Bubble King Skimmer Club

[brentj]

Ok, I'd be grateful for any input to help a skimmer virgin.... <insert joke here>

If you were building a system from scratch, and space in or next to the sump was not an issue, do you go in-sump or external bubble king and why? I don't really know enough to know what is best, but can do either.

I've heard of peoples' skimmers "going crazy" and overflowing lots of water and "thank goodness it was in my sump so it didn't go dry while I was out of town" or something. Is this common?

Planning a 130g tank with oversized sump because who knows, may want to feed other tanks into it...

 

[tbone28]

Brent - I think you will get a bunch of different answers. My answer is in-sump.

A common theme I follow when building my own tank is minimizing any potential source of water leaks. For this reason, I don't utilize closed loops. I also like to use in-sump skimmers for this reason.

Regarding the BK Externals, I've read (not sure if I'm correct on this) that they provide better control than their internal series?

 

[Los]

Brent, I agree with Tbone. I had a 240 in-wall when I lived in California and a couple of times it "went crazy". Had it not been internal, I would have had a heck of a flood on my hands and a tank full of dead animals, since my auto-top off would have kept refilling the tank with fresh water. In fairness, that was with another brand of skimmer. I'm not sure if BKs occasionally overflow or not, but it was reason enough for me not to go internal. That said, a lot of people go external and don't have problems. Good luck.

 

[Kip]

external... get a waste collector with a float switch that will shut down the skimmer when full (what i intend to do)

also for me.. if my skimmer overflows, i topoff with kalk... kalk raises pH... if pH raises, i get an alarm message from my aquacontroller... from there i can shut down down necessary devices remotely

you know the guy that has a back up for his back up for his back up... thats me

 

[Creetin]

I like both, The internals are a little easier at adjusting. IMO
But like kip i have a backup for my backup even though my skimmers a internal. My controller will shut off top off if salinity gets to low, if it runs too long, ph gets to low, and in the process of setting it up to detect leaks. It will send me an email on my phone after it takes action so i know what is going on.

 

[brentj]

Thanks for peoples' thoughts. (and of course please keep them coming if someone has something to add!)

Kip, you're the one who says 'external' specifically so far. Is there a certain reason for your choice? I'm starting to think that internal may be a little safer for the beginner, but like the idea of adding backup safety measures too.

 

[Oldtimer]

I don't like sticking my head under the sump to work on the skimmer. I'd rather have an external. It'll sit in a fishroom so at least I don't have to worry about getting carpet wet in the event that it overflows. Plus, when you have a BK, you have to show it off! Much easier to see when it's external.

 

[Oldtimer]

Kip - You may have answered this before, but I don't recall now. Are you gravity feeding the skimmer or?

 

[paulthomas]

Now you guys have me second guessing the Internal. There's a local reefer with a 400 External on his tank and he loves it so far. He said he was going to put a float switch on the skimmer cup. Do you guys think a gravity feed is good enough?

 

[tonyespinoza]

i'm planning a BK external on my new system.

here are my thoughts:

- if space is not a huge issue, you can always place the external inside a pan (sorta like your washing machine) or a small sump to catch overflows. i think the other ideas above make a lot of sense too.

- gravity-feeding an external by the overflow is apparently the most high performance path for skimming. if i'm going to spend tons of money on a high performance skimmer, i'd like to feed it via the best possible path.

- as tbone has mentioned, there is some concern that after a certain point (or from the very beginning) an internal may not skim dry if there is not sized precisely to the bio load. i've read that this is much less likely with an external, gravity-fed skimmer. in other words, it's easier to over skim (in a good sense) with an external and there's probably more tolerance to go with a larger skimmer.

 

[Kip]

i am not recommending external to anyone.. just stating what i have for reference or assistance, etc

mine is fed by eheim 1262 at 3ft head and about 75% open in the ballvalve regulating flow thru the skimmer

being fed directly by overflow isnt a big deal to me because of all of the various turnover within my sump subsystems

i went external for the exact reason oldtimer states... so i dont have to go crawling under a stand or digging thru a sump to work on it... mine sits upon a table with my reactors in the garage at an easy height to access. plus it is right in the line of sight everyday when i come home from work so i can keep tabs on it

setting up the external is more difficult than internal obviously... especially for me since mine doesnt sit right beside a sump for the skimmer output to drain directly into... i had to send water to and from the skimmer via plumbing..... and i had to hunt down some PVC-U to PVC (european to american) adapters to do it

if you want to unpack your skimmer and have it up and running in 5 mins... i'd get an internal assuming you have the room to place it

 

[paulthomas]

Mines is goin' right here yo:

I'll just stick with the internal then.

 

[Oldtimer]

I just realized I said sticking my head under the sump. What a dum a! I meant under the stand, but it looks like you guys figured that out. :lol:

 

[cbui2]

what dinosaur machine is to your right ?

 

[paulthomas]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12266861#post12266861 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Oldtimer
I just realized I said sticking my head under the sump. What a dum a! I meant under the stand, but it looks like you guys figured that out. :lol:

No, I actually thought you planned to stick your head "under" the sump. That's what I'm going to do.

That Bart, is my boiler. :lol: It's a behemoth and is as old as the house.

Believe it or not, it's 84% efficient. So we're leaving it alone. Plus I'm looking at 20-30K to replace it (small commercial boiler or two large residential). So I'm in no hurry. I just had someone look at the asbestos and he said a few areas should be wrapped, but it's in good condition otherwise. Eventually, we'll need to take care of both. But first things first...

 

[tonyespinoza]

so is anyone running a BK Deluxe 300 External? if so, what's your total water volume and stocking like? Ditto for the 200 or 250...

 

[Oldtimer]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12267189#post12267189 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by tonyespinoza
so is anyone running a BK Deluxe 300 External? if so, what's your total water volume and stocking like? Ditto for the 200 or 250...

Not quite yet, but that's what I'm getting. 240 gal SPS with medium fishload, plus a large sump, a frag tank and a couple fuges so around 500 gal total volume. I figure I have a little room to grow with the 300 and it's not much more than a 250. Just in case my idea of adding a rimless cube to the living room upstairs and plumbing it to my main system (in the basement) ever turns into reality.

 

[Oldtimer]

TOO FLY - When was your home built? I still have my original incenerator in the wall of my basement. No longer functioning since the previous homeowner upgraded to forced air 25 years ago, but it's still there in the wall. My home was built in '37. Gotta love the character of old homes. I know New England has a few gems!

 

[Kip]

BK Deluxe Ext 300 here

450g TSV (225 display, 70g frag tank, + various sumps/fuges) for more details see sept 06 TOTM... some things have changed, but for the most part it is the same

fish load:
Regal Tang
PBT
Fox Lo
CuBand
Flame Angel
6-line
yellow "coris"
2x ocellaris
3 bartlets
3 squams
3 gr chromis
3 marginated damsels
1 sapphire damsel
2 talbot damsels
5 yel tails....

juvie desjard tang
and another fox lo both in frag tank

mostly a stony reef with a few LPS and even fewer softies

 

[Kip]

5 days skimmate... 3rd week of break-in period

i feed mysis, rods food, and flake (1 outta the 3 twice daily)... 3x3" nori sheet every 3-4days... and ~1/2 teas golden pearls to the frag tank every other day