Bubble King Skimmer Club
- Thread starter JohnL
- Start date
SchnitzelReef
Active member
Bubble King Skimmer Club
Ok so there is still some water coming out, but it doesn't sound like someone is peeing in the sump. So that's a big plus!
Does this look correct? If not can u post a picture of what it should look like?
The air hose is now pushing up, so when I adjust the wedge pipe it wants to come out. I guess I need to just tighten the set screw to keep it from coming out.
Ok so another issue is now the pump is sucking in close to the output of the skimmer. Is there any way to turn the pump so it sucks from the opposite side?
Ok so there is still some water coming out, but it doesn't sound like someone is peeing in the sump. So that's a big plus!
Does this look correct? If not can u post a picture of what it should look like?
The air hose is now pushing up, so when I adjust the wedge pipe it wants to come out. I guess I need to just tighten the set screw to keep it from coming out.
Ok so another issue is now the pump is sucking in close to the output of the skimmer. Is there any way to turn the pump so it sucks from the opposite side?
SchnitzelReef
Active member
Hi everyone, I've been dealing with Jeremy who has been more than accommodating with regards to a replacement motor block for my Mini 180 Gen II. On Monday February 25-2014 Jeremy advised me that the failure on my skimmer pump which was about 7 months old was indeed covered by warranty. I have been waiting patiently now since that date months ago and still we do not have a solid delivery date. Does anyone know what the real hold up is. I love this skimmer and I even went as far as to try and purchase a whole new Mini 180 but they are nowhere to be found with no solid ETA's available. I am in know way wanting to bash Bubble King as a company but what or where do I go from here? Do I give up? this surely isn't how Klause's customers are treated is it? Would love to hear some thoughts. Thanks folk's.
Phil.
Phil.
SchnitzelReef
Active member
Bubble King Skimmer Club
40w
Here's a pic from 2-3 days of skimming.
Does this seem normal? My previous skimmers never foamed like this, it's weird how the foam is staying in the collection cup. I'm used to a thick black skimmate.
40w
Here's a pic from 2-3 days of skimming.
Does this seem normal? My previous skimmers never foamed like this, it's weird how the foam is staying in the collection cup. I'm used to a thick black skimmate.
SchnitzelReef
Active member
SchnitzelReef
Active member
Starting to get better!!
SchnitzelReef
Active member
Looks like I owe Bubble King an apology. I was just a little impatient I guess. My double cone 250 is foaming like crazy.
Now with a little fine tuning, I get why they are called Bubble Kings
Sorry to Jeremy and Klaus for being a psycho customer, they both dealt with my drama like professionals. Hahaha.
Only problem I'm having now, is my Fiancé is complaining that the house smells like fish poo. Lol
Now with a little fine tuning, I get why they are called Bubble Kings
Sorry to Jeremy and Klaus for being a psycho customer, they both dealt with my drama like professionals. Hahaha.
Only problem I'm having now, is my Fiancé is complaining that the house smells like fish poo. Lol
Whichever direction you go I'd suggest sticking with a 250 series skimmer. My first vote would be for the Super Marin, and the second vote would be for the Double Cone 250. Do not go to the 300 series until you get up to 500g+. Either of the 250's that I mentioned would be very capable of handling that display size with the bioload you're mentioning.
kalgra
New member
Ive been running my BK 160 on my 60g tank/20g sump for about 5 months. This is all the skimmate I am pulling each week id say approx a cups worth. Its dark tea to light coffee colored and smells really bad like rotten eggs much worse than other skimmate I have experienced.
Given my bioload of 6 BTAs, 3 green chromis, two clowns, a large starry blenny, a large yellow tang, a mandarin and an assortment of shrimp and other inverts I feel like I should be getting more. The folks here are the experts so im hoping someone can tell me if this seems about right or if maybe I need to do some more tweaking.
I clean the cup and the neck every Sunday, this does seem to improve performance a bit. I have it submerged to in exactly 20cm cm which is what the instructions say is ideal. I don't however use the grease on the cup that is mentioned in the instructions because to be honest Id never really heard of that before and I felt the instruction were a bit unclear on what type of grease is to be used and exactly where. I have my water level adjustment set at a little over 3/4 the max of what the adjustment allows.
Any thoughts?
So I believe I figured out my issue. I really didn't think it was lack of bioload given the number of large nems I have in this small tank and how much I feed them.
