MRC dual beket Skimmers

random_ryan

New member
I was wondering what everyone thinks about the MRC2-2 dual beket skimmers ? I am interested in one. and was wondering about thier preformance?
 
paul had one in his store maybe ask him .... i heard they are very good... for large tanks .... easy to get them to skim right ... but there expaive ... i think the one paul had was 550 with a price drop some one ordered and back out ....

my would run one but they use big pumps and are more expeive to run ...form a enrgey stanid ponit .... then ASM's ... if you use a Dart or snapper it might be about the same cost in enrgey and you would have enf flow they like lots of flow ....
 
I've heard different things. Some say they are tough to keep dialed in. Can be loud depending on the feed pump. Others swear by them.
 
I went to the equipment forum and tried to get advice on oppions on these skimmers. I really don't want alot of extra work to dial in a skimmer. althou they sure are purdy. lol. I heard that if you put your hand in the tank they tank about 30 min to start skimming again.
 
I have the MR-6R but I have not really been able to get it dialed in or keep it dialed in for the 6 months that I have had it. I am running a Seq - Baracuta for the recirc pump and a Mag-7 (maybe 9) for the feed pump. My first problem is that because I have to take a 2 foot pipe from the skimmer to the sump I think backpressure is created and I get a flushing effect. My second problem is because of salt creep on the becketts I find it hard to keep adjusted. What ends up happening is that every 2 weeks I have to completely clean out the skimmer. I am getting a bit better at adjusting it, but I still have about the same about of crap in the bucket as the skimmer body itself.

It is currently being used on a 400 gallon system soon to be expanded to a 650 gallon system as soon as my fish room is complete.
 
I have the MR-3R, and pretty much love it. I didn't have any problems dialing it in, but as mentioned, you do have to keep it clean. I dump the .85 gallon waste collector every couple of days and clean the riser every weekend. The becketts do get salt creep inside, but I spray those out with the hose about once per month.

It is true that it stops skimming for about 10-15 minutes whenever you put your hand in the tank or feed the fish, but the way I see it, it can still pull about a half-gallon of black skimmate every couple days so it's all good. :)

I also highly recommend that you get a waste container from them or DIY one. It has a ping-pong ball in it that shuts the skimmer completely down when it's full.

Here's a picture when it was running barely 18 hours out of the box. I got it all running in the afternoon/evening, and this was the next day at lunch:

onedayskimmate.jpg
 
I really hope I am not stealing this thread..... When you haven't had your hand in the skimmer for quite some time, does the level of the foam stay right at the very top of the skimmer and stay there or does it fluxuate? It seems like mine varries by about 4-8 inches at various times of the day and even by 2-4 inches every few seconds. If I don't try to keep the foam as high as possible it just seems to coat the skimmer walls with stuff. Obviously if I keep it too high, I lose alot of water down the drain. I really wish I could see a video of one of these properly tuned or see one in person.
 
I haven't had that problem. It stays at a constant level, until the riser tube gets dirty, then it gradually drops. Do you have an MRC waste collector, or is it DIY? It kind of sounds like you're not getting consistent air flow past your ping-pong ball. Also, is your water level too high where the cotton balls in the silencers are getting wet?
 
I do not use a waste collector. I just have a tube from the collector cup that goes to a 5 gallon bucket so there shouldn't be any resistance on the airflow. At my current settings it would take at least 3 months to fill the 5 gallon bucket.

The water level is about a half an inch below where the air valves are on the beckett. I have pulled off one of the air valves because that beckett seems to draw about half the air of the other. I am not using any silencers.
 
rwessels, do you have the output (return) from the skimmer submerged in the sump? it should be high enough to get a little air break. also is your seq. pump a good pressure rated pump? I don't know if it is, but you will really see a big increase in performance if you use a pressure rated pump.
 
The output is not submerged, but it does have to travel at least 3 feet through PVC pipe and a 2 90 degree angles to make it to the sump. A few months ago I made a T right after the output of the skimmer where I had a pipe stright up to allow air to get in to try to minimize any back-pressure.

In about 6 weeks I should have my new fish room done and the skimmer will be right next to the sump. Once that happens I probably wont have anything after the gate valve. I am hoping that makes a difference.
 
That should be ok with the drain. Mine has three 90s, two 45s, and goes about 6 or 7 feet. In the second picture you can see how I drop it to the sump. The bottom is submerged, and the Tee at the top lets it vent.

skimmertest.jpg


skimmerdrain.jpg
 
Are you setting your water level with all of the air turned off? (pumps running, but no bubbles) I set the water level about 2 inches below the air valves, then opened them up all the way, then closed them 3/4 turn.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11163056#post11163056 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by random_ryan
satori love the pic's keep em coming.

Lol, this is the only other picture I have of the MRC. :lol:

mrcskimmerparts.jpg
 
The tank is in the house and the skimmer is in my garage. Here is a shot of the whole thing with the bucket I am using for skimate collection:

100_1670.jpg


Here is a shot of the pump. It is a Seq. Baracuta that is like half pressure and half flow. It is one of the recommended pumps for this skimmer on the website.

100_1671.jpg


This is six weeks of skimate:

100_1672.jpg


Here is the beckett that doesn't draw as much air with about 3 weeks of salt creep. I use a screwdriver and get rid of the extra salt that starts to block the hole every 304 days.

100_1675.jpg


Here is the other beckett with the silencer removed:

100_1676.jpg


Here is the output of the skimmer that heads towards the of the house:

100_1679.jpg
 
Here is where it comes out of the wall and I have the breather pipe:

100_1669.jpg


Coming out of the wall:

100_1667.jpg


And into the sump with a tee to still prevent backpressure:

100_1668.jpg


Here is a close-up of the collection cup. It is down a few inches because I cleaned off part of it to see better. Any time you touch the thing the foam level drops. If I were to feed it would drop to about 6 inches below where the large part is.

100_1673.jpg
 
Last edited:
Back
Top