Bubble King Skimmer Club

[lantonini]

Thanks for that. Any special tricks I should know about this little beast? I have the water just under the water line and in 1 day it has about 1/2" dark skim. How offer should I pull apart and clean it? Do you sell replacement screws incase these break or get lost during cleaning?
Thanks.

 

[slief]

Thanks for that. Any special tricks I should know about this little beast? I have the water just under the water line and in 1 day it has about 1/2" dark skim. How offer should I pull apart and clean it? Do you sell replacement screws incase these break or get lost during cleaning?
Thanks.

Clean the collection cup every couple weeks to a month depending on how much gunk is building up in the neck. As for replacement screws, don't loose them. They should be easy enough to keep track of.

 

[lantonini]

Just because you said not to lose them I bet 1 is gone first cleaning. Thanks again. Day 2 about 1" full. Nice thick foam and I still can't believe how quiet this really is

 

[Zweebe]

Hey guys,

I'm planning to build up a new SPS system in few months, but I'm still thinking about the skimmer. It will be a 390g.

Some friends advice me Deltec SC2560 or Nyos Quantum 300. But a well known shop here in Belgium advice me Bulbble King Supermarin 250, but I don't really know the difference between BBK and others skimmers, can you light up this thing for me?

As BBK is pretty expensive, I really want to be sure about my choice

Thanks!

 

[slief]

Hey guys,

I'm planning to build up a new SPS system in few months, but I'm still thinking about the skimmer. It will be a 390g.

Some friends advice me Deltec SC2560 or Nyos Quantum 300. But a well known shop here in Belgium advice me Bulbble King Supermarin 250, but I don't really know the difference between BBK and others skimmers, can you light up this thing for me?

As BBK is pretty expensive, I really want to be sure about my choice

Thanks!

I think the shop in Belgium gave you gread advice as they are recommending a very high quality skimmer. I too would suggest the Supermarin 250 over the others. The Bubble Kings RD3 controllable pump is far superior to the other skimmers pumps. It allows much finer control and is absolutely silent and very efficient. Then there is the material quality of the Supermarin which is also far superior. They are made of very thick acrylic and weigh nearly double of that of the other brand skimmers that are comparable. I use a Supermarin 250 on my display and it's by far one of the best skimmers I have ever owned. Not only does it produce consistent nasty skimmate but it's also silent. The Supermarin 250 with the RD3 pump tends to run best with the pump set to between 36 and 38 watts and between 8 & 9" of sump depth.

 

[Zweebe]

I think the shop in Belgium gave you gread advice as they are recommending a very high quality skimmer. I too would suggest the Supermarin 250 over the others. The Bubble Kings RD3 controllable pump is far superior to the other skimmers pumps. It allows much finer control and is absolutely silent and very efficient. Then there is the material quality of the Supermarin which is also far superior. They are made of very thick acrylic and weigh nearly double of that of the other brand skimmers that are comparable. I use a Supermarin 250 on my display and it's by far one of the best skimmers I have ever owned. Not only does it produce consistent nasty skimmate but it's also silent. The Supermarin 250 with the RD3 pump tends to run best with the pump set to between 36 and 38 watts and between 8 & 9" of sump depth.

I think you almost convinced me! :lolspin:

But what about the Skimming performance? Is it far better than other good skimmer like Deltec or Nyos? I mean, is the BBK are skimming more bad elements than others?

 

[slief]

I think you almost convinced me! :lolspin:

But what about the Skimming performance? Is it far better than other good skimmer like Deltec or Nyos? I mean, is the BBK are skimming more bad elements than others?

I will say the Bubble King is arguably more efficient at removing dissolved organics but pretty much all great skimmers can only remove so much of them. The Bubble King might do it a bit faster. At the end of the day, Bubble Kings are about the best skimmer in their class in every respect. I say this as a bubble king user who paid for his skimmer full price and has used countless other skimmers over the last 30 years.

 

[MadsDK]

I am looking at a new skimmer for my 80 gallon tank and I think i have narrowed it down to either a Bk Double cone 150 or 180 with the speedy pump. I know that the 180 is way oversized but I just like the idea of controlling it with a DC pump. What would you guys suggest ?

 

[slief]

I am looking at a new skimmer for my 80 gallon tank and I think i have narrowed it down to either a Bk Double cone 150 or 180 with the speedy pump. I know that the 180 is way oversized but I just like the idea of controlling it with a DC pump. What would you guys suggest ?

Tough call. The 180 is oversized for your tank and may not be consistent unless you run it really wet but the RD3 Speedy pump does make it a dream to tune. If you had a really heavy load, it wouldn't be too bad though. A Mini 160 would work real well too. The Double Cone 150 can be a little tougher to tune. You just need to find the best balance between sump depth and volute adjustment. I think I would go with the mini 160 before the double cone 150. The 180 would be nice but like I said, you will need to run it fairly wet which isn't a horrible alternative. The Mini 160 would be set it and forget it with the only downside being that you have to take the skimmer apart to clean the pump.

 

[UWUALineman]

Mads, do the 180. I put it on my 60 cube because I was tired of having to fiddle with the 150 after shutting it down and wanted to get the hang of the DC pump before my 93G goes online.
The foam will go idle at times but it still works. And running wet does help. The DC RD3 Speedy is super simple to use. It's the best skimmer I've used and I'm looking forward to seeing it at its full potential when I finally finish my upgrade.

