowntang]

For a 280 gallon heavily stocked sps/clam tank

H&S A200-2X1260 or Euroreef RC500

Trying to decide between the two and have heard conflicting reviews.

Thanks.

[steffen]

BK 300......he he he
I think the H&S

[chadfarmer]

For a 280 gallon heavily stocked sps/clam tank

H&S A200-2X1260 or Euroreef RC500

Trying to decide between the two and have heard conflicting reviews.

Thanks.

H&S A200-2X1260

euro-reef customer service is the pits
had to wait at least month for them to ship my oring for my collection cup that didnt fit right

[VegasMike]

H&S, Deltec or BK - You can't really go wrong with any of those three.

[prodman]

I would say the euro reef. Its a bigger skimmer with a 12" tube vs the 8" on the H&S. And I personaly have had great service from them.

[Spur2]

How about MR3. I think it is a good skimmer if you have a strong pump.

[Miguelito]

I can't comment on the ER, I haven't had the best of luck with their customer service - but this is a newer line and I wish them the best of luck. I owned that A200 2x1260 and to date I think its the best skimmer I've ever owned. It is kinda tall, and SOLID white. Nothing gets thru it. The BK I had was great, but also about $1K more. I had the A300 3x1260 also but I still loved that A200. I'm actually having a custom model made for me right now.

Anyway, here is a really nice pic of a few

http://www.advancedaquarist.com/imag...75_HR_640.html

http://www.advancedaquarist.com/imag...21_HR_640.html

Here was mine when I had it running





Good luck!

[prodman]

Not considering brand whats better width or highth?

[Miguelito]

Niether, it is the sum of all parts.

[prodman]

Ok that makes sense I just thought one worked better.

[Miguelito]

ALL things equal (brand of pumps, total water in chamber, etc) who knows. If you look at Deltec vs H&S - they flip flop on like pumps. Some H&S are taller, some Deltecs are taller. Some are fatter, some are skinnier. One thing about height over width though, if all things are equal, there is less water at the bottom of the skimmer not interacting. The bottom 3-4" of the A200 2x1260 and the 702 that I'm using right now (borrowing) are relatively clear of bubbles. But since the Deltec is wider, there is more water not interacting.

Probably seriously splitting hairs. Most of these skimmers are tuned very well. Its just that now that I've owned/used several of these brands, I found that design of the A200 to be the fastest at removing things. Sometimes too fast, lol. I remember one time I put some Kent Essential Elements in one night and in the morning the cup was full of LIME green skimmate. It was funny, it looked like food coloring. What was even funnier is the KEE is purple when going in. ;-)

I remember when the A200 came, I told Brian I didn't really like the longer slender body (I moved up from the ER 12-2RC). But after 24 hours I was convinced. On the system I'm setting up next month - there is no expense spared, and I decided on the A200 body for the skimmer. FWIW.

I do hope the ER's turn out to be great though. I'm glad they moved away from the old Sedras. I wish they were a little less expensive - $$ to LPH there really isn't a huge difference. But they are a little less than the German models. I have a feeling if they used Eheims, they'd be MORE expensive than H&S/D.

[Clowntang]

Thanks guys. I was thinking the same regarding width of the skimmer. The Euroreef is 12" diameter and the H&S is 8". The Euroreef is slightly shorter at 30" tall compared to the H&S at 32". Do the dimensions of the cylinder make that much of a difference. The H&S looks much more rugged as well. I like how the pumps mount onto the pvc pieces on the side of the H&S vs the holes drilled into the acrylic on the Euroreef. How bout a comparison of the pumps used on the 2 skimmers. Is the Eheim any better than the pumps Euroreef currently uses. Is the H&S needle wheel impeller any different than that on the Euroreef.

[Miguelito]

I'm not sure anyone can answer the NW question. ER is basically a reverse engineered version of D/H&S, so I'm sure they're similar. I believe D/H&S still own the pinwheel patent and others pay them a fee. That might also be a tall tale that has floated around, but I think it might be the case.

I dunno what the LPH is of the ER, but look at the 702, it is 10" wide and very squat. The two German models are VERY full of air. Does more water help? Dunno.

I actually kinda hope you go with the ER. Prodman likes his very much and I've seen other ER users like the new models. I'm sure its a very good skimmer. For me, I really like the Eheims so I decided to stick with them.

Let us know what you do!

[CAReefer]

I just sold an ER 12-2. Having used the skimmer, the body diameter to neck ratio doesn't seem to be right. IMHO the extra money spent on the H&S or Deltec is paying for the R&D involved in getting the right diameter vs height vs neck size and getting the right pump on the skimmer. I was never happy with the performance of the ER and added a 3rd recirc pump, etc. etc. etc. I feel the H&S and Deltec are probably pretty equal in perfomance and build quality, I have never owned either one, but have read alot of threads on both.

Marshal

[prodman]

The newer er use more pvc welds than they used to. Mine is more than stout enough. Ehiem vs gex x? The gen x uses less watts and pulls the same amount of air. Alot say the ehiem is better and it might be. But I am still pleased with my euro pump. Back to skimmer size I feel that I am getting a chamber thick with bubbles. I cant tell you that my euro reef is positively better than the H&s . But I can say they are much improved over the ones that most people were using when they were un happy. Keep in mind that was able to get my skimmer for much much less than retail.Which made my skimmer choice very easy. And its an odd size at 12x24" with 2 sp4 pumps.