Bubble King Skimmer Club

[tenurepro]

I don't have a dB meter and it would also require shutting of pumps which would cause the skimmer to overflow.

That said, I would strongly suggest you take the pump fully apart and make sure it's clean inside and out. Inspect the bearing and reassemble it properly. Also, knowing that the original owner pried the block off the base and installed a different block, it could be misaligned. Still, take the steps I have suggested above. These skimmers are normally very quiet but given the circumstances of your skimmer, it could be one of a few things causing the noise you are hearing and trial and error will be your best bet. Also make sure the rubber feet are on the bottom of the skimmer. If they aren't, that could cause noise. Make sure the bubble plate is centered in the body and not off to one side so that it could be touching the inside of the body. You can see the bubble plate in the picture I posted a couple posts above showing the pump. It is held in place by the pumps output and can be shifted left or right inside the body. It needs to be centered so it's not contacting the sides of the skimmer.

Thanks! I think you are mixing up my skimmer with Galizio... i did replace my motor, but it was with the same 600 motor block (purchased from Royal Exclusive in Germany) - it just fit in there without any issue. i used the new bearing that came with the motor block, but retained the old rotor and pump head because the rotor looked good without any obvious signs of wear. bubble plate is centred in the body and is not contacting the body of the skimmer. i replaced the o-ring on the cup/skimmer head in case that was causing some vibration. Rubber feet are there and i've added two silicone pads underneath. Pump is still not 'silent'. Pehraps new motor block hasn't broken in yet. I will take it apart on the weekend, and see if i can snap some picture of the rotor and posted it up here... in case there is something that i am missing.

thanks again for your help.

 

[slief]

Thanks! I think you are mixing up my skimmer with Galizio... i did replace my motor, but it was with the same 600 motor block (purchased from Royal Exclusive in Germany) - it just fit in there without any issue. i used the new bearing that came with the motor block, but retained the old rotor and pump head because the rotor looked good without any obvious signs of wear. bubble plate is centred in the body and is not contacting the body of the skimmer. i replaced the o-ring on the cup/skimmer head in case that was causing some vibration. Rubber feet are there and i've added two silicone pads underneath. Pump is still not 'silent'. Pehraps new motor block hasn't broken in yet. I will take it apart on the weekend, and see if i can snap some picture of the rotor and posted it up here... in case there is something that i am missing.

thanks again for your help.

Oops. Not enough sleep. Sorry about that. I would take it apart and double check everything. Make sure the bearing is in the pump in the correct orientation. The O-ring side should be closest to the front of the pump. See post 2 of this thread:
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2573406

Another thing you can try after inspecting it inside and out is loosening up the nut slightly that holds the bubble plate base in place. It doesn't need to be terribly tight. When I first set my MBK 160 up, it was slightly noisy but it quieted down to near silent after a bit of time. It might have taken a few weeks. I honestly don't remember. My guess is that something is either assembled wrong inside the pump or misaligned between the pump and the skimmer body. The pumps themselves are generally dead silent when assembled properly but if the bearing isn't inserted properly, that will cause noise from inside the pump.

 

[Galizio]

Thank you slief( sorry misspelled your name last post).
So yes, is a Laguna 1350, the skimmer is a beast is just I can't explain why is a bit noisier then the alpha... I'm going to follow your steps and dissemble the skimmer this week end. By the way this pump doesn't have the fitting as is a gen 2 bkm 180.
It's possible to use one of the new pumps on a gen 2 skimmer?those new pumps looks awesome..


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[slief]

Thank you slief( sorry misspelled your name last post).
So yes, is a Laguna 1350, the skimmer is a beast is just I can't explain why is a bit noisier then the alpha... I'm going to follow your steps and dissemble the skimmer this week end. By the way this pump doesn't have the fitting as is a gen 2 bkm 180.
It's possible to use one of the new pumps on a gen 2 skimmer?those new pumps looks awesome..


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You would need a new pump, volute and impeller. Not worth the effort IMO as it would be cost prohibitive. At that point, you would be better off selling this skimmer and buying a new one.

 

[RDtrack]

I'm looking at purchasing my first bubble king. I have a 120 gallon (4x2x2) with an app 30 gallon sump. So looking for advice on which one to purchase. I have a medium to heavy bioload and would like it to be a little on the larger size. Thanks for the assistance.

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[scuzy]

Bk mini 160 or 180 works real well.


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[slief]

I'm looking at purchasing my first bubble king. I have a 120 gallon (4x2x2) with an app 30 gallon sump. So looking for advice on which one to purchase. I have a medium to heavy bioload and would like it to be a little on the larger size. Thanks for the assistance.

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Bk mini 160 or 180 works real well.


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+1.
For that size display, a Mini 180 or Double Cone 180 would be great. A Mini 160 could also work though the 180 would likely be more appropriate if the load is at least a medium bioload. If the load is really low, the 160 would work great too.

