good luck it took 5 1/2 months for me have my problem solve.
Bubble King Skimmer Club
- Thread starter JohnL
- Start date
good luck it took 5 1/2 months for me have my problem solve.
8 months here before I saw some action. NEVER take their word for much until you see a way bill saying something is on route to you. When I hopped on Facebook and made a comment about a 9 foot dream box they had built saying no wonder I can't get help they were too busy building that beauty, the bells and alarms went off all over the place and I finally got a new pump for my BK 180. I have never seen any company continue to give such a poor level of service in this hobby. Lots of smoke and mirrors. Hard to believe they had the nuts to even open an office in Florida. It's certainly not being utilized to help those who are due.
My recommendation would be to buy another brand skimmer from a company that is willing to stand behind their product. Since the pump on my BK 180 mini went out I purchased a Reef Octopus skimmer for the same price as a replacement Red Dragon motor block. I can't be happier with the skimmer and I think it actually out performs the BK.
UWUALineman
Member
Customer service is indeed important.
Coralvue gave me the run around about receipts etc on a fairly new bubble blaster pinwheel that fell apart, due to being a gift, I had no evidence of purchase, so as much as that aggravated me, I can surely understand the anger from those who have had no luck in follow up from RE.
I appreciate the response. I got a deal,on a used 150 cone that's in use now. It's a shame that they don't recognize the opportunity to support the large consumer base in the U.S. that has paid ridiculous money for their skimmers. I've had issues time and time again with cheaper skimmers and junk motorblocks so I decided to take a chance on what is commonly referred to as some of the best in the industry. Time will tell.
I never got a response from PA on a 180 so I'm hoping this skimmer is a good fit.
You've joined my club. My Mini 180 pump was away so long that l had to buy a Bubble Magus 180CS to run whilst the Mini 180 was away, the BK pump has been back some weeks, it can stay in my locker, l reckon the Bubble Magus is doing a better job. The icing on the cake is that the charge to repair my " in warranty " pump was more than the Bubble Magus. BK, no way.........
I love BK products but the customer service is horrible. Iv'e had my share of issues with them as well. American companies or at least foreign companies who use US distributors will always give you better customer service. It's just the norm in America. In other places the customer isn't always right. That's just what we're experiencing here.
Last weekend I placed an Amazon order for a Laguna PowerJet 1350 and it arrived today. This pump looks identical to the original Red Dragon 1000 pump of my BK 180 Mini. The only difference is the length of the power cord. The only mod I had to do is drill the holes larger for the nylon screws that hold the volute on. The Laguna cost me $117 dollars so I guess by Royal Exclusive slapping a Bubble King sticker on their pump they can charge $275 for the motor block. I currently have the skimmer sitting in a Brute trash can in about 8" of dirty tank water and its working like a charm.
belgian_jeff
New member
hello,
I'm a little surprised because I put up my new mini 180 BBk the past 15 days on my 450L aquarium .. It is immersed in a water level of 25cm.
It takes me almost nothing like scum and this one is very very unstable. As soon as I fed or if I put my hand in the tank must be ± 5 or 6 hours before it starts to foam properly. I also find that there are a lot of turbulance in the body of the skimmer there are also sometimes very large bubbles, and when they occur are shaking all the skimmer. I also have a lot of micro bubbles that come out of the skimmer.
Can I please have your opinion, because at the moment I am really disappointed and very worried because my nitrate and phosphate begin to rise and my acros begin to whiten.
Yours
I'm a little surprised because I put up my new mini 180 BBk the past 15 days on my 450L aquarium .. It is immersed in a water level of 25cm.
It takes me almost nothing like scum and this one is very very unstable. As soon as I fed or if I put my hand in the tank must be ± 5 or 6 hours before it starts to foam properly. I also find that there are a lot of turbulance in the body of the skimmer there are also sometimes very large bubbles, and when they occur are shaking all the skimmer. I also have a lot of micro bubbles that come out of the skimmer.
Can I please have your opinion, because at the moment I am really disappointed and very worried because my nitrate and phosphate begin to rise and my acros begin to whiten.
Yours
BfishLpond78
FUPA
Haven't been able to fire mine up yet, but it looks nice sitting on the shelf for the moment...lol.
Hope I don't get a lemon!
