For those of you who don't know, skimmers are known as foam fractionators. They work by creating thousands of small bubbles which remove dissolved proteins from the water before they decompose into nitrates. Skimmers work ONLY with saltwater. A good skimmer like the Remora removes copious amounts of proteins without creating bubbles in the tank (which are harmful to fish's gills), are easy to adjust, and are low-maintanence.

I used this skimmer to cycle the new live rock I purchased when I set up my tank. It did a fabulous job removing most of the gunk from the water as the organisms on the rock died off. I had to empty the collection cup every few days to keep it from overflowing. After just 7 days, the tank completely cycled and the skimmer's output was reduced.

Set up was a breeze. All you do is plug in the RIO pump, hang the unit on the back of your tank and plug it in. You can easily adjust the height of the collection cup to vary the foam output from dry to wet, but I left mine at the default setting.

To this day my Remora continues to produce foam, although it doesn't produce much anymore because my tank is fairly clean and not overstocked.

The collection cup is easy to remove and clean, although the body of the skimmer isn't easy to clean. You'll need a long wire brush to clean deep inside because the body is actually two compartments seperated by a slanted piece of acrylic. It's virtually impossible to physically clean far inside the Remora because of the compartments. The last time I cleaned it, I soaked it very-warm sudsy water. Do not use HOT water which could crack the acrylic. Soaking the skimmer was only somewhat effective, as I could still smell and see the gunk inside afterwards. But unfortunately I can't come up with another way :(

The other big problem with the skimmer is that it comes with a low quality, noisy RIO pump as a default. Even the manufacturer of the Remora admits that the RIO has starting problems. When starting, on occasion it will make a 'clunk clunk clunk' noise and refuse to start. I replaced my pump with a Maxijet and I'm happier. The Maxijet is quietier and has no startup problems. I was told a more powerful pump would increase the Remora's performance, but since my tank is small and I didn't want to spend too much money, I bought a Maxijet with a similar flow-rate as the RIO. I checked a retailer recently (3/2002) and you can now get the Remora with the Maxijet (for a little extra).

I don't think you can get a new Remora for under $158. I think the manufacturer has some agreement with retailers. I checked many retailers and they all charged around that price. If you buy it, consider spending $15-20 on a new pump and keep the RIO as a backup, or get the Remora with the Maxijet. You'll have a great skimmer that doesn't have to be fiddled with.


Recommended: Yes