Bubble King Skimmer Club

slief said:
I would definitely go with the Double Cone 180. The 200 has a much bigger neck diameter which will prove to be inconsistent with your tank size/load.

These skimmers are conservatively rated and you really don't want to oversize them. If you do, you will have to run them very wet to maintain any kind of consistency and you will have to deal with overflows as a result. When it comes to these skimmers, you are better off with an appropriately sized skimmer that works consistently hard than an oversized skimmer that is hardly consistent.

Bottom line. Get the 180, not the 200.
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Thanks for the advise, will go for the 180.

Thanks
 
Welcome to the club Rich! These are the best hands down! You're going to be pleased with the performance. There's no upgrading skimmers ever again now.
 
Mini 200 overflows

Mini 200 overflows

I installed a 2nd hand BK mini 200 on my system. It has a new air defuser as the original broke in shipping. Running in 22cm of water. Water level set at 2" below max water level. Nice dry foam for 1 to 2 days, doing fine then overflows.
Readjust the water level and everything is fine for a day or 2 then overflows again. Has done this for the 8th time now. :-(:confused:
 
I have acquired a used a BK mini 180 which I believe it's gen 2. It was free, but pump didn't work.

I plug in the pump, and it will try to spin the needle wheel, but it is not able to.

I have also notice the front bearing has lots of play as well, at least a good 2mm of play.

Should I get another impeller or another pump?
 
Hey everyone is it normal to hear air being sucked out of the red piece on top of the air silencer? I just hooked mine up and I'm getting light colored skim and was wondering if that's part of the problem.
 
Uncle Luke said:
Hey everyone is it normal to hear air being sucked out of the red piece on top of the air silencer? I just hooked mine up and I'm getting light colored skim and was wondering if that's part of the problem.
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That red piece is where the air enters the silencer and is ultimately routed to the pump. As such, that would be normal. The color of your skimmate indicates your skimmer is running wet. This is either because your wedge pipe is closed too much (try opening it some) or your sump level is too high or your pump needs some fine tuning. The kind of tuning that greatly depends on what skimmer and what pump you have. If your wedge pipe is open all the way, you will need to raise your skimmer a bit or lower the sump level. I would suggest lowering the sump level or raising the skimmer 1/4" and see how that improves things. That would create a drier skim which would darken your skimmate. Having said that, if you just set your skimmer up, give it a week or two before getting carried away with adjustments. The skimmer needs to break in and until it does, most adjustments will be efforts in futility.
 
slief said:
That red piece is where the air enters the silencer and is ultimately routed to the pump. As such, that would be normal. The color of your skimmate indicates your skimmer is running wet. This is either because your wedge pipe is closed too much (try opening it some) or your sump level is too high or your pump needs some fine tuning. The kind of tuning that greatly depends on what skimmer and what pump you have. If your wedge pipe is open all the way, you will need to raise your skimmer a bit or lower the sump level. I would suggest lowering the sump level or raising the skimmer 1/4" and see how that improves things. That would create a drier skim which would darken your skimmate. Having said that, if you just set your skimmer up, give it a week or two before getting carried away with adjustments. The skimmer needs to break in and until it does, most adjustments will be efforts in futility.
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I got it second hand. I have it in 8" of water right now but I'm unsure what to do get get the dark skimmate. It's a mini 160. What does the water line marking on the skimmer mean? Does it mean that it's the max water line or max line where the smaller bubbles should end?
 
Uncle Luke said:
I got it second hand. I have it in 8" of water right now but I'm unsure what to do get get the dark skimmate. It's a mini 160. What does the water line marking on the skimmer mean? Does it mean that it's the max water line or max line where the smaller bubbles should end?
Click to expand...

The water level limit is the max height of the water inside the skimmer where it transitions from water to foam (See page 3 of the manual below). That said, at 8" sump depth, your water level should be fine. I would let it break in and build up a slime coat inside the skimmer. Like I said, that can take up to two weeks for the skimmer to settle in. During that time, the performance is going to change for the better. Also, double check to see how open or closed the stand pipe is. If you can open it some more, that will help darken the skim up.

Here is a manual on that skimmer.
http://premiumaquatics.com/themes/pa/prodimages/manuals/mbk_operating_maintenance_eng.pdf
 
BfishLpond78 said:
I just read an interesting article in ************ about the new RD3 pumps being controllable by an Apex...is this true or this only for certain skimmers?

http://************.com/2015/02/09/bubble-king-deluxe-skimmer-upgraded-10-year-anniversary/
Click to expand...

