Bubble King Skimmer Club

embarrassed to say but when I first bought it I had it on my 180, it's always worked well for me though and keeps all my nitrates at basically 0. Every once in a while it'll get wonky but for them most part it's set and forget. I can skim wet or dry reliably anywhere from a full cup of dark green water in a day to straight sewer sludge if I set it dry but that takes a week or two to get good and thick and is on the inside of the neck as much as it is in the cup. I generally clean the skimmer twice a week with the cup about 1/4 full of funky liquid and good coating of sludge on both sides of the cup riser.
 
embarrassed to say but when I first bought it I had it on my 180, it's always worked well for me though and keeps all my nitrates at basically 0. Every once in a while it'll get wonky but for them most part it's set and forget. I can skim wet or dry reliably anywhere from a full cup of dark green water in a day to straight sewer sludge if I set it dry but that takes a week or two to get good and thick and is on the inside of the neck as much as it is in the cup. I generally clean the skimmer twice a week with the cup about 1/4 full of funky liquid and good coating of sludge on both sides of the cup riser.

It'll still work fine as you have found. It's just overkill and your more limited to skimming much more wet than if the load was much higher relative to your skimmer size. On the bright side, you can add a ton more fish and your skimmer will thank you for it!
 
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I"m actually getting ready to redo a bunch of stuff in the tank and as soon as it balances back out there are about 10-20 more fish going in. All smaller schooling types but that should still give it a little more to do.
 
I just hooked up a BK SM200 in my new tank set up. It is spewing microbubbles like crazy and I can’t get it to stop. I have tried turning the pump speed up and down. I’m keeping the water level inside the skimmer right below the collection cup. The skimmer is sitting in 8” deep water.
Will this stop as the skimmer breaks in? Any tricks for getting it to stop? If not, I’m going to have to get a different skimmer because it’s messing with my auto top off sensor:(
 
How long has it been running, and how old is the tank? Microbubbles are usually only an occurance during breakin, or when pump speed is too high.
 
How long has it been running, and how old is the tank? Microbubbles are usually only an occurance during breakin, or when pump speed is too high.

To add to what Marco said, micro bubbles will also occur on a newly setup tank or in the case of a skimmer that is grossly oversized for the load. Let the skimmer break in and the micro bubbles should subside provided you have some fish in the display. If you have no fish or load in the system, there won’t be any proteins/dissolved organics to bind the bubbles together into foam. The bubbles binding together helps them rise since more bubbles bound together result in great bouncy which gets them up the neck instead of some of the bubbles getting drawn out the effluent. As such, micro bubbles from the skimmer on newly setup tanks is very common and expectable until there is sufficient load or organics in the system to allow the skimmer to operate properly.

Also, with an SM200, I would suggest running the pump betweem 28 and 32 watts as a starting point.
 
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Your load as far as fish goes is on the light side. I run the same skimmer on my 700 gallon system with over 70 fish in it and the skimmer could still handle more.

That said, lower the pump speed to between 36-38 watts. You are looking for the most dense foam possible and the sweet spot for the SM250 is right in that range. Higher will result in less contact time, larger faster moving bubbles and less efficient organic removal. Lower the level in the skimmer so the line where bubbles turn to foam is about 1" above the white collar where the neck/cup threads to the body. That is about as wet as you would want to set the skimmer. If you go much higher, you will have regular overflows. If the skimmer suddenly starts producing more skimmate, shut the pump down and remove the nozzle from the pump and inspect the venturi port where the silicone air hose connects to the pump. You are looking for salt creep which blocks off airflow and results in more water flow into he skimmer. This will lead to sudden overflows. I clean my venturi ports about once a month.

As for the neck getting gunked up, that is normal and is why many of us run a quality neck cleaner. That or you should remove the collection cup once a week and clean it. This is what I suggest as it's about the best neck cleaner money can buy and is designed for these skimmers. Mine runs once a day for 15 seconds and my neck is always clean and gunk free which not only reduces maintenance but it also keeps the skimmer performing optimally. I remove my collection cup every several months for cleaning.

Slief,

How often do you have to clean the skimmer pump?
is there a way to know when the pump need cleaning?
I am not sure if you would see less bubbles or something like that?

If you do not see overflow that means the there is no salt creep in the ventury or you should always clean it and check it??

thanks
 
Slief,

How often do you have to clean the skimmer pump?
is there a way to know when the pump need cleaning?
I am not sure if you would see less bubbles or something like that?

If you do not see overflow that means the there is no salt creep in the ventury or you should always clean it and check it??

thanks

I suggest cleaning your skimmer pump inside and out every 4-5 months. That will insure the best long term reliability and peace of mind while also keeping your skimmer pump running and looking like new. Besides, the whole process should only take about 15 minutes including a 10 minute soak in vinegar. I check my venturi port about once a month regardless of whether or not I have had an overflow. It's just something I do as preventative maintenance.

In case you haven't seen it, this thread in our sponsor forum covers all those details.
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2573406
 
I suggest cleaning your skimmer pump inside and out every 4-5 months. That will insure the best long term reliability and peace of mind while also keeping your skimmer pump running and looking like new. Besides, the whole process should only take about 15 minutes including a 10 minute soak in vinegar. I check my venturi port about once a month regardless of whether or not I have had an overflow. It's just something I do as preventative maintenance.

