Life Reef Skimmer -- An Honest Review

[alabella1]

You have to look at the pump curves.
Cor15 is 1500 GPH at 0' Mag9.5 is 1010 at 1'

Mag9.5 data points on the Cor15 curve

Fair, but we are talking about the pumps being IN the sump, no?

 

[areefer01]

Fair, but we are talking about the pumps being IN the sump, no?

Yes. The other thing to note that I'm reducing the fitting on the Cor to support 3/8" tubing. It should be at a minimum 1" I believe per their instructions. As I said I'm fine with how it is working and actually only running it at 70%. The Mag is AC and on - 100%. And they are probably using proper tubing.

I was just giving my opinion or replying and not saying I have an issue.

 

[Tcook]

Sure, will do. The cool thing about it is that I can leave the body as is and just swap the drivers. I believe I also have a Mag 1200 laying around that I was going to try. Jeff over at Lifereef prefers AC pumps. I guess it wouldn't hurt for me to try one and see what it does.

This skimmer originally shipped with an Iwaki MD 40? I may have I may not remember it correctly but it was an Iwaki pump (Japanese). That pump lasted a long while until I had an incident and the sump ran dry.

Hope your evening is going well.

Hold your horses! You mean the only difference between Cor 15 and Cor 20 is the driver? The motor is the same? I have an extra Cor 20 driver!

 

[areefer01]

Hold your horses! You mean the only difference between Cor 15 and Cor 20 is the driver? The motor is the same? I have an extra Cor 20 driver!

Cor 20 is the driver and power supply. The Cor 15 uses the 1link connection. Motor block is the same.

Having both I was cleaning them one day and of course mixed them up

 

[JoshH]

Has anyone replaced the standard 1 inch gate valve with the SVS 24 with a schedule 80 spears gate valve? I have one of those on my main drain pipe, and it looks like there is no metal screw on the wheel. The stock gate valve on the SVS 24 has a metal screw. I noticed that mine is completely rusted over and the screw is falling apart/rust dust around the gate itself.

TLDR: Check you're gate valves. Can we put a schedule 80 Spears 1" in place of the stock gate valve?

Older Post, but for future reference.....

I just pulled mine out and left it out. Atleast on my gate valve (King), the handle has a star shaped fitting that fits on to the valve stem. As long as you aren't hanging the valve upside down you are good

I wouldn't bother with a spears valve, insanely expensive and no real benefit long term on a skimmer.

 

[Big Smelly fish]

I have alway loved lifereef skimmers. Great skimmers and would consider again. But as far as noise and ease of setting and forgetting. I prefer my reef octopus Diablo. Can’t hear it and it’s set up outside of stand. Once adjusted it done . Even during power outages and water changes when turned back on its right back where it was.

I can’t say that about lifereef. Was noisy and required more adjustments along the way. But Jeff’s skimmers are a little cheaper, but that maybe because of the pumps being more variety

 

[KStatefan]

Fair, but we are talking about the pumps being IN the sump, no?

Yes but that does not mean there is zero head pressure.

 

[Tcook]

Cor 20 is the driver and power supply. The Cor 15 uses the 1link connection. Motor block is the same.

Having both I was cleaning them one day and of course mixed them up

I just checked their website and you're right. The motor block is the same for both. I just need to order the $49 power supply and I'll have a Cor 20.

 

[piranhaman00]

I do like life reef and it works great for Co2 scrubbers, but I would not purchase one again. Needlewheel seem to work better ime

 

[piranhaman00]

Just to update this. Bought a regal 250 INT for my new tank, wow. Lifereef is in storage

 

[DaneGer21]

Just to update this. Bought a regal 250 INT for my new tank, wow. Lifereef is in storage

Same, sold mine years ago. I’ll stick to newer needle wheels!

 

[fishybizzness]

For those that switched, what was the reason and what benefits did you achieve from switching?

 

[piranhaman00]

For those that switched, what was the reason and what benefits did you achieve from switching?

Needle Wheel is quieter and much more efficient. I also find mine to be much easier to dial in and produce an awesome skimmate.

I could never get my Lifereef to skim well, made of cheap materials and loud. It was however ideal for co2 scrubber and also no odor if hooked up to cup.

Both work I just find needle wheel to excel in the areas that Lifereef owner said they were terrible in. He is a very good salesmen, felt like I was buying a car.

 

[alabella1]

I just checked their website and you're right. The motor block is the same for both. I just need to order the $49 power supply and I'll have a Cor 20.

Did this work out? I'd love to upgrade my Cor15 to a 20

 

[JJT]

Needle Wheel is quieter and much more efficient. I also find mine to be much easier to dial in and produce an awesome skimmate.

