Skimmer Q&A Thread

[Pavo]

that last pic, i think that path lead to back and then hole enters there like on every other model, when you look at 1350 pump there is nothing but little pvc protruding around epoxy back, straight down is nothing such angle would miss whole motor so, they either drill at 60' or something there(but pic does not show such connection) or go straight down and then trough back like on other models

 

[reeftivo]

Connectors are not problem at all, i would even machine mine if something non usuall is needed, on last picture where is show connection on pvc part of housing you could even use straight 1/4 and glue pvc to pvc.
i saw all that pictures but i need one from back, idealy without hose so i angle for drilling is visible
-i need to know right position so i do not drill trough and not damage any motor part

you may want to PM Slief since it appears he has some experience with the AKB set ups and how they work. Looks more complicated than imagined and not sure if the mod can be effectively done since the water looks like it would need to run alongside the magnet into the volute housing. IMO this AKB system would be more applicable to an external skimmer which isn't cooled by a submerged pump so it really should not be neccessary for a submerged mini. I would be afraid to ruin the pump but that's just me.

Below is an excerpt from a post by Slief several years ago and it appears that RE drills a down hole in the back into the resin then one through the back of the magnet housing at the side of the bearing to meet the down hole. Water can then feed thru and over the magnet back into the volute. I would think that feed would clog pretty easy and also gunk up the magnet more than usual since it's taking feed water that is not prefiltered via a screen or floss.

Quote:

Originally Posted by redddogg69 I've owned all the iterations mentioned here BK branded skimmers, Alpha made by RE and the Vertex Alpha, with all the included pumps. The pump heads and impellers are identical. I can't say on the internal changes reported to be made by askoll during manufacturing. As for the Anti lime line that runs from the pumphead to the block, I took one apart one time out of curiosity and found that line dead head into the resin of the pump. I know there is quite alot of measuring between the two companies, so i wouldn't expect representatives from either company to confirm any similarities apart from accusing the other of cloning. Both are great skimmers, but the pumps are dang close to the same no matter what way you cut it.

I’ve owned the Alphas and the Bubble Kings too. Infact, if you look at my history, you will see that I owned an Alpha 300 and have been helping Alpha owners long before I started working with Royal Exclusiv. I bought my Alpha 300 when they were first released. I’ve also owned a BK Mini 160 and other BK’s and now own a Supermarin 250 which I bought from Premium Aquatics. Royal Exclusiv made the Alphas for Vertex and included the RE made Red Dragon pumps with them (as you are aware) so yes, the pump heads and impellers were the same. Key word being were. They no longer make the skimmers for Vertex nor do they build the pumps for the Vertex Alphas anymore as you are also aware of. The pumps volutes and impellers are now made “elsewhere” but yes, they are still very similar and the untrained eye wouldn’t know the difference unless you had the two pumps side by side and even then, the differences are subtle.

As for the AKB, you are absolutely, positively, without a shadow of a doubt mistaken. I’ve taken enough apart myself and having owned bubble kings long before I got involved with Royal to know better. I also handle support for RE but I also have no reason to lie. The AKB goes into the magnet cavity and sends water from the pressure side across the magnet. On the Small Block Askoll motors, it goes into the back of the block behind the bearing and on the big block Askolls, it goes in through the side of the block. The ONLY way to verify that would be to look into the small block from the magnet cavity to see the small hole behind the bearing and on the big blocks you would need a small mirror that you could slip into the magnet cavity to see the hole where the pressure side goes into the block behind and below white sleeve. That or you would have to break the AKB connection off from the outside. Either way, I can assure you, it’s not smoke and mirrors and it does serve a purpose. It was also NEVER included on the Red Dragon 1500’s that were included with the Alphas. I can’t speak of the Red Dragon motors that had the Pro Line Aquatics label as I personally have no idea whether Proline sourced those motors from RE or directly from Askoll as that was before my time. Beyond that, you are correct, the pumps are “dang similar”. There are some minor differences in the motors themselves as delivered by Askoll that differentiate themselves from the standard Askolls and then some minor differences between the volutes on the Royal Exclsuiv made Red Dragons vs the now Vertex made skimmer pumps that use Askoll based motors.