In case you haven't seen it, this thread in our sponsor forum covers all those details.
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2573406

Thanks a lot Slief,

I cleaned the pump.
the manual I have says that the 75Watts RD3 has a additional axial floating bearing on the rear shaft but I did not find it.
I found a teflon white ring in the container after I pulled the rotor out.
I am not sure if it is installed instead of the bearing and if I installed it correctly.
here is the photo

rear shaft.jpg
can you confirm that this teflon white ring should be installed there on the rear shaft please
 
Thanks a lot Slief,

I cleaned the pump.
the manual I have says that the 75Watts RD3 has a additional axial floating bearing on the rear shaft but I did not find it.
I found a teflon white ring in the container after I pulled the rotor out.
I am not sure if it is installed instead of the bearing and if I installed it correctly.
here is the photo

View attachment 388967
can you confirm that this teflon white ring should be installed there on the rear shaft please

That is correct. There is no bushing on that pump. Just the teflon washer you have in your photo.
 
After being in this hobby for quite awhile I'm getting ready to downshift a bit and go from a roughly 400-450 gallon system (300G display) that I've had running for 8 years to I think a 90g (30x30x24 cube) with a 60g (24x24x24g cube so probably 35-40g operating volume) sump.

I've had a BK SM250 running on the 300 and absolutely love that it will reliably pull whatever I want it to even though I know it's oversized for the tank. Knowing that it won't work on the smaller tank what if any unit would you recommend for a tank of that size or is that really smaller than the BK's are designed to run on?

My other thought is to go skimmerless and try the fuge only route, any thoughts? Intention for the new tank is SPS dominant around a center island with a few LPS on the bottom outside edges and hoping to have ~20 small schooling type fish (pair of clowns, pair of cardinals, school of chromis, and some wrasses) so would be a decent bioload for that volume.

TIA
 
After being in this hobby for quite awhile I'm getting ready to downshift a bit and go from a roughly 400-450 gallon system (300G display) that I've had running for 8 years to I think a 90g (30x30x24 cube) with a 60g (24x24x24g cube so probably 35-40g operating volume) sump.

I've had a BK SM250 running on the 300 and absolutely love that it will reliably pull whatever I want it to even though I know it's oversized for the tank. Knowing that it won't work on the smaller tank what if any unit would you recommend for a tank of that size or is that really smaller than the BK's are designed to run on?

My other thought is to go skimmerless and try the fuge only route, any thoughts? Intention for the new tank is SPS dominant around a center island with a few LPS on the bottom outside edges and hoping to have ~20 small schooling type fish (pair of clowns, pair of cardinals, school of chromis, and some wrasses) so would be a decent bioload for that volume.

TIA

For that small of a system you could go with either the Double Cone 150 or the Mini 160. The Mini 160 will be more set it and forget it where as the Double Cone will need some tuning to get it dialed in. I ran a Mini 160 on a lightly stocked 90 gallon display and was really impressed with it since the only adjusting needed was setting the level inside the skimmer via the wedge pipe.
 
Hi All,

I just started cycling 2 days ago and wanted to start skimmer as well for break in period by having not knowing what does it mean exactly.

Skimmer is just runnin for 12 hours..BK double cone 200 brand new

Total system is 400 liters skimmer is sitting on 26 cm water height and it was crazy overflowing, I opened the outlet and there is constant water flow to sump from collecting cup outlet. Then I put something under skimmer and now height is 24-25 cm but still overflowing after 5 minute of no overflow

This is my first experience , should I play with height or continue running with open outlet

By the way there is a tube tap on the small hose near the thick setting tube should I remove this tap. Noozzle is screwded in completely as suggested in manual

Thanks for your advices
 
Hi All,

I just started cycling 2 days ago and wanted to start skimmer as well for break in period by having not knowing what does it mean exactly.

Skimmer is just runnin for 12 hours..BK double cone 200 brand new

Total system is 400 liters skimmer is sitting on 26 cm water height and it was crazy overflowing, I opened the outlet and there is constant water flow to sump from collecting cup outlet. Then I put something under skimmer and now height is 24-25 cm but still overflowing after 5 minute of no overflow

This is my first experience , should I play with height or continue running with open outlet

By the way there is a tube tap on the small hose near the thick setting tube should I remove this tap. Noozzle is screwded in completely as suggested in manual

Thanks for your advices


Keep the cover on the 2nd port on the nozzle. This is used for the ozone connection if you are running ozone. Lower the pump speed. Ideal speed is between 28 and 30 watts. The outlet is used to set the level inside the skimmer. If you have it closed too much, it will overflow. Also note that we have a dedicated forum here as well.

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=745
 
Hi, wondering if someone might have the answer to my question. Can the Bubble King DC 130 be used the the RD3 DC pump? I see that the 180 can but I can't seem to find info on its use with the 130.

I am looking for a skimmer to use in my Reefer 425XL and I've been told the 180 is too much for my system and the 130 is a better fit. I really want the skimmer to have a DC pump. Any help greatly appreciated.
thanks!
C
 
Hi, wondering if someone might have the answer to my question. Can the Bubble King DC 130 be used the the RD3 DC pump? I see that the 180 can but I can't seem to find info on its use with the 130.

I am looking for a skimmer to use in my Reefer 425XL and I've been told the 180 is too much for my system and the 130 is a better fit. I really want the skimmer to have a DC pump. Any help greatly appreciated.
thanks!
C

The RD3 cannot be used with the Doube Cone 130. It's too large. The AC Red Dragon pump is a time proven pump that happens to be a great pump. That said, there may be a variable speed DC style skimmer pump coming out that will work with the Double Cone 130 in the not so distant future but we don't have details or a release date let alone know what model skimmers will be supported.
 
Slief,

I have been trying to adjust the water level on my Super Marine but the tube does not let me do a fine adjustment. I just turn it 2 millimiters and the water level rises 10cm and goes to high and skimmer skims to wet.
I am not sure if the wedge shaped tube needs some maintenence so that I could turn it more without having such a drastic rise in water level?? it is so sensitive that it does not let me higher the water level 3 -4 cms, a minimum turn highers the level around 10cm

can you also tell the me were is the recomended water level in the skimmer??

Thanks
 
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