I had the body of the skimmer sitting up too high and was having to to close the wedge pipe almost all the way to get the bubbles up in the neck where it would start skimming. I lowered the body into to the water another 1.5" to put it at about 24cm ~9" and now I have allot better tunability with the wedge pipe. This is what im getting ever 6-7 days now which I think is pretty good. It about 2-3 times what I was getting before. Anyone think I could be doing better?
I think it looks great. Setting the skimmer lower in the water will actually remove the head pressure that was on the pump when it was sitting more shallow, allowing the pump to draw more air and push more water, giving you better performance. And it also allows you have more control over the skimmer in this situation.
nitr8
Active member
Bubble King Skimmer Club
What is the best water level/depth for an Alpha250. I don't seem to be getting as much out of it as I expected. Currently it's sitting in 9" of water, the intake on the pump has been unscrewed about 4 1/2 turns and if I close the wedge pipe anymore the skimmer outlet would be completely closed. Over the past 4 weeks it has only collected about an inch of skim mate. Is this normal?
What is the best water level/depth for an Alpha250. I don't seem to be getting as much out of it as I expected. Currently it's sitting in 9" of water, the intake on the pump has been unscrewed about 4 1/2 turns and if I close the wedge pipe anymore the skimmer outlet would be completely closed. Over the past 4 weeks it has only collected about an inch of skim mate. Is this normal?
SchnitzelReef
Active member
Hey Jeremy. My skimmer has been running great, Been pulling out some thick skimmate, just trying to dial in the wattage on the pump and the water level. The skimmate is good, but it's been running for 2 weeks, and the collection cup is only 1/8 full. I'm wondering what exactly does it do when I turn the pulp up from 40w to 45w to 50w or even lower to 35w? I have the skimmer sitting in 9" of water, and the wedge pipe is almost all the way closed. I'm wondering if I should try lowering or raising the skimmer to allow the wedge pipe to open more. (Would I need to raise the skimmer or lower deeper into my sump?) Seems like the skimmer might work better if the wedge pipe was say 50% closed and not 95% closed.
Thanks for any help
Increasing the wattage of the pump will increase the RPM at which the impeller spins. The advantage of the RD3 DC pump is that the air draw and water flow stays proportionate no matter what the settings are. On the AC pumps that have the adjustable nozzle the air draw and water flow does not stay proportionate to one another because the RPM of the pump is staying the same, while you're just making a restriction to the air intake only. Because of the advantages of the RD3's consistent air draw and water flow in relation to one another it gives you a much more broad range of adjustment with the skimmer and the speed settings of the pump.
If you leave your skimmer where it's at in the sump now, which is 9", and only increase the wattage of the pump you will increase both the air draw and the water flow proportionately. Assuming no other changes are made to the skimmer, and only the speed is increased by raising the RPM, the water level inside the skimmer body will rise, causing you to need to open the wedge pipe up more to keep the skimmer from overflowing. The opposite happens when you lower the wattage of the pump.
The position the wedge pipe is in really does not matter to the performance of the skimmer assuming the skimmer is operating at the correct internal water level that you want it at. So if the wedge pipe is at 95% open, or at 95% closed, it really does not matter assuming that the water level inside the skimmer body is where you need it to be.
If you leave your skimmer where it's at in the sump now, which is 9", and only increase the wattage of the pump you will increase both the air draw and the water flow proportionately. Assuming no other changes are made to the skimmer, and only the speed is increased by raising the RPM, the water level inside the skimmer body will rise, causing you to need to open the wedge pipe up more to keep the skimmer from overflowing. The opposite happens when you lower the wattage of the pump.
The position the wedge pipe is in really does not matter to the performance of the skimmer assuming the skimmer is operating at the correct internal water level that you want it at. So if the wedge pipe is at 95% open, or at 95% closed, it really does not matter assuming that the water level inside the skimmer body is where you need it to be.
Eauturquoise
New member
Hello,
I have a question to Bubble King owner:
Does someone know this version of BBK300 Deluxe with two outlets ?
Is there an efficiency difference with BBK deluxe having only one outlet ?
Thanks for your help,
Laurent
I have a question to Bubble King owner:
Does someone know this version of BBK300 Deluxe with two outlets ?
Is there an efficiency difference with BBK deluxe having only one outlet ?
Thanks for your help,
Laurent
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