Bubble King Skimmer Club

[slief]

oke.. so if i change the whole impeller and bearing...

How big is the chance of having a defective motorblock?

Impossible to guess. Those motor blocks are generally really reliable and the magnet spinning on the bearing would cause issues similar to what you originally noted. As such, my first guess is that the impeller is your issue but again, that may not be the only issue but that is where I'd start unless you want to get the RD3...

 

[ksicard]

I joined the Bubble King owners club recently and thought I would share my results now that my skimmer is broken in and skimming up a storm. Here is 5 days of skim on my Double Cone 150 on a 75g tank. Thanks again Slief for all your help in choosing the right skimmer for my system. I apologize for the upside down photo.

 

[slief]

I joined the Bubble King owners club recently and thought I would share my results now that my skimmer is broken in and skimming up a storm. Here is 5 days of skim on my Double Cone 150 on a 75g tank. Thanks again Slief for all your help in choosing the right skimmer for my system. I apologize for the upside down photo.

Glad to help! That looks great! How many turns out on the volute are you now and what's your sump depth?

Also, how do you keep the skimmate in the cup with it being upside down? :lol:

 

[sensei]

I hope you can help me,
I will be building a 500 gal tank ( including sump) for mixed reef and a lot of SPS well stocked with fish, and I am trying to choose the right skimmer.
I have seen several Bubble King options but I am not sure which one would be best.

I would appreciate your comments

 

[aronj2]

for 500G u can forget the double cone line..

depends on stocking, i would get a:
250 (deluxe or supermarin)

iif u want mega u could do a 300, but 250 should be enough,

 

[sensei]

for 500G u can forget the double cone line..

depends on stocking, i would get a:
250 (deluxe or supermarin)

iif u want mega u could do a 300, but 250 should be enough,

thanks for answering,

I am a little bit confused, I have been looking at the different models and if you look at the prices, the deluxe is more expensive than the supermarine but it skimms less water capacity. how can that be? I thought higher water capacity meant more expensive,

for example:
Royal Exclusiv Bubble King Supermarin 250 Protein Skimmer + RD3 Speedy for aquariums from 1,000 liter - 3,000 liter (164-792 Gallons) and costs $1700, and

Royal Exclusiv Bubble King Deluxe 250 Skimmer with RD3 Speedy for aquariums from 800 liter - 2,000 liter (211 Gallons - 528) and costs $2120

how can this be?? which is better and why?

if I go with the Royal Exclusiv Bubble King Supermarin 300 + RD3 Protein Skimmer for aquariums from 1,500 liter - 4,000 liters (396 - 1056 gallons) I don´t know if it would be to oversized and will not perform good in a 500gal??

please tell me what you think?

 

[sreefs]

I think the 300 would be over sized for a 500 gallon tank. Scott can tell you the difference between the deluxe and the Supermarin better than I can, so I will let him chime in. I will tell you the Supermarin are great skimmers and I believe the Supermarin 250 would be a great fit. I use a Supermarin 200 and love it, on a 300 gallon. I would follow what Scott has to say, he has more knowledge about BK skimmers than most!

 

[sensei]

Thanks Pat,
I will wait for Scott´s advice

 

[slief]

Thanks Pat,
I will wait for Scott´s advice

As others have said, the 300 would be oversized. I was in the same seat a year ago pondering the same questions. In the end, the Supermarin 250 was the best choice and that's what I went with on my heavily stocked 480g display with 650g total volume. The Supermarin 250 will be a hard working consistent skimmer where as the Supermarin 300 would hardly have to work on your sized system and would likely be a bit inconsistent. So in my opinion, the SM250 is your best choice.

As for the difference between the Deluxe and the Supermarin, the Deluxe is better suited for dry skimming and has a slightly different body design. There is also less demand for it which in combination of the design and production volume, likely accounts for it's higher price. In Europe the Deluxe is apparently more popular but here in the states, the Supermarin is the go to skimmer. I personally prefer a wetter skim which is tends to produce better consistency. As such, I'd suggest the Supermarin. Don't get me wrong, the SM can dry skim as well but when properly dialed in, it will produce consistent nasty skimmate day in and day out like no other.

 

[sensei]

Thanks Scott,

The SuperMarin 250 is to be placed directly in the bottom of the sump or it has to be highered a little bit?

I have been looking at videos of this skimmer and it seems that you do not have to feed the skimmer through the main return pump of the tank?

Maybe I am getting out of the reach of this forum but I can not resist to ask you which return pump do you have in your 650gal system ( how many turns of water volume per hour?) ?

I will be checking your thread to learn how you build your tank!

After choosing the skimmer there are many other importnat decisions have to make, and expert advices are welcome

thanks again

 

[slief]

Thanks Scott,

The SuperMarin 250 is to be placed directly in the bottom of the sump or it has to be highered a little bit?

I have been looking at videos of this skimmer and it seems that you do not have to feed the skimmer through the main return pump of the tank?

Maybe I am getting out of the reach of this forum but I can not resist to ask you which return pump do you have in your 650gal system ( how many turns of water volume per hour?) ?

I will be checking your thread to learn how you build your tank!

