Skimmer Q&A Thread

[Troylee]

oh ya the classic this was before i made a cone and it performed just as well...

 

[mojo]

I thought I logged into the wrong website for a minute.

I am not biased at all. But if you all think that its your opinion. Its hard to take what is typed into context sometimes and we have to remember that. I am trying to bring this thread back to where it was. I hope this debate can move forward.

As far as Luke. I actually really enjoy talking to Luke as he has a ton of knowledge to share and when he talks I listen and vise versa. I think there is a lot of mutual respect there.

No many people realize I have spent a ton of my own money to buy all these skimmers. And when I talk about skimmers and build quality I would say the best built are Bubble king and the ones I have built :) I have never recommended my skimmer to anyone. only 3 built.

I post my opinions based on my experience. As I have owned and tried most of all the skimmers in question. Or know someone that has had one and played with it along the way.

Argue all you want. ITs a matter of opinion. Dont forget many of these conversation I have with people are in pm form as well as here on the board. I get no money or equipment or anything for doing any of this. I donate my time and experience for fee. IF you all dont like what I have to say just tell me. I ll gladly move on.

Much respect,
Mojo~

 

[revhtree]

Lets please keep this thread on topic. Thanks.

 

[vbsaltydog]

In the interest of staying on topic of skimmer Q and A.

Those are nice "home brew" skimmers pictured above and mojo has made bubble king replicas?

Are there any people selling their homemade skimmers?

If you wanted to buy a bubble king replica for a fraction of the cost, where would you go to get it?

Seems that with all of the people that make replicas of over valuable things (antiques as an example) there would be a way to get a bubble king "knockoff" for a great price. I mean it is just acrylic, a pump, and a design that is visible by looking at a bubble king photo.

Why are these "knockoffs" not readily available?

 

[mojo]

In the interest of staying on topic of skimmer Q and A.

Those are nice "home brew" skimmers pictured above and mojo has made bubble king replicas?

Are there any people selling their homemade skimmers?

If you wanted to buy a bubble king replica for a fraction of the cost, where would you go to get it?

Seems that with all of the people that make replicas of over valuable things (antiques as an example) there would be a way to get a bubble king "knockoff" for a great price. I mean it is just acrylic, a pump, and a design that is visible by looking at a bubble king photo.

Why are these "knockoffs" not readily available?

its not as cheap to build as you think. but I have built a cone as well.

 

[vbsaltydog]

*****

 

[Troylee]

its not as cheap to build as you think. but I have built a cone as well.

+1 mojo.... That big cone with the diy red dragon was over a grand along with my current skimmer the atb deluxe... Checkthe price on cast acrylic tubing 6" for bubble plate 5" for the neck and 10" forthe cup.. That alone is almost 200$ a foot.... There not cheap...

 

[vbsaltydog]

You cant pour acrylic for a lot less than that?

 

[Troylee]

You mean actually cast it??? You could but it's a real pain and would end up just as expensive.. The cheapest route is actually heat forming it all but I'm very picky and won't settle for a seam if there doesn't have to be... I made about 20 cones bigboys before I got one that I was pleased with and the seam was invisible... Although all of th would have performed the same.... I come from a custom painting and aurbrushing back ground where critics were a dime a dozen so it had to be flawless or it's not acceptable.... That's just me thou... I has people offer all the time to buy those cones but I can't let something like that go out it's my reputation.... I just built them for fun and it allowed me to pay as I went not come out of pocket a grand up front... Kind of a lay away plan lol....;)

 

[vbsaltydog]

Cant it be done with cheaper plastics? Acrylic is nice but is it really necessary?
What about a clear epoxy?

 

[szhttm]

Hello Mojo;

Thank you for sharing your time and experience with us!!! The information provided in this thread is extreamly useful!!!

I saw in your original post to this thread that you tested some of the AquaC skimmers. What are your thoughts about these skimmers?

I am running the AquaC EV-400 on my 210 heavily stocked mixed reef. I have no experience with other skimmers, so I can't really say if it is good or not. I have it running with a GenX external pump.

Would greatly appreciate your thoughts on this skimmer. Don't worry, you won't hurt my feelings if you don't like it... LOL!!!

Would you recommend another skimmer instead?

One of the main issues I am having is that here in South Florida you can't really open your doors or windows to bring in fresh air. In addition, my wife and I both work from home. Because of this, we have a high CO2 gas rate in the house causing my PH to drop. I am currently trying some skimmer media to filter out some of the CO2 before the air enters the skimmer. The single chamber unit I am using is not able to filter enough air and is choaking my skimmer of air. I will be trying to connect a second skimmer media filter soon to see if that helps.