I could never get my Lifereef to skim well, made of cheap materials and loud. It was however ideal for co2 scrubber and also no odor if hooked up to cup.

Both work I just find needle wheel to excel in the areas that Lifereef owner said they were terrible in. He is a very good salesmen, felt like I was buying a car.

Needle-wheels are not more efficient. When everyone switched to needle-wheels 20+ years ago there was an increase of nitrates, not so when everyone was using a true venturi skimmer. The reason is that NW skimmers pumps shred the air into tiny bubbles all the same size. As these bubbles get to the surface in the neck they don't move, they rely on all the other bubbles coming up to lift them up the neck, and this is where the solids tend to fall back as well as solids and why nw skimmers need to be cleaned a lot. Venturi skimmers do not need taken apart, they stay clean of solids in the body.
In a true venturi skimmer the bubbles are different sizes and you have a continuous pushing of bubbles to the very top of the foam, thus carrying more solids and proteins putting them into the cup, not back into the skimmer.
Cheap materials? Have you ever checked the price of acrylics? Mass-produced are made of cheap plastics, not that this is bad, we don't need super-duper plastics in these things, they just set there.
The needle-wheels are nothing at all to compare to a true venturi, everything about them is wrong:
1. Designed to get the bubbles out as fast as possible, vs trying to get some dwell time or contact time.
2. The bubble plate is designed to kill the turbulence which is one way to get more contact time.
3. The other way to get contact time is make the skimmer taller, another thing nw skimmers can't tolerate.
4. Fat neck compared to venturi skimmers. This is because the foam is wetter.
5. Tiny consistent bubbles, and why they cannot change the way these skimmers look. Every single NW skimmer has a bubble plate in a cone or straight side body, all of them. These tiny bubbles dictate what can and can't be done with skimmer design. Venturi skimmers have many more design features and can be made more efficient using turbulence and height, both paramount to contact time.
6. Proprietary pumps, and this is where the industry wins, not the hobbyist. Very few NW skimmers use the same pump every year. Most will change the pump and the new pump will not fit your old skimmer.

Bottom line: A venturi skimmer will last you a lifetime because it can use any water pump with the output needed. It will save you money in not having to use nitrate products. It will skim the same if not better.

If anyone can tell me the difference between bubbles in a tube full of water and what makes one better than the other, I'm all ears. Otherwise skimmers are tubes full of bubbles, period, but the bubbles are all the same in NW skimmers and different sizes in true venturis, and THAT is the only difference. Keeping those bubbles in the tube of water for the longest time is what makes any skimmer more efficient, and NW skimmers cannot do this.

 

[JJT]

Read this, and let's see who agrees and who doesn't. I've had more agree these were their problems with NW skimmers and are now using a Lifereef with better results. http://www.lifereef.com/NW commentary.html

 

[JJT]

Same, sold mine years ago. I’ll stick to newer needle wheels!

Did you ever call Lifereef to discuss the skimmer you were having problems with?

 

[jda]

I don't takes sides on this one. I can see why people both love and hate needlewheel, venturi, downdraft and beckett skimmers. Some do perform better than other - hard to deny this - but are harder to use. Some last longer. Some are more noisy. Some take high wattage pumps while some don't care.

What makes a good skimmer is the balance between the pump, air draw and the body. Most of the time, manufacturers just got lucky with a good model since the same manufacturers can screw up with many other models. I have had RO skimmers that were good and some were just terrible. Sicce powered RO was a beast and everything since has been on the range of garbage to OK/good and I have not seen an awesome one since. ASM bodies just work with nearly any pump. LR bodies just work with nearly any pump. YMMV.

I do like to use a bit less pump than what the LR guy recommends - have 700 GPH low wattage pump on a VS2 now and it is better than a Mag 9.5 both in power and performance. They work great for me.

Personally, I do believe that non uniform bubble size skimmers do work better.

If you don't like a LR skimmer, then sell it. They still command a good price on the used market and are rarely available. They seem to get snatched up quickly.

 

[DaneGer21]

Did you ever call Lifereef to discuss the skimmer you were having problems with?

If I remember I think I had a few emails back and forth. Granted that was probably going on 10yrs ago.

Not so much “problems” so to speak. It was just very touchy on the settings, and felt I got better skim production for a needle wheel. Just my opinion for my tank.

Like mentioned, I was still able to sell it for a good price at the time.

 

[t5Nitro]

Can't imagine the dislike on the above few posts. I've got a lifereef that goes strong without any adjustments for the past 3 years.