Large BK Skimmer ID
- Thread starter andyos
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slief
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Looks like an older Deluxe 400. Measure the body diameter. if it's 400mm, it's a Deluxe 400. If it's 300mm, it's an older Deluxe 300.
That said, it looks like it's missing the telescope tube and wedge pipe assembly that goes into the T fitting on the drain. The silencers are also missing as they sit on top of the wedge/telescope tube. You could swap the RD2000 for an RD3 60 but I would just leave it as is. The RD2000 and RD1500 are great pumps and will last decades with regular maintenance/cleaning.
That said, it looks like it's missing the telescope tube and wedge pipe assembly that goes into the T fitting on the drain. The silencers are also missing as they sit on top of the wedge/telescope tube. You could swap the RD2000 for an RD3 60 but I would just leave it as is. The RD2000 and RD1500 are great pumps and will last decades with regular maintenance/cleaning.
slief
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HI Scott, I have got the BK home and cleaned it up, it's a Deluxe 400the only thing missing is one of the silicon hoses from the pump, but I can order one of those. I won't be running ozone so do I need to block off the ozone port on the pump nozzles?
View attachment 377063
Very nice! I would block the ozone ports off. You can get little vacuum port covers from an auto parts store. They are rubber caps that will slip over the port on the pump. We have them at places like Pep Boys in a package that comes with several different sizes in different colors. A package of them runs a few dollars.
slief
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You will love that thing. I just hope you have enough fish in your system to keep it consistent. That is a very big skimmer and needs a pretty high fish load to fill that neck up with enough foam to keep it consistent.
slief
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That will be a great skimmer for that system. The Deluxe is one of my favorite skimmers of all time. You can really fine tune with the combination of the wedge pipe and telescope tube.
Perfect! I didn't see one listed specifically that fits the Deluxe 400 but I presume there is a suitable size Dreambox too?
slief
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That is a good question.. That skimmer has a huge footprint.
It might fit in this one. Would need to double check with the factory in Germany.
https://royalexclusiv.net/en/dreamb...reambox-filter-system-size-l-175x60x35cm.html
It would definitely fit in this one which is shown as a complete system in this link but could be ordered as a bare Dreambox or with everything as shown minus the skimmer:
https://royalexclusiv.net/en/dreamb...over-3-000-liter/dreambox-sample-set-10d.html
Hi Scott, I’m running the skimmer in a vat of old salted water from my current tank just to break it in and get used to the different options for tuning. It’s at a depth of 8.5”, any lower and the RD 2000 pump started to draw air from the surface and swirl. I have the red nozzles turned 1 1/4 out and the wedge fully open, pot lid is on - are these the correct settings to allow it to run in? Shall I just leave it over night and see what happens? Thanks Andy
slief
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That will work fine for break in. Once you get it in a system with load, you will use those nozzles to fine tune the skimmers foam head to get the most dense foam. Any adjustments you make now will essentially be futile because the best settings for the nozzles are based on the load and amount of dissolved organics as well as other factors such as surface tension, salinity etc. As for the sump depth, you might go a bit deeper but 8.5" should be fine as long as it doesn't pull air from the waters surface.
Hi Scott, thanks for all of the info - I've had a good play around with the skimmer isolated in the old water vat, I've loaded up the water too with my current tank's skimmer drain bucket to get a bit of a bio load.
I have a question about the differences between the RD1500 and RD2000 pumps on this skimmer - they both seem to have the same Askoll block does the difference in air/water draw between them come from the block or from the volute/impeller/nozzle? It may seem an odd question but because the skimmer is secondhand I can't be sure that the previous owner didn't mix any parts up at some point.
When I cleaned the pumps, I separated all the parts into two separate buckets but they all look pretty similar. Regards, Andy
I have a question about the differences between the RD1500 and RD2000 pumps on this skimmer - they both seem to have the same Askoll block does the difference in air/water draw between them come from the block or from the volute/impeller/nozzle? It may seem an odd question but because the skimmer is secondhand I can't be sure that the previous owner didn't mix any parts up at some point.
When I cleaned the pumps, I separated all the parts into two separate buckets but they all look pretty similar. Regards, Andy
slief
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If that skimmer has the big block (RD2000) and small block 1500 (the size difference of the motors should be obvious) combo which I think it is, you really can't mix them up. One is a big block and the other is a small block. The pump covers are different as are the impellers. As a matter of fact, I don't think the impeller from the RD2000 will fit into the 1500 slave. If memory serves me, the impeller shaft is a different length and the magnet diameter is also different. One thing is for sure, they wouldn't work properly if the impellers were mixed up.
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slief
RC Sponsor
Hi Scott, surprisingly, they are both big block's - one clearly says its a Red Dragon BK 2000 and the other a 1500. From looking around, I guess there aren't that many 400 Deluxe's out in the wild
For some reason, I thought those were the big block/small block combo like with the older Supermarins.
If you look at the following impeller links, the measurements are listed. The needle wheel should be slightly larger on the BK2000. There are also other subtle differences. That should at least help you identify the rotor differences.
BK2000 impeller.
https://royalexclusiv.net/en/spare-...e-king-r-deluxe-300-400-500-bk-pump-2000.html
BK1500 Impeller.
https://royalexclusiv.net/en/spare-...ubble-king-r-deluxe-250-400-bk-pump-1500.html
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