Hope I don't get a lemon!
slief
RC Sponsor
First off, your water level is too high for the skimmer. From the manual: "The water level should ideally between 20 and 22 cm" .. 1 cm can make a big difference and 3-5cm is going to result in a skimmer that will never work right and will be extremely unstable with lots of turbulence.. I would lower the water level or raise the skimmer so that it's in 21cm of water. Let it settle in with the wedge pipe completely open and see how it does. If it's not producing skimmate, close the wedge pipe a little at a time to raise the level in the skimmer. You will know quickly if your water level in the sump is right based on the bubble quality and skim production. If you are not able to produce decent skimmate, raise the water level or lower the skimmer 1 cm and repeat the process until you get it skimming correctly. They provide a range because different salinities cause differences in how the bubbles react inside the skimmer. Thus a wide range.
I assume this skimmer doesn't have the RD3 pump and doesn't have an adjustable volute on the pumps input?
As far as feeding and hands in the water.. Both well known issues that cause all skimmers to react adversely for varying lengths of time. Certain foods have oils in them as does your skin. When they come in contact with the water, the skimmer won't be able to fractionate properly or create foam. This is the case with all skimmers but is more obvious with a skimmer that is not setup properly as yours happens to be. Get it set properly and go from there. Back to the foods. Mysis is one of the foods that has a lot of oil in it. It would be highly advisable if you are feeding mysis to rinse it before feeding. What I do is put the thawed mysis in a fine net and poor some tank water though it to rinse it. Then put it in a cup with some more tank water before feeding. This makes a huge difference in my skimmers reaction to the food. If you use lotion on your hands frequently or have oily skin, you might consider using a good set of gloves or try washing your hands and arms before reaching in the tank.
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I would but I'm not sure how to post a photo. Sorry
jthao
Super Saiyan
There's 2 size blocks from laguna that are used on the bk skimmers. All the supermarin and deluxe model skimmers use the big block askoll motor as the main pump, skimmers requiring an additional pump usually uses a small block as secondary pump. The small block askoll motors are used on all bk mini skimmers and double kone skimmers. The vertex alpha line uses the small block as well.
For your particular pump, find a big block Laguna 1500 motor and it'll be same motor as yours.
And this is my air reading
Is it low ? How much this thing pulls air.
I find mine to work very well at a lower water level then you have. Go for 9 t0 9.5" max.
slief
RC Sponsor
Joined the club
This thing just run 1hour and released a lot micro bubbles. I Take that is normal for breaking in period? Im on 27cm/10,8" water level and two turn out. Any advice for tweaking ?
What model skimmer is that? It looks like a Supermarin 250 with a standard Red Dragon pump. 10.8" sump depth is way too much either way. You need to raise the skimmer or lower your sump level. Without knowing what model you have it's really difficult to tell you what level you should be at but one thing I can tell you is that you likely aren't going to want that skimmer in anything over 9". I've got my Supermarin 250 with the RD3 pump in about 9" and that was the max depth for my skimmer to run properly.
As for your air meter, I wouldn't bother with that. It's really irrelevant at this point.
If that skimmer is a Supermarin 250 with the standard Red Dragon pump, start at 8.5" (21.6cm) of sump depth and the volute on the pump open 1.5 turns. That should get you in the ball park with your wedge pipe wide open. Run it that way for a few days while the skimmer is breaking in and adjust the wedge pipe to tune it. To raise your skimmer, use some egg crate or acrylic. That or lower your sump level. 8.5" is a pretty good sweet spot for that skimmer with that pump and the volute 1.5 turns out from fully closed. From there it will be a matter of fine tuning but that should get you pretty close.
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Sorry it is a supermarin 250.
Thanks slief, I will raise it to 8,5".
When venturi screw all in the two dots are not aligned. Sorry for the silly question if you are saying 1.5 turns, is that mean the dots when the first time count as half turn. And one more turn out as the dots in the same line ?
Thank you.
Thanks slief, I will raise it to 8,5".
When venturi screw all in the two dots are not aligned. Sorry for the silly question if you are saying 1.5 turns, is that mean the dots when the first time count as half turn. And one more turn out as the dots in the same line ?
Thank you.
slief
RC Sponsor
I thought that looked like an SM250 :thumbsup:
I'm not sure about the dots. What I did on my previous Red Dragon was use a sharpie pen to mark the volute with a straight line with the threaded insert all the screwed all the way in so that the line was on both the fitting that goes into the pump and the threaded insert. That way when I made fine adjustments, I knew how much I turned it. My guess is that those dots you speak of are for similar reference. Just screw it all the way in and back it out 1.5 full rotations.
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