Bubble King Skimmer Club

[reef.saltwater]

I recently bought BK 300 Deluxe from Jeremy(Premium Aquatics), and need to know others opinion regarding this skimmer considering below live stock.
My tank is almost 2.5 months old Marineland 250DD with 120gal sump with lots of rubble in the sump.
fishes:
10 Anthias
1 copperband
Hippo,Purple, 2 Yellow and 2 Yellow in sump, Sailfin Tangs, midas blenny, Dimond goby pair, 1blue and 3yellow accessor, stary blenny, blue spot jaw fish, mystry wrasse.

I have few small to medium sps frags, and this tank will be going SPS dominated tank with very few LPS.

Thanks...!!!

 

[tcoral]

OK, can I put a waste collector on my Super Marin 200? What brand and type? Seems that it really likes to skim a lot at night and I need to put something extra on it.

 

[Jeremy B.]

It sounds like the skimmer might be running a little too wet if it's really dumping a lot in the cup at night. However, if you want an external collection cup on it I'd suggest using the Octopus, which can be found here:

http://premiumaquatics.com/aquatic-supplies/CV-WC-140.html

The reason being is that it uses a shut off switch so if the skimmer really goes crazy it will ship the skimmer pump down and not dump a ton of water out of your system when you're not around.

 

[Jrmass]

Hey guys I have a BK 200 Gen 1 and the pump took a crap on me. I am just wondering what the best pump might be for this unit. It currently has a Maxflo 1600 on it but, I am having problems finding another one of these pumps.

Thanks Guys any ideas are greatly welcomed!

Still waiting on a response to this post. Any help would be greatly appreciated! I found an Aqueon Submersible 3000 which has very similar footprint but, am not sure what the original requirements for the skimmer was before the previous owner changed to the maxflo pump.

 

[moondoggy4]

I remember that Jermey stated that they had the original pump for the Gen 1 skimmers on hand in the shop.

 

[Jeremy B.]

Still waiting on a response to this post. Any help would be greatly appreciated! I found an Aqueon Submersible 3000 which has very similar footprint but, am not sure what the original requirements for the skimmer was before the previous owner changed to the maxflo pump.

You would need to go with the direct replacement for the Mini's, since the motorblock is glued to the custom plate. You will also specifically need a Gen 1 block, the Gen 2 block has a different plate on the bottom of it. Give me a call at 317-895-9005 and we should be able to get you all set up with it.

 

[Barteks]

Hello Guys,

Desperately need your help with my BK SM200 with RD1500. I bought second hand one and I can't set it up. I've been trying for 5 days and it overflows in few seconds. I tried 28cm , 23, 22, 20, 18cm deep with nozzle in different positions. 5 days and nights of fighting with the skimmer and no success at all.
It looks like the pump is to strong for the skimmer.
It has a yellow 22mils nozzle but the I watched several films on YT and most of them were red 19mils.
Today I was able to contact the previous owner and I was told that previously the skimmer was only 15cm deep. I can't lift it up so high so I am thinking of changing the nozzle with the smaller one.

I have got a 750L SPS system.

Thank you for any help.

Bart

 

[Jeremy B.]

Hello Guys,

Desperately need your help with my BK SM200 with RD1500. I bought second hand one and I can't set it up. I've been trying for 5 days and it overflows in few seconds. I tried 28cm , 23, 22, 20, 18cm deep with nozzle in different positions. 5 days and nights of fighting with the skimmer and no success at all.
It looks like the pump is to strong for the skimmer.
It has a yellow 22mils nozzle but the I watched several films on YT and most of them were red 19mils.
Today I was able to contact the previous owner and I was told that previously the skimmer was only 15cm deep. I can't lift it up so high so I am thinking of changing the nozzle with the smaller one.

I have got a 750L SPS system.

Thank you for any help.

Bart

Please post a few photos of the skimmer in your sump so we can help you out. I've got a few ideas as to what it could be, but need to see the install first.

 

[Barteks]

deep - 19cm , red pipe lifted up:
https://dl.dropbox.com/u/87719113/2012-11-10 18.52.46.mp4

same as above, but I was gradually pushing the pipe down:
https://dl.dropbox.com/u/87719113/2012-11-10 18.58.18.mp4

Deep: 22cm - pipe removed from the tee-connector:
https://dl.dropbox.com/u/87719113/2012-11-10 19.15.48.mp4

Deep: 20cm - pipe in but fully opened:
https://dl.dropbox.com/u/87719113/2012-11-10 19.15.48.mp4

Deep 22cm, pipe in, the nozzle diameter reduced from22mm to 18mm:
https://dl.dropbox.com/u/87719113/2012-11-13 20.20.10.mp4

No reduction on the air pipe

 

[tcoral]

I had to lower the water level in my sump to get mine to calm down. It's around 8" now. If the water level is too high it goes crazy like that

 

[Barteks]

so I do not have to strictly stick with the recommended water level 20-25cm from the Manual?

