I have to say..despite getting a bad rap, I have been impressed with my Prizm skimmer. It is small, works at actually producing skimmate. It is available with a surface skimmer, it will fit onto a 5.5 gallon or larger tank. Why aren't more people using this as a skimmer for their 10 gallon or smaller nano tanks? I wouldn't put it on anything larger than say 15 gallons...but it seems like it would work for that niche market, especially with the surface skimmer. What do you guys think?
-Jon
It is just funny...it has gotten a lot of bad press as a "bad skimmer"...but it seems to me to be a skimmer designed for small tanks, with some good features, and it works! It may not be a superstar All-Seas-Marine Skimmer for 90 gallon tanks as it was advertised to be....but it works. I'm just trying to show people that for a 10 gallon, it may be a good skimmer to use, especially with the surface skimmer option. It also isn't too expensive either.
-Jon
How long have you had it for? Just wait until the brittle plastic pieces start breaking off and then after you clean it, you pray that you can get it to work again. It's not durable at all. I got about 9-10 months out of it. Currently have a Euroreef that's been running for a year and a half and it works perfect. No hassle, no tweaking- always works. But you dont want a Euroreef for a 10g tank though I have the AquaC Remora on my 12g and it seems to be durable and works good so far. Its been going a few months now.
I have another if you want it. I used it for just 3 months. I'd get it "tweaked" to skim properly, and return to find it overflowing the next morning. I'd tweak it again and 4 days later, no skimmate. I'd tweak it again and it would overflow. Just wasn't working for me. WHEN it did skim, it skimmed to wet for my liking, even when it didn't overflow.
I've used Prisms, CPR BakPaks, and AquaC Remoras. I like the Aqua C as my number #1 choice (using one now), CPR as #2, and Prism is down the list with Skilters and Seaclones.
These are my opinions only and do not represent the opinions of anyone else
I would take it...especially if it has the surface skimmer!
I have had mine for a number of years (bought it when it first came out a while ago...can't remember when that was). I have had problems restarting it, and that usually means I need a good mild vinegar bath to the impeller (have done it once...and it always has restarted for me since.) Other than the restarting issue, I think it works (obviously not as good as an Aqua-C) as a nano skimmer. I'm basically saying that if you really want a skimmer for a 5.5 or 10 gallon, it might work for you. I haven't had breakage problems, just the restarting problem, which indicates a good cleaning (happened after about a year of use, so I'm figuring about every year I'll need to clean it).
I'm just wondering why they had bad press.
Yes, I'll admit they're somewhat hard to "tweak". I found that slowly moving it up to the point where you're producing some dark "scum" collecting at the top of the tube and some greenish tea looking water is the best bet (usually done over 1-2 days). If I adjusted it to produce good foam within 15 minutes, it would flood overnight.
So yeah, it has its problems...but if you've already bought one, or can pick one up for cheap, it may be a good choice for a small nano. I wouldn't put it on anything larger than a 10 gallon, though.
-Jon
The prizm skimmer is a good choice for a nano cube for the price. I run one rated for 100 gallons by drs. foster and smith on a 29 gallon, which IMO should be about the max rating. If you can afford it, get a good aquaC or euroreef, but the prizm does what you pay it for.
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I have the AquaC Remora on my 12g and it seems to be durable and works good so far. Its been going a few months now.
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