First look @ D700 DC skimmer

 
I decided to bite the bullet and givte this skimmer a try based on the price and the video review of the op.

Overall the skimmer is built well with thick acrylic, clean lines and precise control with the gate the valve. The pump runs near silent and the feed mode is nice feature if you want to let the food/additive soak for a little while. Not really needed but cool

I think overall it's to early for me to tell if the skimmer is a winner but it's not a loser. I am having some issues with the pump sorta surging causing the level to raise and lower a bit in the body making it a little difficult to get a dry foam consistently contacted Fs but haven't gotten any response yet. But could just be break in issues as its going on 3 days in the system . I'm running it on the third light on the controller due to my thought on it not getting enough air on the lower settings. I'm not sure what percentage it's at now as the instructions are pretty vague.

I'll update the thread once it's settled in but initial feelings on it are 50/50. I need to let it break in properly to see if it outperforms my SSA cs2 or the skimz 181 I have. Some pics for reference of size for those wondering.

5g bucket vinegar bath.

Compared to my SSA CS2..


After 24 hours (still wet trying to let it break in =)


Little better after 2 days not close to the froth I'm used to seeing though. The cs2 and skimz produce foam like the top of a frosty glass of beer..



And for good measure the young heavily fed tank I'm hoping it will keep up with =) ..



Let me know if you guys have any questions or I didn't cover something your interested in..
 
Is the skimmer worth the buck and how deep is the skimmer sitting in the sump? what is the water level in the skimmer ?

Dapg8gt said:
I decided to bite the bullet and givte this skimmer a try based on the price and the video review of the op.

Overall the skimmer is built well with thick acrylic, clean lines and precise control with the gate the valve. The pump runs near silent and the feed mode is nice feature if you want to let the food/additive soak for a little while. Not really needed but cool

I think overall it's to early for me to tell if the skimmer is a winner but it's not a loser. I am having some issues with the pump sorta surging causing the level to raise and lower a bit in the body making it a little difficult to get a dry foam consistently contacted Fs but haven't gotten any response yet. But could just be break in issues as its going on 3 days in the system . I'm running it on the third light on the controller due to my thought on it not getting enough air on the lower settings. I'm not sure what percentage it's at now as the instructions are pretty vague.

I'll update the thread once it's settled in but initial feelings on it are 50/50. I need to let it break in properly to see if it outperforms my SSA cs2 or the skimz 181 I have. Some pics for reference of size for those wondering.

5g bucket vinegar bath.

Compared to my SSA CS2..


After 24 hours (still wet trying to let it break in =)


Little better after 2 days not close to the froth I'm used to seeing though. The cs2 and skimz produce foam like the top of a frosty glass of beer..



And for good measure the young heavily fed tank I'm hoping it will keep up with =) ..



Let me know if you guys have any questions or I didn't cover something your interested in..
Click to expand...
 
Last edited:
chercm said:
Is the skimmer worth the buck and how deep is the skimmer sitting in the sump? what is the water level in the skimmer ?
Click to expand...

It's in about 9" of water.. I replied to your Pm for the questions.

So far I am surprisingly impressed with the quality and performance.. Just looking at it after cleaning it last night and it's pulled a decent pile of poop in 24hrs =l.
 
Dapg8gt said:
It's in about 9" of water.. I replied to your Pm for the questions.

So far I am surprisingly impressed with the quality and performance.. Just looking at it after cleaning it last night and it's pulled a decent pile of poop in 24hrs =l.
Click to expand...

Do you mean you cleaned the skimmer again ?

how is it stacking up compared to your old Skimz?
 
Last edited:
chercm said:
Do you mean you cleaned the skimmer again ?

how is it stacking up compared to your old Skimz?
Click to expand...

Yeah the collection cup. I'm tuning it so I want to see where it's at. The valve is really similar to the skimz adjustment wise also.

Not sure yet on it performance wise but the skimz collection cup was better to get on and off with the twist lok. The dc700 is easier to get off than the SSA though. So far it seems at least as good to both my previous models( I hope it's better =) .. the skimz imo is a really good skimmer the cup removal is awesome especially if the cup is full and really in general

Still to early to give an honest "go buy this thing" review..
 