 

[Pavo]

water already travel there from front, this pumps (as many quality ones) have cooling chanell, its that a square shape opening at front disc, but of course a second one presure feed from voulte for sure it can only help, heat build up most down there (so also calcification). additionally chanels/openings for water at front are not a big deal, you just need to drill few more holes at front in that / black disc / shaft holder thing
-but at back, yes, it is pretty complicated and either not something what you want to drill by hand so really is not like some pump mod for general population, it can be very dangerous because of high voltage and also you can destroy expensive pump. anyway, many thanks for help and advices, i will look more into it, if nothing else, try to find a dead motor block and open it

 

[Chrisz]

How do I add a float switch to my ac skimmer?

 

[reeftivo]

How do I add a float switch to my ac skimmer?

do you have an apex or hydros controller?

 

[Chrisz]

do you have an apex or hydros controller?

unfortunately not but I think I solved my problem with this

 

[reeftivo]

unfortunately not but I think I solved my problem with this

i was going to suggest that one if you didn't have an apex or hydros LOL

apex has the break out box and hydros has their own plug an play but not cheap.

good find

 

[fabe]

Merhaba.
I have a new aquarium and I am using a reef octopus 150sss. There are too many micro bubbles. What should I do? It has not been working for 2 weeks. The working depth is 20cm. What are your suggestions?

 

[reeftivo]

Merhaba.
I have a new aquarium and I am using a reef octopus 150sss. There are too many micro bubbles. What should I do? It has not been working for 2 weeks. The working depth is 20cm. What are your suggestions?

Hello

you stated the tank is new. How new?

If you put the skimmer in when you started the system then it is most likely just residual production residues from all the new components that have to dissipate. Those residues usually make skimmers perform erratically for a while. i would suggest to just let it run. The micros should subside.

if they don't then it may help to run the skimmer a bit deeper (25-30cm)

my feeling is you just need to ride it out until the new tank residues dissipate.

edit: if you have a fellow reefer that has some skimmate to share, then a quick way to settle a skimmer is to drip a few drops of that skimmate right down the neck of the skimmer (not a lot). This will enhance the surface tension of the bubbles and should set the skimmer on the right track

good luck

 

[fabe]

Merhaba

Tankın yeni olduğunu belirtmişsiniz. Ne kadar yeni?

Sistemi başlattığınızda süzgeci yerleştirirseniz, büyük olasılıkla dağılması gereken tüm yeni bileşenlerden kalan üretim kalıntıları olacaktır. Bu kalıntılar genellikle deniz süpürücülerinin bir süreliğine dengesiz çalışmasına neden olur. akışına bırakmanı öneririm. Mikrolar azalmalı.

eğer yapmazlarsa, skimmer'ı biraz daha derine (25-30cm) çalıştırmak yardımcı olabilir.

Benim düşünceme göre, yeni tank kalıntıları dağılana kadar onu sürmeniz gerekiyor.

düzenleme: paylaşacak skimmer'ı olan bir soğutucu arkadaşınız varsa, o zaman skimmer'ı yerleştirmenin hızlı bir yolu, skimmer'in boynundan aşağıya o skimmer'den birkaç damla damlatmaktır (çok fazla değil). Bu, kabarcıkların yüzey gerilimini artıracak ve skimmer'ı doğru yola yerleştirecektir.

iyi şanslar

Bu akvaryumda 2 hafta. Şu anda skimmer 21-21,5 cm'de çalışmaktadır. Fabrika verileri de bu şekilde. Önerinizi dikkate alacağım. İkinci ifadenizi anlamadım. Başkasının süzgecinden atık suyu alıp süzgecin içine mi koymalıyım?

