MSX skimmer club

cobbobby the 250a is the exact same skimmer as the 250 with the 2 sicce pumps. the only difference is that the 250 has one askoll pump on one of the sicce intake ports and the other is capped off. the "mod" is where msx caps the 2 sicce intake ports and drills and taps a 1" port to attach the askoll to. this is the only way that you get the full 80+ scfm out of the skimmer.

and if i can afford to get the skimmer with the askoll upgrade then i would spend the extra 20 and get the 300A. but if i dont have the extra cash i was wondering if the 250 with sicce pumps would be enough for a 180 gallon total system sps tank?

thanks all.
 
adambirk, there is a new 250A just out that is not a 250 with a mod. It comes with the Askoll and the body design is also different.
 
sjm817 were is this skimmer at? i have been looking at these on marinesolutions site and talked to msx-jeff and did not hear anything about it. do you have the link to the new skimmer? also is this the msx from marinesolutions or is it the swc from saltwater conections? because if it is the swc i dont need the link because i dont want to pay the takes and costume fees cause these come from canada. also they are quite a bit more money than the msx. but if it is the msx i would really be interested.

also it looks like i will have the funds for the skimmer i want so do you think the new 250A will out perform the 300A with 1"port mod?

when i talked to msx-jeff he told me that he had heard of a few people running the 250A"mod" and they said that the skimmers were running like they were on the edge. almost like the askoll was borderline for that skimmer body. hence why he recomendedthe 300 body. but i wonder if the new 250A is better designed for the askoll.

if anyone has info on these please let me know cause i go to pic up my new tank sunday and on monday i plan on placing my order for the skimmer so i really need to get this nailed down. thanks for all the help in advance.
 
The MSX and SWC are the same skimmers. You can see the new 250A on the SWC site. Marine Solutions doesn't have them yet. The mod 250A on the edge? Yes. I have one. The 90 - 100 scfh is a lot for the body/neck size. It works, but you have to be careful. The water level has to be kept low in the body.
 
I bought my swc200 a few mths ago and put an askoll on it like I saw in the MSX sponsor forum. Works great! Then i see they came out with the 250a which would have cost me less. I got it from reeffiltration.com
 
Why does it say yahoo.com? I didn't write that. Weird. Well i got it from a different place in the US that sells them. I see they have the 250a and 300a's in stock. Not sure what gives but i'll leave it alone. Sorry i couldn't help.
 
I think reef filtration is the only place selling them in US right now...
they have both the SWC 250a and SWC 300a in stock, otherwise straight from SWC in canada is where you get the new version.
 
I just got my MSX250 setup about 3 weeks. Yay! I'm very impressed with what it has pulled out so far. Only problem is, on 2 occasions so far, it would be running perfectly for days, pulling a decent amount of skim. Then one day I will check it in the morning, and it will be overflowing, putting all that junk back into my system. Is this part of the break-in process?
 
is the octo pro 250(discontinued in 08') the same skimmer as the MSX 250 with a different pump? i have the octo with the skimrite/askoll pump and would love to use some of this info to make a badass skimmer even more badass..
just curious thanks!
 
Beefer, it should not vary that wildly if it's setup properly. Is your water level consistent in the sump? Variations in the sump water level outside the skimmer body will very much affect the water level inside the skimmer. You want to be sure that the sump water level never varies. Also, if you are making adjustments still, make the smallest adjustment possible and leave it for several hours to equilibriate. A micro adjustment can make a big difference in water level but it might take several hours to settle down.

Cobbobby, the 250A doesn't come with the Sicces so that is why buying the 250 then buying the Askoll later will cost more in the long run. I did this with my 300 but sold the Sicces after a week for $75 each, which made my Askoll upgrade half price.

A 250 with dual Sicces will handle a 180 pretty well but the Askoll still brings you better performance as it will pull more air than both Sicces combined running the mesh wheels. Plus the Askoll is totally quiet and will never give you a startup problem since it runs the pinwheel. My signature tells you what I run my 300MA (Modded "A") on and I dont have any cyano even though I feed totally recklessly. :)
 
well i have decided that i am going to get the new swc 300A. i wanted to go through marine solutions because of there great costomer service but i dont want to wait till they get the new ones in. i will take pics when i get it and keep every one updated. i am going to order it on monday so i should have it in a week. cant wait finally going to have a bad *** skimmer.
 
I think I have this straight now. There are three different skimmers called 250 msx or swc
MSX/SWC 250 is 10" diameter with two sicce's with a 5.5" neck
The MSX250askoll is the msx/swc 250 but they modify it to take the askoll but it has two sicce port holes in it.

The new one is the swc250a and swc300a and they have the larger 6" neck and have a larger bubble plate and better transition. TO MANY NAMES!
 
Thanks for your response rguyler. The water level is constant so that isn't an issue. I think it might be my adjustments, like you mentioned. I'm keep playing with it, with small adjustments over a period of time.
 
moding a MSX 300

moding a MSX 300

Wanted to get your thoughts on this. I have some turbulence inside the skimmer that causes bubbles to gather under the bubble plate compartment. I am ordering two of the new reducers for the sicce pumps that should bump up my total air draw to about 70 SCFH. I'm thinking this may increase this problem. I have two bubble plates for this skimmer. I'm thinking about installing one about an inch above the stock plate. Having two bubble plates should reduce turbulence and horizontal flow. What do you think?
 
Beefer-

Mine behaved exactly like yours when I first set it up. In my case It was the stock tubing that was getting partially of fully kinked. When the air supply to the pump is reduced or cut off the pump puts out a greater volume of water, which results in the overflowed cup. Once I changed the tubing it never happened again. HTH
 
I was going to buy a Askoll pump today, but decided since I was going to do that I would make the right connection for the pump, but I am clueless. I wanted some of you to chim in that are using this pump on what I need to do or need to have to drill the hole for the connection.

Drill bit size
Fittings
and so on....

Thank you
 
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