Ice Cap K2 Skimmers

[rpc07]

Any updates on any of these skimmers? I have my eye on the k2-120 just looking for some feedback.

 

[oranngetang]

I've had my K2-160 running for a few weeks now, so I'm going to try to post some of my findings. Only my poor phone pics are available right now.

This skimmer found itself being put together and running in the sump shortly after it arrived at my door.

The box...


What is inside the box...


Why is the pump not in a bag, when everything else is?


Sicce PSK-600


Parts ready for assembly


I found it pretty strange that with the centerpiece of this product being the PSK600 pump, it wasn't bagged, or bubble wrap. The overall quality and finish of the PVC/Acrylic parts is very nice. This product feel pretty high-end, though it's my first ever skimmer and I have no other product to compare it to.

 

[oranngetang]

This is the main concern of the overall assembly of this skimmer. The pump sits slightly off-centered from the body of the skimmer. A fair amount of pressure is required to align and push the air intake through the body and into the pump. This may actually be an intentional design feature, as the intake would easily fall out of the pump without having the body 'bind' it in place. I feel the o-ring seal on the air intake tube isn't a sufficient O.D.

If you watch the assembly video on youtube, it looks like the guy is using a lot of force to seat the air intake, while mine requires NO effort at all.


Issue number two is why have I received a bent hex-key. $500 dollar skimmer comes with a bent key?


Skimmer in the sump. My skimmer bay measures 7 3/4" x 11 3/4" and 13" deep. I placed the skimmer on a glass microwavable bowl for now, which set the height to 10.25", which is just over the recommended depth. I'll eventually place a proper 'step' for it in the skimmer bay.


My first impressions, are that despite a warming that the skimmer will take up to a few weeks to break in, it worked quite well in the first 24 hours. Prior to inserting into the sump, I circulated the skimmer in a pail of vinegar water for a couple of hours.

Morning after, ~16 hours of skimming.


The skimmer is sitting in 10.25" of water, and immediately started pulling skimmate, though on the very very wet side. I've been dialing it back some, daily, but it even wide-open, I get about 100-150 ml of greenish water out of it daily. I'm sure setting a proper height will solve this.

Noise-wise, the skimmer was quiet. I said was on purpose, it's a little louder now, 2 weeks later than it was the first couple of days. Honestly though, my reactor pump is louder than ANYTHING else so this isn't really an issue. With the cabinet door closed, I can hear a very slight sucking sound from the silencer.

 

[Jeremy1988]

Yeah I have the K120 on my 90 gallon and yeah its bada**. Just phenomenal design and build quality. Thing will do some skimming let me tell ya. Yeah super quiet, great pump on it, you name it, it's got it. I'v had mine for about 5 months now I guess.

 

[oranngetang]

Yeah I have the K120 on my 90 gallon and yeah its bada**. Just phenomenal design and build quality. Thing will do some skimming let me tell ya. Yeah super quiet, great pump on it, you name it, it's got it. I'v had mine for about 5 months now I guess.

Have you been able to get it dialed in to pull a dark skim?

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[Bluefish9]

Yeah I have the K120 on my 90 gallon and yeah its bada**. Just phenomenal design and build quality. Thing will do some skimming let me tell ya. Yeah super quiet, great pump on it, you name it, it's got it. I'v had mine for about 5 months now I guess.

Thats great to hear. Im building a 150xh FOWLR. Im not sure if I want to go with the k2-160 or k2-200...


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[sleepydoc]

Just how quiet/noisy is it? I'm looking to get a new skimmer and noise is a big concern since my tank is right next to the TV in the family room. Right now, when I turn off my current skimmer, the noisiest part of my system is the soft whine of the Waveline DC 10000 return pump.

Also, how consistent is the skimmer? Since you got it dialed in, does it need much adjustment?

 

[Joey waid]

I have the 120 and I can barely hear it. They are very well built and easy to adjust...

 

[Jeremy1988]

Have you been able to get it dialed in to pull a dark skim?

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Yeah I have fiddled with it a bit here and there. I dont have a refugium, and I have a manifold where my gfo reactor output goes into and my UV reactor output goes into my protein skimmer section. I use Coralvues ice cap sump as well with filter socks. I have a 90 gallon reef tank and honestly I cant get my nitrates above 0! I feed it quite a bit and everything. I have about 70 lbs or 80 of LR and yeah I guess its doing its job because like I said cant get my nitrates to raise at all and thats even if I dont do water changes for about 3 weeks. I do a 15% change anyways just because. I have it set around 90% closed I guess and the top air intake wide open and not restricted. I also have the blue line that is used for something else capped off too. I cant remember what its used for. Plankton reactor maybe? I also only have 2 dartfish in the tank as of now so maybe that is the lack of nitrates. I just have a fire shrimp CUC and 5 sexy shrimp. My skim mate right now looks mostly dark brown but it seems like it will put about half an inch of solid stuff into the cup and get coated really heavily along the inside of the neck and top of the cup cap if that makes sense. Hope the info help. I will say I'm not impressed with coral vues customer support program either. I do like the skimmer though.