 

[jporter]

I am now eligible for the BK owners club. Took delivery of a DC-180 and additional RD3 Speedy for the return pump last week. Getting it all ready for install either this week or next. Will post some pics after the install. Support from Scott and Marco has been excellent during the selection and purchasing time frame. Have also been getting some good assistance from local hobbyist Urbaneks. JP

 

[jporter]

I am now eligible for the BK owners club. Took delivery of a DC-180 and additional RD3 Speedy for the return pump last week. Getting it all ready for install either this week or next. Will post some pics after the install. Support from Scott and Marco has been excellent during the selection and purchasing time frame. Have also been getting some good assistance from local hobbyist Urbaneks. JP

Oh, and a big thanks to Luke for assisting with the questions and order.

 

[Go29]

Few questions for all the bubble king experts out there.... I recently purchased a bubble king double cone 150 (used) that was less than 6 months old. Im curious if anyone can let me know how much space I need in the sump for the skimmer. I look online at the dimensions (skimmer won't be here until next week) and am confused by all the different measurements listed, talking about pump 90* to tube etc. If anyone has a double cone 150 and can throw me space needed I would greatly appreciate it as I'm trying to finish my sump. Was hoping to use a 20 L tank as sump.

On another note how does everyone feel the double cone 150 will do on my 68 gallon tank? Tank was custom made (acrylic) due to space available in my apartment right now, and I wanted to get a solid skimmer as I am a huge proponent of feeding corals, thus want to remove as much waste as possible. Thanks for any information and opinions of this skimmer on my size tank, and again would LOVE to get some measurement ideas thanks

 

[slief]

Few questions for all the bubble king experts out there.... I recently purchased a bubble king double cone 150 (used) that was less than 6 months old. Im curious if anyone can let me know how much space I need in the sump for the skimmer. I look online at the dimensions (skimmer won't be here until next week) and am confused by all the different measurements listed, talking about pump 90* to tube etc. If anyone has a double cone 150 and can throw me space needed I would greatly appreciate it as I'm trying to finish my sump. Was hoping to use a 20 L tank as sump.

On another note how does everyone feel the double cone 150 will do on my 68 gallon tank? Tank was custom made (acrylic) due to space available in my apartment right now, and I wanted to get a solid skimmer as I am a huge proponent of feeding corals, thus want to remove as much waste as possible. Thanks for any information and opinions of this skimmer on my size tank, and again would LOVE to get some measurement ideas thanks

The footprint with the pump is about 12.75" x 8.75"
Take a look at the spec sheet below for the foot print measurements with pictures.
https://premiumaquatics.com/themes/pa/prodimages/bubbleking/re-dc150-parts.pdf

This skimmer should do reasonably well with your size display. Hopefully you have a decent number of fish and feed them and your corals well so it has some organics to skim out. Otherwise you will have to run it pretty wet to keep it consistent.

We have a Royal Exclusiv/Bubble King forum here too and there is a setup and tuning thread in there where some Double Cone 150 users have mentioned what is working for them in terms of volute settings and sump levels. Every tank is different so your going to have to play with the sump level a bit and the volute adjustment to fine tune it. I would suggest starting out with the volute nozzle at 4.5 full turns out from fully closed. out and working your way closed and a sump level at about 6.75". You will need to let this skimmer break in for a week or so before you can fine tune it. The volute adjusts the air and water flow into the skimmer. The sump level will be used to adjust the initial water level inside the skimmer and the wedge pipe will be used for fine tuning the water level so you can adjust from wet to dry skim.
Here is a link to our forum here on Reef Central.
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=745

 

[Go29]

The footprint with the pump is about 12.75" x 8.75"
Take a look at the spec sheet below for the foot print measurements with pictures.
https://premiumaquatics.com/themes/pa/prodimages/bubbleking/re-dc150-parts.pdf

This skimmer should do reasonably well with your size display. Hopefully you have a decent number of fish and feed them and your corals well so it has some organics to skim out. Otherwise you will have to run it pretty wet to keep it consistent.

We have a Royal Exclusiv/Bubble King forum here too and there is a setup and tuning thread in there where some Double Cone 150 users have mentioned what is working for them in terms of volute settings and sump levels. Every tank is different so your going to have to play with the sump level a bit and the volute adjustment to fine tune it. I would suggest starting out with the volute nozzle at 4.5 full turns out from fully closed. out and working your way closed and a sump level at about 6.75". You will need to let this skimmer break in for a week or so before you can fine tune it. The volute adjusts the air and water flow into the skimmer. The sump level will be used to adjust the initial water level inside the skimmer and the wedge pipe will be used for fine tuning the water level so you can adjust from wet to dry skim.
Here is a link to our forum here on Reef Central.
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=745

wow thank you so much!! I will def check out those other threads.... I'm just super excited to get my first bubble king And as far as fish I will have that covered, Ive always liked heavy fish systems (within reason) to provide natural nitrate sources plus they are beautiful !

 

[andrewbram]

I have a question about a bubble king 200 int. On the bottom of the chamber in the base plate there is a hole. The instructions do not say and thing about this hole but you can see it in the instruction pictures. Does it serve a purpose? Does it need to be plugged? Thanks in advance.

 

[ReefClownMIA]

Hi Andrew,
Can you please take a picture of the hole, or let me know where in the instruction sit can be seen?

Thanks,
Marco

 

[andrewbram]

 

[slief]

That is there to help allow water to come into the skimmer body when first you submerge the skimmer. This is in addition to the input where the pump connects. It makes it so you don't have to force the skimmer down too hard since the skimmer will want to float without water in it when first submerging. Forcing it down so that water can enter through the pump input would raise the sump level and potentially overflow some sumps that weren't well thought out. So the little holes was added so that water can enter the skimmer from the bottom to help get water into the body when you first set it up.

 

[andrewbram]

Very nice thanks