 

[reeftivo]

Bu akvaryumda 2 hafta. Şu anda skimmer 21-21,5 cm'de çalışmaktadır. Fabrika verileri de bu şekilde. Önerinizi dikkate alacağım. İkinci ifadenizi anlamadım. Başkasının süzgecinden atık suyu alıp süzgecin içine mi koymalıyım?

Sisteminiz yeni olduğundan henüz yeterli biyolojik yük veya organik madde oluşmamış. ona zaman verin ve skimmer yerleşecektir. Skimmer'ı tohumlamak için bir arkadaşımı veya reefer arkadaşımı kullanmaktan bahsetmiştim. Her şey yeni olduğu için bunu yapmanıza gerçekten gerek yok. Bu genellikle titiz davranan yeni bir skimmer'a sahip eski bir sistem içindir. Bununla birlikte ihtiyacınız olan tek şey, biraz yağsız bir pipet ve yağı skimmer'a damlatmaktır, bu nedenle, kabın kapağını çıkarın ve yaklaşık 5 ila 10 damla damlatın. çok yardımcı oluyor ama sizin durumunuzda bu konuda endişelenmem.

iyi şanslar ve herhangi bir ilerleme durumunda rapor verin

Tivo

 

[reeftivo]

sorry, translated=
your system is new so not enough bio load or organics built up yet. give it time and the skimmer will settle. I mentioned using a friends, or fellow reefers skimmate to seed the skimmer. You dont really need to do that since everything is new. That is usually for an older sysyem that has a new skimmer that is being finicky. With that, all you would need is a pipette with a little bit of skim and drip the skim down into the skimmer, ergo, take the cup lid off and drip about 5 to 10 drops. it helps a lot but i wouldn't worry about that in your situation.

good luck and report back with any progress

 

[hightwr]

Wanted to see if anyone has experience running a VIV 820-20 woodstone sea skimmer? The small footprint of the VIV unit makes it attractive given limited tank space currently.

Also wanted to see if anyone currently running one would happen to know what tubing size was needed for skimmate discharge as there seems to be very little info available on the outlet size. Thanks!

 

[reeftivo]

Wanted to see if anyone has experience running a VIV 820-20 woodstone sea skimmer? The small footprint of the VIV unit makes it attractive given limited tank space currently.

Also wanted to see if anyone currently running one would happen to know what tubing size was needed for skimmate discharge as there seems to be very little info available on the outlet size. Thanks!

what size nano tank is it?

The VIV 820 looks like a nicer design than the reef glass actually. Reef glass skimmers have some decent reviews that are mostly good but line clogging is a common complaint on some forums.

Beware that those 1/4 drains can clog up pretty quick and create more of a maintenance issue than they are worth. Unless you plan on only skimming wet and primarily use the skimmer for aeration then i would just go skimmerless or pull the tank 3 to 4 inches from the wall and run a small HOB off the back drawing from the AIO chamber.

hopefully someone with real VIV skimmer experience can chime in though.

best regards

 

[hightwr]

what size nano tank is it?

The VIV 820 looks like a nicer design than the reef glass actually. Reef glass skimmers have some decent reviews that are mostly good but line clogging is a common complaint on some forums.

Beware that those 1/4 drains can clog up pretty quick and create more of a maintenance issue than they are worth. Unless you plan on only skimming wet and primarily use the skimmer for aeration then i would just go skimmerless or pull the tank 3 to 4 inches from the wall and run a small HOB off the back drawing from the AIO chamber.

hopefully someone with real VIV skimmer experience can chime in though.

best regards

20gal long and I was hoping to dry skim so I didn't need a huge reservoir. Could potentially be looking at other options now

 

[reeftivo]

20gal long and I was hoping to dry skim so I didn't need a huge reservoir. Could potentially be looking at other options now

i hear ya

you'd be hard pressed to ever get dry skimmate from a nano airstone skimmer. the only time i was able to get an airstone skimmer to pull concentrated skim was ages ago when i ran a Sanders on an 80 gal AIO. i had to build a deck for it on the side of the tank since it didn't have any hang on capability. that skimmer was only counter current and it skimmed very good for an airstone skimmer but needed a feed pump and was a pain.

if i were you i would look at the aquamaxx bullet line of HOB skimmers if you can find one. I think Live Rock & Reef out of Florida has some.

