ATI Skimmer

[txfatcat]

I am in the process of buying up appliances for my 330g build. I am currious who if anyone is running an ATI skimmers on their big system. I have been a big fan of Reef Octopus and currently have a few in other systems. I am looking at skimmers that are the next level above them and have looked at almost all of them and all brands. As you all know. A big system isa huge investment so I want to choose carefully. I am a very strong believer in the philosophy that a well engineered system is maintanence free for the most part.

Any input would be great as there is a world of knowledge here on these forumns. I hope to start a thread with my build soon as I have been documenting everything from the start.


We are very close and have a lot built so far but its a long process with little time to spare.

 

[7Reef]

I have the Bubble Master 300. The skimmer body itself is a good design but that is it. The pumps it came, with, sicce psk-2500 are junk. There is always 1 or 2 that do not restart after powering off. They are also loud. The mesh wheels worked great but clogged quickly. I switched to the needle wheel and they performed well. The collection cup just rests on top and does not seal, so there is water constantly leaking from there. The bottom platform is held to the bottom of the skimmer by 1 nut and does not create a good seal. Micro bubbles constantly leak out from there. I had to silicon it together. It also dumps out a lot of micro bubbles into the sump. I replaced the sicce pumps with 2 Dc-pumps and happy with it now. I bought it at a 60% discount. I would not have bought it if I knew about all that.

I followed the release of the new 250 and it had a long delay from it's initial release date due to problems.

 

[txfatcat]

Thanks for the response. I read that thread also on the release and the issues. Looks as if they have had time now to iron all of them out. With pumps and the oraphice issues. I am leaning toward the new I series with DC controllable pump. I know Reeflo has models out but have really been wanting to hear from users like yourself with real world experiences. It may be in my best interest to just pull the trigger on a big Reeflo as they seem to be tried and true. Also Jeremy at Coralvue has been nothing but first class every time I had an issue in the past.

 

[7Reef]

I also bought a RLSS 10" skimmer with the DC pump. Great skimmer. Although it was rated higher than my tank I felt it was not big enough. Don't ask me why, I cannot give a reasonable answer, lol! So I bought another pump and put them on the ATI.

 

[120reefermadnes]

I have had the 250is set up for about 2weeks now and so far it has been great, nice stable foam head(except during feeding) but since I havnt had much time with it yet I cant give input on long term performance