- Joined
- May 8, 2019
- Messages
- 315
- Reaction score
- 176
I have been trying to hold off buying the new RSK 300 because I was hoping to see more reviews on it before I pulled the trigger on it. However, the time has come where I could not wait any longer and I decided to go ahead and do it.
Currently I am running a Reef Octopus 150SSS on my Red Sea 450 with heavyish bio load and has been working very efficiently and honestly I have no complaints at all with the skimmer with one major exception. It does not have a way to drain the skimmate from the cup. It sits on a stand in the back of the sump behind two hanging reactors that are hard plumbed and is not easily accessible. I travel a lot and depend on my girlfriend to pull the collection cup and drain it. Obviously is a pain in the A__ so was looking at alternatives.
Honestly with money being a concern at the moment a 300 dollar price point with a skimmer that is rated to handle my system is very intriguing especially given all of the features, and to be totally honest while I do maintenance on all my equipment I could probably be better about it…….. for this reason I actually wanted an AC pump and not a DC pump as I feel like they will run for much longer and more efficiently without a ton of maintenance on it.
So here we go, opening the box the packaging was perfect and what you would expect. It took me about 10 minutes from start to finish to put together the skimmer as its pretty straight forward. (I did watch the BRS spot light episode on it).
Once assembled I put it on my tank and let it sit wide open for about 10 minutes thinking it was going to go a little crazy. After 10 minutes or so I adjusted the bubbles up to the bottom of the neck (again thinking it was going to be over flowing) and left it alone. After 24 hours I was truly impressed by what it had taken out. (1st Picture). I turned the neck cleaner once and lowered the air a little bringing the bubbles up a ¼ of an inch above the base of the neck. Another 24 hours and still skimming like crazy.
Honestly I cannot hear the skimmer at all and is way way more silent then my old skimmer. I did not hear any air whistling like others have said they experienced. The neck cleaner is fairly easy to spin. (I spin it once a day) and it has kept the neck insanely clean. The hose is a breeze to operate and poors the skimmate right out. I think I noticed a little bump in PH with the new skimmer but will need a couple weeks of charts to see. If I did though it’s pretty negligible.
Pro’s
Easy to assemble
Currently I am running a Reef Octopus 150SSS on my Red Sea 450 with heavyish bio load and has been working very efficiently and honestly I have no complaints at all with the skimmer with one major exception. It does not have a way to drain the skimmate from the cup. It sits on a stand in the back of the sump behind two hanging reactors that are hard plumbed and is not easily accessible. I travel a lot and depend on my girlfriend to pull the collection cup and drain it. Obviously is a pain in the A__ so was looking at alternatives.
Honestly with money being a concern at the moment a 300 dollar price point with a skimmer that is rated to handle my system is very intriguing especially given all of the features, and to be totally honest while I do maintenance on all my equipment I could probably be better about it…….. for this reason I actually wanted an AC pump and not a DC pump as I feel like they will run for much longer and more efficiently without a ton of maintenance on it.
So here we go, opening the box the packaging was perfect and what you would expect. It took me about 10 minutes from start to finish to put together the skimmer as its pretty straight forward. (I did watch the BRS spot light episode on it).
Once assembled I put it on my tank and let it sit wide open for about 10 minutes thinking it was going to go a little crazy. After 10 minutes or so I adjusted the bubbles up to the bottom of the neck (again thinking it was going to be over flowing) and left it alone. After 24 hours I was truly impressed by what it had taken out. (1st Picture). I turned the neck cleaner once and lowered the air a little bringing the bubbles up a ¼ of an inch above the base of the neck. Another 24 hours and still skimming like crazy.
Honestly I cannot hear the skimmer at all and is way way more silent then my old skimmer. I did not hear any air whistling like others have said they experienced. The neck cleaner is fairly easy to spin. (I spin it once a day) and it has kept the neck insanely clean. The hose is a breeze to operate and poors the skimmate right out. I think I noticed a little bump in PH with the new skimmer but will need a couple weeks of charts to see. If I did though it’s pretty negligible.
Pro’s
Easy to assemble
Silent
No break in Period
Drain line
Neck Cleaner
Cons
If using egg crate as a stand, rubber legs are not as sturdy as they would be on solid surface
24 and 48 hours
No break in Period
Drain line
Neck Cleaner
Cons
If using egg crate as a stand, rubber legs are not as sturdy as they would be on solid surface
24 and 48 hours