I look forward to your response!!!

Good Luck And Have Fun!!!;
:nerd:

 

[Troylee]

if you put a mesh mod on that gen x pump it will rock!!! those skimmers are decent i wouldn't worry but you could step it up with some mesh on there and get alot better performance....;)

 

[luke33]

Troy, aqua c's are spray injected man : ) Mesh isn't going to help, they need good pressurized pump's to work well.

 

[Troylee]

Lol your rite luke I was thinking the asm g4 skimmer those pumps are a popular mod for those skimmers that alot of people use... My bad... Sorry about that..:(

 

[mojo]

you cant mesh mod the gen x pump on a aquaC and get better performance. it goes against how the AQUAC skimmer works. It uses spray injection and need the pressure provided by the pump.

Ph drop is not just co2. It has to do with the chemical makeup of the water. Your alk, mag, calcium, ammonia, phosphates ect... The co2 can make a difference but there is quite a bit to it.

as far as your skimmer goes. AquaC skimmers in my experience do work well. However compared to some of the new skimmers they are not as efficient. They require a large pump and are a little noisy. They are well built but do require a larger pump to run them just like a beckett skimmer.

If you are happy with the skimmer then great. if it isnt broke dont fix it, right?
Otherwise I would look for something a little more efficient. depending on cost I would look at the atb 1050A, the msx 250A the super reef octo's or the vertex in 280.

Thats a pretty wide price range. is there a way to put a fan in the cabinet that would help some.

 

[Troylee]

I'm glad you guys are awake this morning... I read it and fast and reponded like I said I was thinking the g4... Lol...;)

 

[WINKDOG]

I have 120G reef tank 40G sump 20G refugium... trying to decide on skimmer thinking about :

Vertex In 280 or
Octopus Xp 2000 cone

What others in this price range should I consider ?

Thanks,
Kevin

 

[mojo]

I have 120G reef tank 40G sump 20G refugium... trying to decide on skimmer thinking about :

Vertex In 280 or
Octopus Xp 2000 cone

What others in this price range should I consider ?

Thanks,
Kevin

I would look at the vertex in 280 or 180 even. The warner marine as 200 /s200 as well if you can ge a deal would be great too.

 

[szhttm]

you cant mesh mod the gen x pump on a aquaC and get better performance. it goes against how the AQUAC skimmer works. It uses spray injection and need the pressure provided by the pump.

Ph drop is not just co2. It has to do with the chemical makeup of the water. Your alk, mag, calcium, ammonia, phosphates ect... The co2 can make a difference but there is quite a bit to it.

as far as your skimmer goes. AquaC skimmers in my experience do work well. However compared to some of the new skimmers they are not as efficient. They require a large pump and are a little noisy. They are well built but do require a larger pump to run them just like a beckett skimmer.

If you are happy with the skimmer then great. if it isnt broke dont fix it, right?
Otherwise I would look for something a little more efficient. depending on cost I would look at the atb 1050A, the msx 250A the super reef octo's or the vertex in 280.

Thats a pretty wide price range. is there a way to put a fan in the cabinet that would help some.

Thanks for the response!!!

I agree that PH is not just CO2 and also chemical makeup. In my case, my issue is truely high CO2 in the house. Now that its been cold down here and we have some windows open, my PH is back up to 8.2~8.3. With the windows open, my PH has been as low as 8.05. With the windows closed, as is usually the case, my PH will drop down to 7.7 and maybe get as high as 8.00 (on a good day).

I appreciate your comments about the AquaC. I personally always thought they were pretty good skimmers for the price.

I will certainly consider the other skimmers you listed as possible future upgrades to my system.

A fan will not help me as I need to filter out the CO2. The CO2 scrubber media I recently acquired seems to be helping, but I will not know for sure until it warms up down here and we close the windows. The issue is that the single CO2 scrubber media filter (dry single RO filter housing holds the media) is not able to pull and filter enough air. Thus, choaking my skimmer. I am going to try to add an additional CO2 scrubber filter to see if that will help. I think the C02 scrubber filter might work better on a venturi type skimmer because I think these would force (or pull) more air through the skimmer.

Thanks again!!!

Good Luck And Have Fun!!!
:nerd:

 

[fbodykiller]

i have a octo extreme 200 on a 90 gallon tank 40 breeder sump..it will run for a week and skim good...then overflow out of the blue.it comes and goes . is this a characteristic of this skimmer being inconsistent? any ideas would be greatly appreciated...have been thinking of getting a diff skimmer as i really dont like the sicce pump..kinda noisy..it has the pinwheel impeller...thanks for ur help