Best Protein Skimmer Reviews

A product review of the most popular brands of saltwater protein skimmer available for a reef tank

As technology continues to improve, it becomes a little bit easier for us to maintain ideal conditions for our reef tanks. But as our reef aquarium equipment improves, our options seem to be multiplying too. Having choices, as a consumer, is usually a good thing. But when it comes to the reef aquarium hobby, there are so many brands and so many options that choices can sometimes be overwhelming for the newcomer to the hobby. Whether you are in the market for your first protein skimmer or are looking to upgrade your existing protein skimmer, this article should help you sort through all the options and help you find the best protein skimmer brands for your reef aquarium.

But first, let’s cover some of the basics

What is a protein skimmer?

A protein skimmer is a piece of equipment (a device) that purifies your reef aquarium water. Just think of it as a somewhat fancy filtration apparatus. Protein skimmers work by a process called foam fractionation, which is a fancy way of saying they create scrubbing bubbles. The gunk in your aquarium water gets stuck on the bubbles and gets carried up into the collection container, which you will need to dump out and keep clean.

A protein skimmer is an amazing tool that combines thermodynamics and engineering. Much of the organic gunk that is suspended in the water column doesn’t like to be in the water (thermodynamically speaking), gunk would rather be close to surface of the water. Bubbles, by comparison to regular old water have a whole lot of surface and not a lot of water, so given the option, the gunk in your water will ‘stick’ (thermodynamically speaking again) to the bubbles rather than hang out in the water. Then, the design of the protein skimmer draws the bubbles and the gunk with it up and out of the water and into the collection cup, where the gunk is removed. The best protein skimmer brands, therefore, are the brands that easily and reliably remove that gunk from your reef tank.

Does every reef aquarium have to have a protein skimmer?

No, you don’t always need a protein skimmer, but they are good to have, as a general rule. Just take one look at the brown, smelly, nasty gunk they remove and you’ll be convinced they do a lot of good.

How the best protein skimmer reviews work–in other words, how to pick a good protein skimmer

Size rating

One of the most important factors when determining the best protein skimmer to brand to select is the size rating for the skimmer. Every skimmer is rated for a certain size tank, based on the amount of skimmate they can remove from the water, factoring in design, pump size, etc. If you buy a protein skimmer that is under-sized for your aquarium, you run the risk of always struggling to keep nutrient levels down. Take into account that the marketing messages for these skimmers tend to accentuate the positive, and consider purchasing a skimmer that is rated a little bit higher than the size of your tank–or a model where your tank is in the middle of the range.

Best protein skimmer reviews

These days (in 2017), I tend to use articles (like this) and the wisdom of the crowd, captured as best protein skimmer reviews on trusted websites to help me narrow the field of endless options. More often than not, it seems that the crowd tends to get things right. I like to look for protein skimmers with the highest ratings. I sorted through all the reviews so you don’t have to (although don’t have to take my word for it and are welcome to do your own follow up, of course. I won’t tell anyone).

Price

In 2017, there are a lot of skimmer options–you could probably spend almost as much money as you wanted on a protein skimmer–so ask yourself–how much money do you want to spend…then do some research to try and find the ‘best’ skimmer for the money.

Design (how it works)

Every manufacturer seems to boast that their skimmers are high efficiency, make tons of tiny bubbles and remove lots of waste. But there are a few different ways the protein skimmers get their results:

Air or airstone driven–these are some of the weaker (and less expensive) models, simply because the air pumps are usually loud and not that efficient and airstones make relatively large bubbles. Since protein skimmer efficiency is generally driven by the creation of large numbers of small bubbles…well…this is not so good…but it is better than nothing. So if you have one of these models, make the best of it. These are also sometimes called counter-current skimmers. Bubbles float up, pumping water down against the flow of the bubbles improves the efficiency a bit–this is how these skimmers work. There are DIY skimmer designs that employ this method. Since this is a fairly basic design, counter-current airstone driven models are sometimes described in DIY plans.

Venturi driven–a venturi is a valve that is designed to suck air in. Venturi-driven protein skimmer models tend to be paired up with powerful pumps to create the air bubbles and drive the performance of the skimmer.

Impeller skimmers–With this design for a protein skimmer, bubbles are pumped through a needlewheel or pinwheel impellers (think about the propeller on a plane) where the bubbles are sliced up into even smaller bubbles, which improves the efficiency of the skimmer. The impeller driven models are often paired with another feature, like a venturi design.

Design (where you install it)

The next design feature that matters is to figure out where you are going to install it. The three basic options are: 1) in sump (only works if you have a sump) 2) HOB or hang on back–works whether or not you have a sump and 3) External or recirculating skimmers–these are skimmers which are external to the pump and don’t hang on the tank. A pump pulls the water out of the tank, to your skimmer and returns it.

Size (literally how big it is)

An often over-looked (and by often, I mean I did it once so I’m suggesting that this is overlooked all the time, so I don’t feel as dumb) but extremely important aspect about selecting the best protein skimmer brands is to consider exactly how big the skimmer is. Since bubbles float up, most protein skimmers have their collection cup at the very top of the apparatus. You could purchase the most efficient protein skimmer in the world, but if you install it in your sump, under the tank and don’t have enough room to get the collection cup off…well…then you’re in for a long ride. Make sure to check the size specifications as well as the minimum clearance needed. Then measure it again. Then check again. Ok, I’m overcompensating for something here…but I messed that up before…can you tell?