 

[oranngetang]

By contrast, I'm running all the way open, and still collecting about 2 cm of light, watery skim daily. My skimmer is a little too deep. Will raise it up when able and tune it in.

The blue line is for ozone.

 

[Kyl]

Just how quiet/noisy is it? I'm looking to get a new skimmer and noise is a big concern since my tank is right next to the TV in the family room. Right now, when I turn off my current skimmer, the noisiest part of my system is the soft whine of the Waveline DC 10000 return pump.

Also, how consistent is the skimmer? Since you got it dialed in, does it need much adjustment?

I cannot hear the pump on the 120 with the cabinet doors open, and there's just a bit of a hiss from the air intake. With the doors closed, you can't hear anything from the outside.

Exceptionally pleased with it being my first sump skimmer purchase.

 

[Bluefish9]

Have you been able to get it dialed in to pull a dark skim?



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Yeah I have fiddled with it a bit here and there. I dont have a refugium, and I have a manifold where my gfo reactor output goes into and my UV reactor output goes into my protein skimmer section. I use Coralvues ice cap sump as well with filter socks. I have a 90 gallon reef tank and honestly I cant get my nitrates above 0! I feed it quite a bit and everything. I have about 70 lbs or 80 of LR and yeah I guess its doing its job because like I said cant get my nitrates to raise at all and thats even if I dont do water changes for about 3 weeks. I do a 15% change anyways just because. I have it set around 90% closed I guess and the top air intake wide open and not restricted. I also have the blue line that is used for something else capped off too. I cant remember what its used for. Plankton reactor maybe? I also only have 2 dartfish in the tank as of now so maybe that is the lack of nitrates. I just have a fire shrimp CUC and 5 sexy shrimp. My skim mate right now looks mostly dark brown but it seems like it will put about half an inch of solid stuff into the cup and get coated really heavily along the inside of the neck and top of the cup cap if that makes sense. Hope the info help. I will say I'm not impressed with coral vues customer support program either. I do like the skimmer though.

I just got the IceCap sump today. Looks awesome except that UPS must have dropped it 1000 times and cracked the hell out of it

The company I ordered from is shipping me out another one as we speak. How do you like it?
Im debating on which k2 skimmer to get right now.. The 160 or 200? Its for a 150g fowlr.


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[sleepydoc]

I cannot hear the pump on the 120 with the cabinet doors open, and there's just a bit of a hiss from the air intake. With the doors closed, you can't hear anything from the outside.

Exceptionally pleased with it being my first sump skimmer purchase.

Excellent! I've been looking at getting a new skimmer. Was thinking about a RLSS, but they've basically disappeared and customer support seems to be as hard to find as the skimmers. Looked at the Vertex Omega, too, but I like the design of the Icecap. I may end up springing for one.

Im debating on which k2 skimmer to get right now.. The 160 or 200? Its for a 150g fowlr.

For a FOWLR the 160 should be fine; you don't need the same water quality you do for corals, so if you're at the upper edge of the skimmer's capacity you should be fine.

 

[sleepydoc]

One other question- Is there enough room between the inner and outer rings of the lid/cap on the collection cup to mount a float sensor? It looks like it in the picture, but I can't tell for sure. On my current skimmer there's only about ¾" between the inner ring on the lid and the outer wall of the collection cup, making it too narrow for a standard float switch.

 

[royy13]

I have the Icecap K2 50 on my 20 long. Very impressed with it. It is pretty quiet, especially compared to my old Lifereef on my 90. I'm happy with the skimmer up to this point.

 

[oranngetang]

Ice Cap K2 Skimmers

One other question- Is there enough room between the inner and outer rings of the lid/cap on the collection cup to mount a float sensor? It looks like it in the picture, but I can't tell for sure. On my current skimmer there's only about ¾" between the inner ring on the lid and the outer wall of the collection cup, making it too narrow for a standard float switch.

Not sure if this helps or not. Couldn't find a better tape k2-160 cup.



Here is 10 days of dark stinky skim at 90% gate and 10.25" depth.



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[sleepydoc]

Thanks for the pic - is that the skimmer cap or the cup? The issue I have with my current skimmer is the distance between the outer cup wall and the ring that hangs down from the cap. It seems to be pretty narrow on most skimmers. If it's 3 cm, that's definitely better that what I have now.

 

[joecc]

I'm considering buying the K2-160 for a 75 which will probably be heavily stocked at one point, 40 breeder sump.

I had made up my mind to buy Aquamaxx ConeS CO-2, but read some concerning threads about faulty impellers and cracked pumps on the Aquamaxx and am thinking about alternatives.

Does anyone know if the K2 uses the standard Sicce PSK 600 as a replacement pump? I know the Aquamaxx does not, its modified.

Aquamaxx Co-2 or K2 160, which one?

 

[ksed]

By the way it looks on the picture, its stock.

 

[sleepydoc]

Yeah- that's what it looks like to me, too. Virtually no one puts up pics of the impeller, so it's really hard to tell, though. Either way it will be easier/cheaper to replace a standard pump vs a 'customized' Sicce pump like aqua max uses.