Review: Hydor Performer 700 Protein Skimmer

Hydor has always been generous to us here at the Captive Aquatics blog, but unfortunately this review won't be kind to their latest line of skimmers, the Performer series.  Today I'm reviewing their Performer 700, a skimmer designed to operate on a tank between 185-265 gallons, depending on the stocking level.

The 700 is a versatile skimmer that can be used in-sump or externally, but that's where the niceties end, and the frustration begins.  As the 700 is a large skimmer (both in size and in price - the skimmer retails for over $400!), I decided to install it externally, side-by-side to the sump that sits below my holding tank (see picture above).  The Hydor 700 has two pumps: the feed pump, that pushes aquarium water into the skimmer body, and a larger pump that creates the air mixture and turbulence inside of the skimmer.  When installing the 700 externally, the feed pump must be placed inside of the sump, where a three foot flexible silicon tube (included) runs to the intake nozzle on the skimmer body.  The problems is, the intake nozzle projects straight, directly out of the skimmer body! When the skimmer is placed next to the sump, the intake  hose kinks as the nozzle is pointed at a 90 degree angle away from the feed pump, shutting off the intake flow of water. 

You can see in the picture how I had to angle the entire skimmer so that the hose wouldn't kink (as badly).  This is an unacceptable design flaw in a skimmer designed to be used externally, especially for such an expensive device.

Speaking of design flaws, the next major flaw involved the neck of the skimmer, and how the collection cup sits on the skimmer.  The skimmer body itself doesn't have a neck, instead the neck is built into the collection cup.  See below:
I could write an entire page on how badly the collection cup/neck area is designed, but I'll try to keep my ranting to a minimum! 

The worst design flaw of the Performer series is the way the collection cup attaches to the skimmer.  Instead of a wet-neck or other type of sit-on method, the neck (that's built into the collection cup, remember!) must be forced on to the top of the skimmer, past a rubber O-ring that prevents leakage.  This is no easy feat, and involved placing a great deal of pressure on the cup, and a rocking motion, and becomes very difficult when you have the skimmer sitting in an aquarium stand with no way to lean over and push down on the cup!  Once installed underneath the holding tank, I had to exert a great deal of strength just to get the collection cup on the skimmer! Does it come off easily, you ask?  Nope, and it gets worse: because the collection cup does not have a drain fitting, and the cup is almost as difficult to remove as to replace, half of the collection cups' contents often end up spilling down the built-in neck, right back into the body of the skimmer, and get pumped back into the aquarium (all of this occuring as you're also trying to hold down the base of the skimmer with a foot - the force required to remove the cup is greater than the weight of the skimmer and the water in it!).  I'm guessing whoever designs the skimmers at Hydor doesn't actually use them. 

So, how well does the 700 skim?  Almost as well as the AquaEuro 135 that we reviewed a few months ago - but the 135 was rated for a smaller aquarium, and is 1/3rd the price of the Performer 700.

This was some of the darkest skimmate I was able to get out of the Performer 700, after six weeks of reviewing.  I tested on two systems (in this picture the Performer is being used on a 55 gallon aquarium, less than 1/3rd of its rated capacity) and was never very happy with the skimmate produced.  Additionally, the cup must be emptied before it gets more than about halfway to capacity, otherwise all of the skimmate will spill back down the neck and into the tank, and as I said, there's no collection cup drain.  Argh!

Pros:  Versatile, solid construction
Cons: Versatility limited by design, horrible collection cup and neck design, sub-par skimming, high price
Captive Aquatics Verdict: If not for the ~$400 price tag, I'd give this skimmer a rating of Fair.  Due to the high price, and because a superior product can be purchased for much less, I give it a rating of Poor. 
$365-459, depending upon vendor, www.hydor.it

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Test system: 175 gallon fish only aquarium with a 60 gallon wet-dry/sump, 6" deep sand bed, and a medium bioload.  Also tested on a 65 gallon holding tank, with a high bioload.  To view the Captive Aquatics blog rating guidelines, or to submit a product for review visit the aquarium products review page.

 

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Comments

[Fish Tank help]

That is a nice but expensive protein skimmer. I got one for cheap in an online deal. My tank is only 25 gallons though.

[Hubert]

hahahhaha I love it that you guys are being honest about freebies. Keep it up, that's what readers wnat

[Captive Aquatics]

Well, I hate to recommend products that shouldn't be recommended. Thanks for the compliments.

[Alfred]

How does the hydor 400 compare to my old school Red Sea Classic Berlin skimmer? Will the 400 be a better improvement ??

[Captive Aquatics]

Honestly, probably not. It's also harder to service. I can't say enough good things about the Aqua Euro skimmers, though, so you might want to check that out. The review is posted on the blog :)