Anybody use this skimmer????

BluegrassReef · Aug 1, 2009

Just wondering if anybody has any experience with the Fission recirc.skimmer or knows of anybody that has...I got it brand new of ebay dirt cheap so I figured I would give it a whirl....I have read a couple things that said the pump was a little loud...it is rated for a 225..;..it is going on my 75g w/ 20h sump 75g refugium and 40b frag tank...running it all as 1 system.

I may start a build thread on the setup but it is very slow going. I do have the tank drilled and the fuge made but that is about it...Hope to have it running by winter....HOPEFULLY

seafansar · Aug 1, 2009

I have one! And also bought it off of e-bay for cheap. lol. The pump is really loud, but you can fix it. Just buy a nylon washer to stop the impeller from vibrating. They leave a little too much space between the impeller and the plastic in front of it, so it'll hit that plastic and make a really loud noise.

Also there are a lot of leaks in it. Fill it up with water to find all the leaks and then use plastic 2 part epoxy to fill them in. I did that with mine and now use it as an external skimmer instead of in-sump like they say to use it. I really think the only reason they say it needs to be in-sump only is cause it leaks so bad!

I was also told to put a 90* pvc elbow inside the skimmer at the water intake, but I didn't. Not really sure why I was told that.

So far my skimmer seems to work well with those little mods. Oh, I wasn't very happy to find out you need 2 pumps to run it, but whatever.

Hope that helps!

BluegrassReef · Aug 1, 2009

seafansar said:
I have one! And also bought it off of e-bay for cheap. lol. The pump is really loud, but you can fix it. Just buy a nylon washer to stop the impeller from vibrating. They leave a little too much space between the impeller and the plastic in front of it, so it'll hit that plastic and make a really loud noise.

Also there are a lot of leaks in it. Fill it up with water to find all the leaks and then use plastic 2 part epoxy to fill them in. I did that with mine and now use it as an external skimmer instead of in-sump like they say to use it. I really think the only reason they say it needs to be in-sump only is cause it leaks so bad!

I was also told to put a 90* pvc elbow inside the skimmer at the water intake, but I didn't. Not really sure why I was told that.

So far my skimmer seems to work well with those little mods. Oh, I wasn't very happy to find out you need 2 pumps to run it, but whatever.

Hope that helps!

thanks...you the one that left the nylon washer mod in the review on marine depot...lol...that is exactly what it says....I have some weldon #16 for any leaks if that will work....do you have any pics of it in action?...just want to see what the nog is like..lol......I am in the process of dry fitting my closed loop as I type.

seafansar · Aug 1, 2009

I'm not the one who posted on marine depot. I just followed that guy's instructions. lol. Here's a pic of it. You can see a little salt creep where I missed a tiny leak.

BluegrassReef · Aug 1, 2009

thanks I will also follow suite and get a washer. What pump are you feeding it with? I think I am gonna use a maxi-jet 1200 since I have an extra...I am also thinking about doing the bioball pin wheel mod to the maxi to get a few more bubbles in the skimmer.

Looks to be pulling so nasty stuff for a cheap skimmer...lol.

seafansar · Aug 1, 2009

Yep! It doesn't skim all that much, but it pulls out very dark stuff.

Mine's hooked up to a maxi-jet 900, but that was an accident. I meant to put the 900 on my carbon reactor and the 1200 on the skimmer, but got them switched and then got lazy and never changed them.

They use one at my old LFS and they modified their maxi-jet to make more bubbles too. I'm not really sure how they did it. Maybe with a bioball pin wheel.