Deltec APF 600

[tony varrell]

I purchased a deltec APF 600 for my 150 two weeks ago. For some reason the aquabee pump has stoped working three times since I installed it. Doug is replacing the pump but I wonder if this is indicitive of the quality I should expect. Is anybody experiencing this type of problem with these pumps? I am also wondering if a APF 600 is the right size skimmer for my tank. I am pulling out gunk but it is very wetand I can see through the skimate although it it smells terrible and is brown in color. Comments please...

 

[McCrary]

There seems to be some problems with the Aquabee pumps that Deltec uses (I think it has something to do with modificatons that are done on the pumps) and they seem to have some reliability issues. But this is all information that I have read from people who have Deltec Aquabee pumps and not my own experience (I don't own a Deltec).

 

[Jim_S]

Deltec skimmers are well know for their high quality. Most users love their products.

The main bashing you here about deltec isn't about performace, its about cost.

I would think that you will be just fine in your purchase. I have heard some issues about the deltec AB's but not many considering the amount of deltec owners out there; however, I also don't own one, so cannot speak from experience.

After owning an aquabee skimmer (H&S A150), I'll probably avoid them from here on out. My skimmer worked great, it was just a little bit louder than my current eheim. Nothing to do with performance though (it worked great), and this is just my opinion. There are several VERY happy aquabee driven, skimmer owners out there

And as for the light colored skimmate, I'd just give it some time to break in. It'll be pulling out sludge in no time.


Cheers,

Jim

 

[RichConley]

Jim, the aquabees have an extremely high failure rate. Theyre like european RIOS.


We've got a lot of Deltec calcium reactors in my club, and I dont think the aquabees on any of them survived a year, even being cleaned regularly. The aquabees on skimmers only did a little better.



IMO, APF600 seems awfully small for a 150. I'd be looking at an Eheim based, 8" bodied skimmer, IE AP701 or larger.

 

[Jim_S]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9946210#post9946210 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by RichConley
Jim, the aquabees have an extremely high failure rate. Theyre like european RIOS.

Maybe in Europe, but over here, they work just fine. Maybe a little loud IMO, but they are most definelty not any where near as problematic as the older rio pumps. I'm not even sure what would drive you to make a statement like that.....

The flaps to tend to get stuck, but nothing maintenance won't prevent.

With all the deltec and h&S users out there, and the small percentage of these people that have issues speaks for itself.


Now, CA reactor issues are seperate. And there are several cases of AB failure with these pumps. But the OP was taking clearly about his APF600.

The deltec CA reactors have issues with the pumps, but thats more to due with the reactor design, not the pump.

HTH

Jim

Edit: and I do agree with rich on the point of the APF600 being a bit undersized. I would prefer to run an 8" bodied skimmer with an eheim as well. Infact, I do on my 125.

 

[crab0000]

I haven't had any problems with the AB on my TS 1250. It has worked great since day 1.

 

[tony varrell]

APF 600

APF 600

Thanks for the information. One question. How do you know if a skimmer is to small for your tank? My previous skimmer was a AquaC EV180 with a mag 7. The APF600 pulls much much more skimate. So from my point of view life's great.

 

[klam114]

Aquabee noise - I own a H&S A110 and the Aquabee pump is a little more noticeable than my Eheim 1260 return pump, but they are both quiet IMO. Performance is great as a skimmer pump. I have seen the Deltec APF600 on my dealer's tank and it is quieter than the Eheim 1260 return pump that he has on the same tank. But if you consider the Aquabee & Eheim pumps quiet, the ATi Bubblemaster Sicce pump would then be silent.

Deltec Aquabee problems - my local dealer had 2 customers with pump problems out of over 15 that he's sold. Of all the H&S Aquabee pump equipment, not one failure.

TonyV - Most reefers who have SPS dominated tanks would have recommended a AP701 or AP851 for your setup. I would have recommended the new ATi Bubblemaster 200 as it performs very close to the Deltec AP701 and not so hard on the pocketbook.

Whether your skimmer is too small is a difficult question to answer. Your Deltec is definitely more efficient than your AquaC. Being as efficient as Deltecs are, if the Deltec collects a full cup of skimmate in less than a week and you have to empty basically twice a week or it will overflow and it never slows down, then I would say your skimmer isn't keeping up.

 

[Jim_S]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9952116#post9952116 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by klam114
But if you consider the Aquabee & Eheim pumps quiet, the ATi Bubblemaster Sicce pump would then be silent.

True. However, if you compare apples to apples, the eheims/AB's would be just a quiet as the sicces if you ran them insump/underwater.

Moreover, if you had to run the sicce external, it would not be as quiet as the AB or the eheim.

Maybe when the new sicce pumps come out, there will be more of an apple to apple comparison.

But that is neither here, nor there. The OP has a deltec already.

As for skimmer size, if you don't see your skimmer running idle for periods of time, and are cleaning the cup more than 1 time per week, I'd say the skimmer is undersized. This means that there is no time when the skimmer has completely caught up, and the waste can continue to build while the skimmer falls behind. This is all "my opinion" and I'm sure others feel differently and have different methods. There's more than one way to skin this cat.

Cheers,

Jim

 

[tony varrell]

APF 600

APF 600

I appreicate your comments. I think I have the right size skimmer for my setup and bioload based on you very logical parameters for sizing. Thanks again.