Personally, I'd go with the Double Cone 180 because the skimmer pump is outside the body making maintenance easier though both the Mini 180 and Double Cone are both great performers. Unlike the Mini, the Double Cone 180 includes the RD3 pump which makes fine tune a breeze and also makes the skimmer more flexible in terms of load.

That said, a truly heavy bioload (by Bubble King standards) is upwards of 1/2" of fish per gallon. Many people think they have a heavy load but aren't anywhere near that when it comes to these skimmers. The Bubble Kings are also very conservatively rated and will perform best when properly matched to the load/display size. That said, we have a dedicated forum for all things Bubble King and Royal Exclusiv. We monitor that forum 7 days a week night and day.

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=745

 

[Confuse]

+1.
For that size display, a Mini 180 or Double Cone 180 would be great. A Mini 160 could also work though the 180 would likely be more appropriate if the load is at least a medium bioload. If the load is really low, the 160 would work great too.

Personally, I'd go with the Double Cone 180 because the skimmer pump is outside the body making maintenance easier though both the Mini 180 and Double Cone are both great performers. Unlike the Mini, the Double Cone 180 includes the RD3 pump which makes fine tune a breeze and also makes the skimmer more flexible in terms of load.

That said, a truly heavy bioload (by Bubble King standards) is upwards of 1/2" of fish per gallon. Many people think they have a heavy load but aren't anywhere near that when it comes to these skimmers. The Bubble Kings are also very conservatively rated and will perform best when properly matched to the load/display size. That said, we have a dedicated forum for all things Bubble King and Royal Exclusiv. We monitor that forum 7 days a week night and day.

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=745

Hey Scott, somewhat of a tangential question but...I see you speak of the 1/2" of fish per gallon rule often. I'm not a big math guy, but if I wanted to determine the bioload by that rule, I would add up the length of all my fish and divide by my display tank size? Like I said, I'm not a math guy. lol But I think this formula would give many people a rough idea of how to size their skimmer.

When I bought my DC 200, I was somewhat put off by the "Royal Exclusiv Bubble King Double Cone 180 + RD3 Speedy - for aquariums up to 132 Gallons (500 liters)" description. Mind you, I bought my skimmer before RE USA came to fruition, but after you guys started the forum, I then found out the skimmers are way underrated. Given that, I went for the DC 200 because I didn't want to spend $1,200+ on a skimmer that was "barely rated" for my tank. When my bioload was heavy, the DC 200 ran like a champ, but once my bioload dropped, I began to experience inconsistent skimming.

I recall reading somewhere that the 150, 180, 200, 250 numbers indicated the display size, but I cannot recall where I read that. Still, its a great skimmer that I will own for years to come, but I wish the description on these skimmers is more accurately rewritten at some point.

 

[biecacka]

On the 1/2 inch fish theorythe best way to find thought out is take your display and divide in half. So my tank is a 240 gallon tank, divide that by the 1/2 in theory and you get 120 inches. Or 10ft of fish... I have 30 fish or so and don't have 10ft of fish. Even my biggest tang is only 8 inches with most fish being 2-4 inches. So my DC200 is not even having to work to keep up with my load. Also have to take into consideration how much we feed.
Corey

 

[slief]

Hey Scott, somewhat of a tangential question but...I see you speak of the 1/2" of fish per gallon rule often. I'm not a big math guy, but if I wanted to determine the bioload by that rule, I would add up the length of all my fish and divide by my display tank size? Like I said, I'm not a math guy. lol But I think this formula would give many people a rough idea of how to size their skimmer.

When I bought my DC 200, I was somewhat put off by the "Royal Exclusiv Bubble King Double Cone 180 + RD3 Speedy - for aquariums up to 132 Gallons (500 liters)" description. Mind you, I bought my skimmer before RE USA came to fruition, but after you guys started the forum, I then found out the skimmers are way underrated. Given that, I went for the DC 200 because I didn't want to spend $1,200+ on a skimmer that was "barely rated" for my tank. When my bioload was heavy, the DC 200 ran like a champ, but once my bioload dropped, I began to experience inconsistent skimming.

I recall reading somewhere that the 150, 180, 200, 250 numbers indicated the display size, but I cannot recall where I read that. Still, its a great skimmer that I will own for years to come, but I wish the description on these skimmers is more accurately rewritten at some point.

The 1/2" per gallon load is kind of a general aquarium industry rule. When you get into larger fish, it kind of falls into a gray area but 50" of fish in a 100 gallon display would be a heavy load. That would be equivalent to 50 small clown fish or chromis. That said, a 7" tang would eat a lot more than 7 chromis and also poop a lot more which is why that 1/2" per gallon rule gets kind of mucky. I guess girth would have to be considered much the same way package sizing is in the shipping world. :uhoh3:

When we look at the range of skimmers, the low end of the scale would apply to a heavy load and a light load at the high end of the sizing. I do agree that the sizing ranges leave much to be desired and this sadly holds true across the entire skimmer industry. What makes it worse is that some skimmer manufacturers rate their skimmers optimistically while others are more conservative. When I'm consulted with skimmer questions, I always try to point those things out. That said, in your case with the 200 skimmer, just run it more wet.