After choosing the skimmer there are many other importnat decisions have to make, and expert advices are welcome

thanks again

The skimmer can be set on the bottom of your sump but sump depth is important. You will want the skimmer to be in 8.5 - 9" of water. 9" is ideal under lower load conditions which you will likely have.

This skimmer doesn't need a feed pump. The RD3 pump that is included will handle that. It's a 50 watt pump but you will likely find tha 37-38 watts is ideal. Mine is running at 38 watts which gives me really nice foam and seems to be the sweet spot. If you have a lower sump depth or run low salinity, you will likely want a bit more power which is the advantage of the RD3. Very efficient and very flexible. Unlike the other DC pumps which only have 5 or 6 speed incements, the RD3 has around 50 so you can REALLY fine tune the skimmer.

Very glad to help. Feel free to ask me any questions and I monitor my thread as well so I will always unswer you there too but the Bubble King questions are best asked here so others can benifit as well.

 

[sensei]

Thanks, I will get the Supermarine 250 + RD3.

I don´t know if U know a better place to order it, at better prices?

 

[sensei]

Another question:
is it a good idea to connect an ozone generator the SuperMarine Skimmer?
I ask, because I have read that ozone is highly oxidizing and many pumps and skimmers get ruined by ozone, and I would not want to mess with a new Supermarine 250 Simmers
regards,

 

[slief]

Another question:
is it a good idea to connect an ozone generator the SuperMarine Skimmer?
I ask, because I have read that ozone is highly oxidizing and many pumps and skimmers get ruined by ozone, and I would not want to mess with a new Supermarine 250 Simmers
regards,

Ozone can be very corrosive but the Bubble Kings. are ozone safe. I much prefer using an ozone reactor for ozone instead of a skimmer it's because much easier to contain any excess ozone. Ozone eactors also work better IMO from a contact time standpoint because you have more control over the flow into the reactor. It's also easier to filter the effluent through carbon when using a ozone reactor because you just run the ozone reactor effluent into a carbon reactor. You can't do that easily with a skimmer and it's also difficult to filter the air from the skimmer lid vent holes. Not all do that but it's a good idea in my experience if you run ozone into your skimmer.

 

[Confuse]

I have a double cone 200 on my 150g+40g sump system. What's the recommended wattage to run the pump at?

 

[slief]

I have a double cone 200 on my 150g+40g sump system. What's the recommended wattage to run the pump at?

I'd start at 37.. I think that will be the sweet spot. Another member with a double cone was running it there too. If anything you might run it there for a couple days and see how it does and then back it down a step or two and see how it does at a slightly lower speed. Things like salinity, sump level and dissolved organics all play a role but 37 should be pretty close.

 

[jcs11236]

How often are you suppose to take skimmer apart and clean pump etc.
thanks

 

[slief]

How often are you suppose to take skimmer apart and clean pump etc.
thanks

How often you clean your skimmer pump & the rest of the skimmer depends on a few factor in my opinion. First is how dirty your sump is. If you build up waste or other stuff on your impeller or your growing coraline on your pump or skimmer, it's time to clean it. If you have snails or other critters getting into the pump, then your opening the pump up so you might as well clean it. Every tank is different. Some tanks build up all kinds of calcareous algae in the pumps really fast while others have excess food going into the sump or other waste. Cleaning the neck and collection cup is an as needed kind of thing. If you run a self cleaning head/wiper setup, then you almost don't need to clean the skimmer neck at all. An SCH is a great thing IMO.

My sump stays pretty clean. I run filter socks which eliminate most detritus from the sump and it doesn't get any light which helps to eliminate any algae growth while inhibiting some coraline algae growth. I disassemble and inspect my skimmer pump every few months at which time I generally give the block, volute and the impeller a vinegar bath. I clean my skimmer body about once a year. I've actually gone a couple years without removing my skimmer body with my last skimmer. I run a self cleaning head with a wash down that sprays water into my collection cup on an as needed basis to rinse it. I use the wash down every few months to flush the collection cup on an as needed basis. I also shake the skimmer back and forth every time I drain the cup to stir the skimmate up and get any solids that may have settled out of the cup while it's draining. My collection cup comes off every 4-6 months for a good scrubbing but even that's probably not needed in my case.

 

[clorox]

Out of curiosity can a Double Cone 180 with the mini RD700 be switched out for the Red Dragon3 50w Speedy?
Is it just a matter of switching the pump or is there more to it?

 

[ArmanS]

Out of curiosity can a Double Cone 180 with the mini RD700 be switched out for the Red Dragon3 50w Speedy?
Is it just a matter of switching the pump or is there more to it?

I'm not sure, I don't see why not but think about it this way.

Why not sell your DC 180 and then buy a new RD3 DC 180.

DC 180 RD3 is ~$1,050.
RD3 50w is ~$670

If you sell your DC 180 skimmer for lets say $400 which is very cheap IMO for a Bubble King Skimmer, you should be able to get at least $500 but to be conservative lets say $400.

Then you pay $1,050 - the $400 you get for your skimmer makes it $650 net.

You actually save $20 and get the new skimmer with the new pump and make someone happy that they got a deal on a Bubble King Skimmer!