I am not sure if all RD3 pumps have the abilty to be controlled but I know the circulation RD3's can be controlled as I have one connected to my Apex. They use an external module for the 0-10v control interface that plugs into the RD3 controller. That module costs extra but if Apex control is what you are after, then it's worth it.

That said, I'm not sure I would want the Apex control on the skimmer pump as it inhibits the ability to use the push button control on the RD controller. I have a Supermarin 250 with the RD3 pump and it's by far the best skimmer I have ever owned. Having the push button interface on the RD3 makes adjusting and fine tuning very easy. On the flip side, having to adjust profiles to adjust or fine tune the skimmer would not be convenient and would add unneeded complexity to an otherwise simple process. As such, there really isn't a good reason to control the skimmer pump that way in my opinion. If the pump is plugged into an Apex outlet, then you can have it shut off automatically if the sump level is too high or if the return pump is off. I just think there is a lot of convenience to the push button interface on the RD3 controller and having to play with profiles to do that fine tuning would be a pain.
 
Hi guys,

I'm after some assistance with a RE Double Cone 180 with the standard pump. Having some issues with it not producing much skimmate/being very inconsistent.

Could someone please tell me a good starting point in regards to the water level height inside the skimmer and also how many turns out on the pump?

Currently have the pump set to 1.5 turns out and the water level is sitting just below the neck of the skimmer. Skimmer is currently installed on a 90 gallon moderate stocked tank (3 tangs and a pair of clowns)

Any assistance would be appreciated

Thanks
 
Grimmz said:
Hi guys,

I'm after some assistance with a RE Double Cone 180 with the standard pump. Having some issues with it not producing much skimmate/being very inconsistent.

Could someone please tell me a good starting point in regards to the water level height inside the skimmer and also how many turns out on the pump?

Currently have the pump set to 1.5 turns out and the water level is sitting just below the neck of the skimmer. Skimmer is currently installed on a 90 gallon moderate stocked tank (3 tangs and a pair of clowns)

Any assistance would be appreciated

Thanks
Click to expand...

For starters, that skimmer is marginally oversized for your tank. You could be dealing with an issue where the skimmer neck diameter is too large for your load and the lack of sufficient DOC's (for that skimmer) can make it impossible for the skimmer to maintain a consistent foam head. What ends up happening is that the skimmer will skim great until it lowers the DOC's at which point, the foam head will tend to lower until the DOC's build back up. I have run into this issue a number of times before with other people and even had this issue on my tank with an Alpha 300 before I upgraded to the smaller Supermarin 250 which ended up being much more consistent. FWIW, the BK skimmer size ratings are typically based on display size. Not overall water volume size. This is because the display is where the load is concentrated and your sump/refugium is actually part of the nutrient export.


That said, this skimmer should be in a sump depth range of a minimum 6" and a max of 7.8" with about 6.5" sump depth being optimal. As far as the number of turns out on the volute, 1.5" is a good starting point but you may need to go more or even less depending on how the foam looks. Here is a link to the manual. Take a look at the setup steps on page 3& 4. Particularly the internal water level on page 4. Make sure you sump depth is in the range mentioned above. The higher the water level in your sump, the wetter the skimmer will skim meaning larger bubbles higher up in the skimmers body. The idea is to get the sump level such that the bubbles inside the skimmer start at the optimal level (page 4 of the manual) with the wedge pipe wide open. From there you fine tune. Start by adjusting the volute to get a nice solid foam head. Once you have a good foam where the bubbles are not bursting at the surface, then fine tune using the wedge pipe. Keep in mind that if this skimmer is new, it will take up to 2 weeks for the skimmer to fully break in and settle down. Also keep in mind that when you make an adjustment, it will take an hour or two before the results of that adjustment are fully visible. As such, make one adjustment at a time and wait a couple hours before making another adjustment.

Also keep in mind that the adjust volute works as follows. Opening the volute allows more air but tends to create larger bubbles. This also allows less water into the pump as it's displaced by air. Closing the volute, lessens the amount of air but also decreases the bubble size which can be good. This also increases the amount of water going into the skimmer which tends to raise the water level. Finding the sweet spot just takes time and experimenting but your 1.5 turns out is a good starting point. Water level in the sump however is very critical.

Here is the manual.
http://royalexclusiv.net/images/content/bk_dc/eng/bk_dc_operating_maintenance_eng.pdf
 
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