 

[tcoral]

so I do not have to strictly stick with the recommended water level 20-25cm from the Manual?

OK, it's around 8.5". I had to play around with it though to see the right water level. Too high and it went nuts.

 

[tcoral]

It sounds like the skimmer might be running a little too wet if it's really dumping a lot in the cup at night. However, if you want an external collection cup on it I'd suggest using the Octopus, which can be found here:

http://premiumaquatics.com/aquatic-supplies/CV-WC-140.html

The reason being is that it uses a shut off switch so if the skimmer really goes crazy it will ship the skimmer pump down and not dump a ton of water out of your system when you're not around.

The waste line from the skimmer has to go directly down to the collector? (downhill)? My sump sides are high so any waste line would have a slight uphill before going outside the sump unless I put it inside the sump, and then the space in there now is at a premium . Lowering the water level some more seemed to calm down the skimmer more so I don't have to empty it every day.
Another question, what type of self cleaning device would work with the super marin 200? (this is a wish list item) .

 

[maysorum]

Hello Jeremy, I'm thinking about joining the BK Club. I have a 90g display with about another 50-60g split between sump and refugium. I'm not sure if I have a high bioload. I have 8 fishes, 2 bubbletip anemones, 8-10 mini maxi anemones, small assortment of lps (dendro, torch, hammer, and acan) and maybe 20 sps frags and mini colonies. I would like to add another fish (small tang or angel) eventually. I would like to feed more without worry. What BK skimmer would you suggest? Many thanks!

 

[yort265]

on a mixed reef system with a total water volume around 110-120 gallons with a med-high bio load, what BK would y'all recommend?... and why?

BK mini 160
BK mini 180
BK supermarin 200

OR

the vertex alpha 170?


Thanks,
Troy

 

[Jeremy B.]

@tcoral, Here is what you need for the self cleaning head:

Vertex 200mm Lid $27: http://premiumaquatics.com/aquatic-supplies/VX-PA-L200.html
Vertex Cleaner Motor $169: http://premiumaquatics.com/aquatic-supplies/VX-PS-VSCHE.html


@maysorum, I just responded to your thread posted in the forum here.


@yort265, Really any of those skimmers would work for you, even the Mini 160 assuming you have pretty good husbandry and are doing water changes. The SM 200 could be a little inconsistent due to size and power just based on the particular bioload and amount of dissolved organics from day to day.

 

[urbaneks]

I will be adding a Bio Pellet Reactor to my system and I want to connect the output from the reactor to the intake of my Mini 180. I was wondering if anyone here has an easy way to accomplish this.

Is the second intake (smaller/gray one) on the nozzle an option? I'd like to simply connect my reactor up directly to this but I'm not sure what this was originally designed for and if it will impact the performance of the skimmer.

 

[Reef_Noob]

I will be adding a Bio Pellet Reactor to my system and I want to connect the output from the reactor to the intake of my Mini 180. I was wondering if anyone here has an easy way to accomplish this.

Is the second intake (smaller/gray one) on the nozzle an option? I'd like to simply connect my reactor up directly to this but I'm not sure what this was originally designed for and if it will impact the performance of the skimmer.

The second grey nozzle is the ozone port. Attaching the "out" direct to the ozone port might affect the skimmer performance.
Better option is directing the outlet of the bio pellet reactor close/near to the intake of the skimmer pump.
If you ask me a lil bit of the bio film does help feed the SPS corals. Don't skim it all off.
Hope it helps.
Good luck

 

[urbaneks]

Sounds like you are speaking from experience. Anyway you can post a pic of how close you have your reactor output to the skimmer intake?

 

[Reef_Noob]

Sounds like you are speaking from experience. Anyway you can post a pic of how close you have your reactor output to the skimmer intake?

Yes I had experimented with bio pellets in one of my older systems. I had trouble with them clumping and discontinued. Be sure they tumble well in the reactor if the pellets clump and restricts flow it leads to H2S and thats bad for your live stock.
I'm sorry I don't have a pic of my old setup as I hadn't documented it. Sorry bout that. I had the reactor outlet emptying into the skimmer chamber and about 5" away from the skimmer pump.