The Aquarist Refuge

This is a pretty popular skimmer for saltwater aquariums, the AquaC Remora Protein Skimmer.

It’s easy to find. It’s reliable and it’s priced well. Those are the obvious reasons why this particular protein skimmer is so popular.

I’ve had one running on my aquarium for at least 3 years now, what’s my opinion?

First impressions… after lots of use

My first reaction is that it very reliable. This thing has been hanging on the back of my aquarium for at least 3 years straight, and has been operating for at least 3 years straight.

I just clean this skimmer on a regular basis, and it just works.

I like this particular trade-off between human and machine. I maintain this skimmer consistently, yet lightly – and it just keep working and doing it’s thing. The collection cup needs to be emptied every few days depending on how much waste is in my aquarium, and maybe once every month or two I remove the skimmer from the back of the aquarium and clean out the entire unit.

I’ve never had to replace any parts yet on this Remora skimmer. I just clean it out from time to time as needed and it keeps working as well as the day I bought it.

Spray injection

It uses a spray injection system, so it doesn’t need much tweaking. I’ve had some venture skimmers that needed a lot of tweaking to keep them running efficiently, this skimmer is different. I just pretty much plugged it in and started it up and it’s been running great ever since.

A video of the Remora Pro in action

I had the opportunity to shoot a quick video of this protein skimmer hanging on my aquarium, here’s what it looks like when it’s in use.

What powerhead is the best choice?

I am using the Taam Rio+ 1400 Powerhead, it’s pretty slick. This might even be bigger than what I need, as it pushes 420 gph based on the specs, but it works well and gets all kinds of junk outta the water working along with the Remora.

This is the pump that was delivered to me along with the Remora skimmer. It’s been in operation as long as the skimmer has, so I guess I have no complaints about this particular powerhead either, now that I reflect on it.

What don’t I like?

The one thing I do not like about it sometimes in the noise. It can be a noisy skimmer. The reason it is so noisy, I believe, is because of how it works. Rather than using a venturi, or other similar methods, it uses a spray injection system.

The spray injection has a good benefit: there is relatively little tweaking needed to get it to work right.

It is that spray injection system, though, that creates the noise.

It’s not a bad noise, and I don’t notice it much. It is louder than other venturi skimmers that I have used though.

If I had a sump system under the tank cabinet, and put the AquaC Remora skimmer in there, I probably would not hear it.

Conclusion

Would I ever replace it? Probably not. I’m quite used to the reliability and ease of maintenance that goes along with this particular protein skimmer.

I like it enough that if I did try a different skimmer other than the AquaC Remora, I would probably want to hang on the the Remora just in case I needed to revert back to it.

I don’t think I could part with it. It’s just too reliable and it just works.

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Related posts:

1. Protein Skimmers
2. Video: Drilling an Aquarium to Add a Skimmer Box