 

[thirst]

Is there anywhere I can find reference of how dense the bubbles should be within the chamber? I just bought a 2-3 year old dc250. The density of bubble in the chamber seems kinda low. What type of adjustment would increase bubble density? Is it possible my air intake is clogged?

Thanks for any assistance!


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[slief]

Is there anywhere I can find reference of how dense the bubbles should be within the chamber? I just bought a 2-3 year old dc250. The density of bubble in the chamber seems kinda low. What type of adjustment would increase bubble density? Is it possible my air intake is clogged?

Thanks for any assistance!


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There really isn't a video to reference the bubble denisity. It's kind of somthing you have to feel your way through based on your load. That said, is this an RD3 model? If so, the best setting will be between 36-38 watts depending on your load. Which brings up the question, what size display and what is your fish load/stock? That is a pretty big skimmer and needs a fair amount of load to maintain a good enough foam head to keep the neck consistently full. Skimmers needs dissolved organics/proteins to generate good dense foam. It's the proteins that help the bubbles bind together to form foam. In the absence of enough organics, you end up with bubbles that tend to burst at the surface.

 

[thirst]

There really isn't a video to reference the bubble denisity. It's kind of somthing you have to feel your way through based on your load. That said, is this an RD3 model? If so, the best setting will be between 36-38 watts depending on your load. Which brings up the question, what size display and what is your fish load/stock? That is a pretty big skimmer and needs a fair amount of load to maintain a good enough foam head to keep the neck consistently full. Skimmers needs dissolved organics/proteins to generate good dense foam. It's the proteins that help the bubbles bind together to form foam. In the absence of enough organics, you end up with bubbles that tend to burst at the surface.

Thanks Scott. I just got it last night so will keep an eye on it. It'll be going on roughly a 500 gallon system


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[slief]

Thanks Scott. I just got it last night so will keep an eye on it. It'll be going on roughly a 500 gallon system


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Cool. Glad it's on a bigger system. Hopefully you have a good number of fish in it or at least lots of feeding going on. It's a great sized skimmer for that sized system assuming there are plenty of fish since it's the fish and feedings that generate the needed DOC's to keep the skimmer fed well. It will take a week or so to fully break in. If you check out of our forum here, there is a good thread on setting up and tuning the skimmer.

Here is the tuning thread.
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2546139

 

[thirst]

Thanks

This was overnight of running it at 34 watts first night.

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[slief]

Thanks

This was overnight of running it at 34 watts first night.

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That looks pretty good. Let it break in and and adjust it accordingly.

 

[tim jenkins]

My Red Dragon Bubble King 2000 pump will run about 4 seconds then stop, and repeat for a minute or so, then stop completely. I can't feel any problems with impeller or it's fitting. Do folks think this is an impeller problem or motor problem, as it's so expensive for me to guess wrong. Thanks!

 

[slief]

My Red Dragon Bubble King 2000 pump will run about 4 seconds then stop, and repeat for a minute or so, then stop completely. I can't feel any problems with impeller or it's fitting. Do folks think this is an impeller problem or motor problem, as it's so expensive for me to guess wrong. Thanks!

Take a look at post 2 in this thread in the bubble king forum. While it's more than likely the motorblock that is the dead, I would take the pump completely apart and give it a thorough cleaning in vinegar. A 10 minute soak of the impeller, block and bearing followed by a scrubbing. calcium buildup inside the block will create extra load on the block which will result in premature failure. We suggest taking the pump apart and cleaning it every 4-5 months. If you do that, these pumps will last 10+ years. That said, it's possible there is some buildup inside that is causing the pump to start and stop. If you caught it early enough, a cleaning may be all that is needed.

Post 2 of this thread covers the bearing remove and installation. It's important to make sure the end of the impeller shaft below the magnet is clean and smooth and also important to make sure the hole in the bearing is clean. Any buildup in there will create friction which is the primary reason for the pump to fail. Worst case, we do stock the blocks in our Ft. Myers warehouse. We would just need to determine if your block as the AKB (anti lime bypass) which is the red tube that connects from the pump head to the rear side of the block.

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2573406

 

[Reef or Die]

I like the bubble King super Marin 200 but don't know what they are rated for. Would this be a good skimmer for 120 gallon tank with 40 gallon sump with a decent bio load.

Anyone have some advice or know the gallon range these are good for?

 

[mlb75]

It's a great skimmer but may be a bit oversized for that size tank unless the load is pretty heavy. I'm sure Slief will respond but for comparison I run a 250 on my 300 with 100 or so gallons of sump and upwards of 25-30 fish that eat like pigs.