Disclaimer: I am not an "unboxer" kind of human but when I was researching this skimmer there were not a lot of pictures except for the few videos from BRS, so I thought I would share some pictures in case anyone else is interested in this skimmer.
Quick background - I am building a 50-ish total volume system with display fuge currently.
I had several tanks years ago but had to get out in 2008 +/-.
I plan on having a larger system (100+ gallon range) in the near future, so trying to find equipment that can grow with me is important and also difficult at the same time.
After doing some Google-Fu and watching some vids and more vids I decided to pull the trigger. What I liked about this skimmer is that is comes with 3 different neck inserts for different volumes. A 2", 3", and a 4" for different volumes and bioloads. I can use the 2" neck now and change it when I upgrade.
Ignore my current background messes.
I bought this during the BRS Friends and Family sale so it was $620 marked down from $770.
I am not a fan of packing peanuts since they go everywhere, but they worked - no breakage
The collection cup is built like Mr. T without the bling.
Not a major thing but the allen tool included is built well
The 2" neck
Body
Sicce DC Pump, 5 year warranty
LZM Air flow meter
Sicce pump snaps on the base plate.
Bubble plate
This part had me thrown - The unit comes with the 3" neck installed, but it looked and felt like it was all sealed and I was confused. I rewatched the video and it seemed so easy to change the necks. In the end, the necks are just really tight due to the o-ring on the bottom, I ended up soaking the collection cup and neck in water to make it slide in easier
FInally got it together.
Here is what the finished product looks like.
It will be a little while before I put this to use but I will share some action shots once I do.
A few observations:
This unit is built extremely well. Titanium thumb screws, push in fittings, PVC in the right places.
The pump is ~$300 by itself, which offsets the steep price somewhat. A 5-year warranty gives the piece of mind that it will be in service for a while.
The twist off collection cup is very tight, which *should* loosen up after some use.
The fit and finish is outstanding.
There are only 2 actual necks, the third one is the 4" size and for that you remove whatever neck is in there and it gives you the 4".
The o-ring for the necks is likely to slip off when inserting a neck unless it is wet.
Quick background - I am building a 50-ish total volume system with display fuge currently.
I had several tanks years ago but had to get out in 2008 +/-.
I plan on having a larger system (100+ gallon range) in the near future, so trying to find equipment that can grow with me is important and also difficult at the same time.
After doing some Google-Fu and watching some vids and more vids I decided to pull the trigger. What I liked about this skimmer is that is comes with 3 different neck inserts for different volumes. A 2", 3", and a 4" for different volumes and bioloads. I can use the 2" neck now and change it when I upgrade.
Ignore my current background messes.
I bought this during the BRS Friends and Family sale so it was $620 marked down from $770.
I am not a fan of packing peanuts since they go everywhere, but they worked - no breakage
The collection cup is built like Mr. T without the bling.
Not a major thing but the allen tool included is built well
The 2" neck
Body
Sicce DC Pump, 5 year warranty
LZM Air flow meter
Sicce pump snaps on the base plate.
Bubble plate
This part had me thrown - The unit comes with the 3" neck installed, but it looked and felt like it was all sealed and I was confused. I rewatched the video and it seemed so easy to change the necks. In the end, the necks are just really tight due to the o-ring on the bottom, I ended up soaking the collection cup and neck in water to make it slide in easier
FInally got it together.
Here is what the finished product looks like.
It will be a little while before I put this to use but I will share some action shots once I do.
A few observations:
This unit is built extremely well. Titanium thumb screws, push in fittings, PVC in the right places.
The pump is ~$300 by itself, which offsets the steep price somewhat. A 5-year warranty gives the piece of mind that it will be in service for a while.
The twist off collection cup is very tight, which *should* loosen up after some use.
The fit and finish is outstanding.
There are only 2 actual necks, the third one is the 4" size and for that you remove whatever neck is in there and it gives you the 4".
The o-ring for the necks is likely to slip off when inserting a neck unless it is wet.
