ATI Bubble Master Skimmer?

[cpllongjk]

I had a euro-reef rs80 for a long time. I just bought the BM 200. Its still breaking in but so far its a lot better than my old euro-reef. Its quieter. Bubbles are much finer. Cant wait for it to start producing some skimmate.

 

[Big Boy69]

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[Big Boy69]

Right now I'm running a MRC 2 w/dual becketts driven by a blueline 70. The thing kicks butt!!!!!! But I need to make some room that's why I want to go with an in sump.

 

[davocean]

I sold my BM 200 w/ my last system, and bummed I let it go.
One of my fav skimmers.
I now have an octo extreme, and it's very good as well, and better price, but between the two I like the BM a lil better, easier collection cup removal, and bigger cup.

 

[Big Boy69]

I get my 250 today!!! I can't wait to get it setup!!!!!

 

[mr. pluto]

Big Boy69 if you don't have a separate part in your sump
it would be best to make a skimmer chamber to keep the water height
constant. nothing fancy is really required, just rubbermaid in your sump with drain holes to keep in coming water from the overflow at a constant level. so if you turn off your main pump your skimmer wont over flow. (of course i'm assuming this is your 1st in-sump skimmer
)

 

[Big Boy69]

It's going to be housed in my 40g rubbermaid. That's where the one side drains into the basement. It keeps a constant level in there. It then overflows into my 100g rubbermaid.
I should be good.

Thanks for your help. Leaving now to go play!!

 

[flameangel88]

Due to my overstocking and the tank upgrade needed to wait a bit I had to go out add another or upgrade the skimmer first. I'd an opportunity to get a new BM 200(came with added gate valve) from another member here on RC at a great price.

My current 180g tank is in the living room and I promised my wife when we first moved in to setup the tank there till the basement project is done. I'd to minimize any accidental water leak so a sump was never in the equation. I make a stand for the BM to sit on in the tank but along the way I mis-calculated the height when I added support (using more Ts at the top) and now it sits in 6" of water instead of 7" that I intended. Too much work to pull it out for adjustment so I'll wait it out till when I move this to the basement.

So far after a week of use I'm very happy with the performance.

After 1 hour

after 1.5 hour

after 7 hours

sitting on a stand

after 30 hours

after 77 hours

time to clean the cups

 

[flameangel88]

Bm 200

Bm 200

I've this skimmer installed 16 days now and am very happy with the performance.

I get this much in the cup about every 2.5 days:

 

[moondoggy4]

Good to see that there are still believers in the BM two years ago they were all the the rage. With the new impellers, the Red Demon from Warner Marine and the purple impeller from ATB they should give a lot of good options now.

 

[chads120]

I've had a BM 160 for awhile and love it. I'm now upgrading to a 250. They are now making new aftermarket pinwheels for sicce pumps. They avoid the starting problem of meshwheels. I'm going to give them a try.

 

[kudora]

i have been running a BM 160 for several months, i just picked up a SWC cone mini, the mini has not gone on a system yet(breaking it in atm) but i can already tell i dont like the cup removal on it, the BM is so much simpler. BM is on my 40 frag, and the cone will go on my 84 gal DT.

 

[flameangel88]

chads120: please post results on your BM 250 upgrade.


I'd to empty the collection cup last night after collecting for 3.5 days.

I poured in 64oz and there was probably another 20oz or so left in the cup

 

[chads120]

I ordered two purple pinwheels from ATB. The skimmer and the wheels get here on tuesday. I will keep you guys updated. Like I said I have a 160 now. I am very happy with it, but it is a bit small for a heavy stocked 120. The 250 will be oversized but I heard that these pin-wheels pull a little less. But they are more relyable and I don't need it to be at max output. Plus I am vodka dosing and would like to shut it off for a couple hours after.

 

[chads120]

By the way flameangel88 that is some killer skimmate for 3.5 days. Dark and tons of it. I hope to the same results. I'm also thinking of making a collection container for it.

 

[coffey18]

i have the BM250 this skimmer kicks a.. just be sure to keep the water level constant it's a little tricky getting it dialed in but like anything else in this hobby be patient it will come.

 

[flameangel88]

I love the skimmer and it's pulling out a lot. I haven't seen water this clear in a long time and don't need to dose sugar or vodka.

The only problem I'm having with the skimmer is that it gets very sensitive right after feeding frozen and have to pour out 3 times before it settles down which I don't have to do with my other skimmers. Do you folks shut down your skimmer during feeding? If you do, how long do you shut it down for?

TIA!

Edit: The overflow after feeding didn't happen the first 12 or 13 days. It started out of the blue 2 days ago and I didn't change any of the frozen food. The only other thing I can think of is I clean the glass and scrub down the rocks couple of nights ago. Would this possibly cause the sensitivity change when compounded with feeding?

 

[chads120]

flameangel88 after adding my sanjay mix (self made frozen food) my 160's foam collapses for about 20 min then foams up big bubbles for 20-30 min. Then back to normal. I have talked to others in my local club and they say the same thing happens to there skimmers (not bubble masters). It does not overflow though. Now that I have the 250 with purple pin wheels I will be shutting it off after feeding for a couple hours. But it does the same. Small fine bubbles before adding food. Collapse. Big bubbles. Back to normal.

So far I like the 250. A lot bigger skimmer but still not that big of a footprint. I am going to give it a couple days to work in and for me to fine tune it before I can say how it works. I had no problem starting up the pumps with the new pinwheels. I haven't shut them off yet as I am giving them time to work themselves in. But my plan is to plug it into my acjr so I can hit the feed button and shut it off for a couple hours, then it will turn back on by it's self.

 

[flameangel88]

clads120, thanks for the update. I'd to dial down the output by 2 full turns to stop the overflow. Since I've slowly bringing it back up and now it's just about 3/4 turn less than before and last night I only shut the skimmer off for 30 minutes and no overflow afterward.

To give you an idea what you may look forward to after your skimmer breaks in.


Yesterday morning (this is about 2 days worth of skimmate)

Last night (2.5 days)

spilled a bit while pouring in

time for clean up

 

[reefer31]

Man, do you feed pure fish poo into your tank! Thats nasty skimmate juice!