Dapg8gt said:
Yeah the collection cup. I'm tuning it so I want to see where it's at. The valve is really similar to the skimz adjustment wise also.

Not sure yet on it performance wise but the skimz collection cup was better to get on and off with the twist lok. The dc700 is easier to get off than the SSA though. So far it seems at least as good to both my previous models( I hope it's better =) .. the skimz imo is a really good skimmer the cup removal is awesome especially if the cup is full and really in general

Still to early to give an honest "go buy this thing" review..
Click to expand...

i will wait for your review but this will remain on my list. Sure looks promising.

where is the water level in the skimmer ?
 
I replaced it with a skimz..

It would not stop producing micro bubbles so I got sick of putting sponges in to catch them. It worked well other than that it was impossible to get it to stop I tried almost every setting and water level with the same results over multiple days.. Fwiw a skimz went in and day 1 no bubbles..

In short unless you have the ultimate bubble trap stay away from it.. Or I just so happened to get a bad unit but I doubt it. I wanted to like it but couldn't keep messing with it..
 
Dapg8gt said:
I replaced it with a skimz..

It would not stop producing micro bubbles so I got sick of putting sponges in to catch them. It worked well other than that it was impossible to get it to stop I tried almost every setting and water level with the same results over multiple days.. Fwiw a skimz went in and day 1 no bubbles..

In short unless you have the ultimate bubble trap stay away from it.. Or I just so happened to get a bad unit but I doubt it. I wanted to like it but couldn't keep messing with it..
Click to expand...

You know if you set the pump to full blast you will have a micro bubble party in your sump and DT as well. I set my setting on #3 and it's been working just fine and I have cover one of the dual air inlets as well, I am thinking it was sucking too much air. Set my water level around 7 inches and it's been running great. No complaints, it's quiet too.
 
leeit2me said:
You know if you set the pump to full blast you will have a micro bubble party in your sump and DT as well. I set my setting on #3 and it's been working just fine and I have cover one of the dual air inlets as well, I am thinking it was sucking too much air. Set my water level around 7 inches and it's been running great. No complaints, it's quiet too.
Click to expand...

Believe me I tried it all and its pretty much common sense that if you run the pump full bore it's going to add more air. I raised and lowered the skimmer, I put a pinch valve over the air line going into the skimmer trying to fine tune it , I ran it high setting/low setting on the reccomended pump setting (3rd light) down to the first light.

That's great that it's working well for you I wanted it to work for me but it drove me nuts lol. This is not my first rodeo or my first skimmer like I said in the previous comment it's good at pulling Skimate it's just not good at not releasing some micro bubbles. I just couldn't deal with it any longer imo it should have a elbow turned towards the base plate of the skimmer on the outlet pipe. I'll keep it for a back up skimmer but I'll never run it 24/7 in this system unless I have to or I build a sump with a modified bubble trap different than my 2 baffle design(that works great with all other skimmers) .


Basically I really don't need any tips or tricks for the skimmer because literally the day it came off my system is the day the bubbles stopped . That points to only one thing in my situation, the d700.. The skimz out performs it anyways , all except price=).


These are just my opinions with this so take it as that.. Hopefully more people chime in with good reviews of them but that won't be me =). Honestly it's so cheap now why not try it if your skeptical lol.. I saw it was only $190 now..

I am actually going to let a friend borrow it for his 120g so we will see if he has the same experience as I did.
 
I have no bubbles what so ever with this skimmer. If I knew it was going to work this good I wouldn't have build a bubbletrap in my sump :)
Running it on setting #3.

But I'm not getting as much skimmate now as in the beginning. I have 0 nitrate so there isn't too much to skim. I'm superhappy with my unit, especially for the price.
 
Just got mine yesterday but when I check fishstreet again today, they have a D700 curve for just a little more shipped and 2 smaller edition for smaller tanks
 
There is only one D700, the one named "curved" is the same, but shipped from another warehouse. That's why it's more expensive.

But the smaller ones are new like you said :).
 
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