Bullet 1

Bullet-1 Hang-On-Back Protein Skimmer

AquaMaxx Bullet-1 Hang-On-Back Protein Skimmer AquaMaxx`s Bullet HOB Skimmer was designed to deliver high performance in small spaces. Unlike traditional hang-on-back skimmers which can be a large eyesore for your aquarium, the Bullet`s modern design can efficiently filter nano tanks up to 30...

www.bulkreefsupply.com

 

[Salty_Northerner]

Thanks much for the great info and feature point outs. Much appreciated. Kinda difficult to find the necessary space dimensions for these things. Looks like the bullets may take up more space behind the tank than desired, so may try the 1.5. Should have thought more about this when things were on sale last week.

Enjoy the snows. Thanks again for your inputs.

Did ya end up getting the 1.5 skimmer? I tell ya the bullet 2 is freaking amazing. It took some time but now it's running like the big boy sump skimmers! Best investment I've made to this system

 

[Danyole]

So i'm new to skimmers. This 65G system has been running since New Years but was kickstarted from my 15G that had been running since last July. I added a Bubble Magus Curve 3 Extreme last month really just because I wanted to add a CO2 scrubber and its been working great to raise my pH but the skimming side seems to be a bit inconsistent.

I'm currently getting my best skim with the skimmer raised 3" and on max but sometimes I get a really nice dark skim and a few days later the bubbles aren't even reaching halfway up the neck of the skimmer. If I adjust it so that the bubbles reach the top then it'll work alright but then i'll end up with a super wet skim and overflowing in a few days. Is it because there isn't much in the water to skim? Should I just keep it the way it is?

 

[reeftivo]

So i'm new to skimmers. This 65G system has been running since New Years but was kickstarted from my 15G that had been running since last July. I added a Bubble Magus Curve 3 Extreme last month really just because I wanted to add a CO2 scrubber and its been working great to raise my pH but the skimming side seems to be a bit inconsistent.

I'm currently getting my best skim with the skimmer raised 3" and on max but sometimes I get a really nice dark skim and a few days later the bubbles aren't even reaching halfway up the neck of the skimmer. If I adjust it so that the bubbles reach the top then it'll work alright but then i'll end up with a super wet skim and overflowing in a few days. Is it because there isn't much in the water to skim? Should I just keep it the way it is?

hardest thing to do with a skimmer is to resist fiddling with it. RESIST!!!

what is your bioload (fish, inverts, corals etc..)?? May not be much to skim!

if it's at 7-8 inches of water from base of skimmer to surface then just run it with the gate wide open and leave it alone. I'm not a fan of those rock pumps due to longevity but they still should generate good bubbles.

 

[Ian Baxter]

So i'm new to skimmers. This 65G system has been running since New Years but was kickstarted from my 15G that had been running since last July. I added a Bubble Magus Curve 3 Extreme last month really just because I wanted to add a CO2 scrubber and its been working great to raise my pH but the skimming side seems to be a bit inconsistent.

I'm currently getting my best skim with the skimmer raised 3" and on max but sometimes I get a really nice dark skim and a few days later the bubbles aren't even reaching halfway up the neck of the skimmer. If I adjust it so that the bubbles reach the top then it'll work alright but then i'll end up with a super wet skim and overflowing in a few days. Is it because there isn't much in the water to skim? Should I just keep it the way it is?

I run my curve 7 in 9-10” of water. If it gets too much lower than that it doesn’t work too well.