Simplicity 120DC Protein Skimmer

I bought this skimmer cuz' a friend had the same one on a 80 gallon multiple tank system and it was working wonderful, i trust his judgement on equipment, more wonderful is the fact that the skimmer has a 3 year warranty. This skimmer is really a workhorse. On the first days of running it (on the break-in period) and it is already producing a lot of skimmate almost to the top, i havent even adjusted it yet, it is only on the level 1 of the controller and the air valve is fully opened, very impressive, i can't wait that the break-in period ends to adjust it and beggin to produce Skimmate to its full capacity. i had an issue with a broken air intake and didnt want to send all my new skimmer back to get a replacement, so i contacted the seller if they could just send me the part, they helped me out with the issue and sent me a replacement part, im very happy with the costumer service.

I am really loving this skimmer! I have owned many skimmer is the past 12 years of reef keeping and none of performed as well as the Simplicity. The first thing the stands out is the build quality. It's solid and ver nicely put together. I do some acrylic fabrication and can spot a good seam weld when I see one. It took about 5 days to break in and is now really pulling out some nice skimate. Right now, I have to empty the cup every other day. The pump runs very quiet - the only sound you'll hear is from the air silencer. While researching a skimmer for my latest build - I came across the Simplicity brand on RC and then started looking them up. While the performance reviews were good... the customer service reviews were great! I wanted to get a brand that would stand by their product and have replacement parts available. If that's important to you, the Simplicity is the skimmer to go with. The one thing I'd like to see changed is the size of the collection cup on the 120DC. The skimmer works so well that it fills the cup ever other day. It does have a drain in the cup but my sump walls are too tall to utilize it. I run the skimmer in 8" of water and it's fantastic.

This skimmer is a steal for under 200.00. Started to produce perfect skim in just a couple days.*DEC '16 UPDATE*So after using the skimmer for a good portion of the year, I wanted to do an update on my review. I still love the skimmer, however, I will mention that the power cord that plugs into the controller is stuck. I am assuming the moisture in the air has caused this. When you try to unplug the unit, the female end comes out of the housing which exposes the wiring. I believe this to be an issue with the pump maker as my brother in law has had the same thing happen on his return pump controller. It still works, but I just can't unplug from the controller. Other than that, I have no complaints. It produces some excellent skimmate and is great design, with low footprint in my sump.

Assembly is not very smooth. Pipe that goes into wine base attaching to pump is not aligned well. As a result, my skimmer has a lot of bubbles on the front and within the assembly. The pipe/pump is threaded but the other piece is not. Not sure how you would achieve a more snug fit. I tried the best I could to force it together without hurting anything. I actually had to disassemble the bottom for it to line up. Over a week and no skimmate pulled from 102gallon system. Previous HOB skimmer was pulling loads out. Not sure if manufacturers error, or another unreliable skimmer. Picked because of size constraints, probably would opt tall and skinny reef octopus if I could choose over again. Pump controller is nice, but no indication of how to setup. Overall, not very impressed for the price. Looks nice in photos, but materials feel pretty cheap, especially stick on logos. Because it comes apart it is probably easy to clean, but also easy to hurt. Caution to those without patience.

So i waited a month to give it a review. I wasnt able to tune it the first 2 weeks i thought it just had a really long break in. but after 2 weeks i started watching videos of others with this skimmer and noticed theirs didnt pulse up and down, and didnt have voltage regulations. I began to think the pump was malfunctioning so i sent them a video. they responded in less than 24 hours, and said they think its the controller, and within 2 days i had a new controller, and it worked perfect. So now that its working great last week I can finally give it a review. Its not fair to give them 4 stars for a 5 star product just because it had a faulty controller. Maybe if they took a long time to respond or charged me for the controller, but they didnt. I got it in mail in 2 days. It now works great, so if anyone notices that it kind of powers bubbles up, then settles, then up, then settles, and the voltage wont settle at a number, it might be a controller issue. just take a video and send it to em and they will fix.