MTC MVX Skimmer Review

If I didn't already have a Life Reef I would get one, after running a few down draft style and pin wheel skimmers I am sold on venturi skimmers
 
I got the Mag12.
LowHangingFruit- I'm swamped with work and free time is slim around here. That video was short and boring, all it was was a shot of the skimmer working- doesn't tell you a whole lot. The bubbles are very fine and extremely dense. It's very easy to adjust to make it skim wet or dry depending on what I want, and so far it hasn't mysteriously overflowed once. My old Reef Octopus skimmer overflowed every few weeks for no obvious reason- really annoying.
 
I got the Mag12.
LowHangingFruit- I'm swamped with work and free time is slim around here. That video was short and boring, all it was was a shot of the skimmer working- doesn't tell you a whole lot. The bubbles are very fine and extremely dense. It's very easy to adjust to make it skim wet or dry depending on what I want, and so far it hasn't mysteriously overflowed once. My old Reef Octopus skimmer overflowed every few weeks for no obvious reason- really annoying.

Do you feel the design is better than that of the lifereef?
 
I've never owned a Lifereef Skimmer so not fair for me to say one way or another. I know that MTC uses thicker acrylic and I believe the Lifereef skimmer comes with a smaller Mazzei injector. Beyond that all I can tell you is that it's been working perfectly (I mean- 'perfectly') since I got it and I'm extremely happy with my purchase. In the last couple years I've taken my reef tank to the next level by adding some key pieces of equipment- this skimmer and a controller are the two that have the biggest impact.
 
The design is basically the same. The standard injector in the lifereef is not a mazzei but can be upgraded to one. I even talked to Jeff at Lifereef about this skimmer and he approved. Lol
The Lifereef does draw humid air from the cup to keep the injector from clogging. Only time will tell if that makes any difference between the two skimmers. Other than that, from what I've seen so far, it looks like either skimmer is a great choice.
 
I've been looking at both the Lifereef and MVX skimmer for my 180 with 75 sump I'm setting up. Right now I'm leaning towards the 30' MVX. I have looked all over for a video of the MVX skimmer in action and can't find one, anybody have one or know of one?

I do have one question for gregr, is the MVX very loud? I don't know if you need a silencer for the air intake, I don't know if there is much noise that comes from the air intake. I know the intake on the Lifereef coming from the overflow cup would make in quieter if noise was generated.
 
Had the very same skimmer shipped to me here in Norway. I've had it running a couple of weeks, it is very consistant and pulls out a very dark skim-mate. A question was asked about noise, it's as noisey as the pump that runs it, l have a Jebao DC 4000 on it, it's silent, air intake doesn't make any noise.

So far very happy with my MTC MVX skimmer.
 
What he said :p I can really only compare it the Reef Octopus and ASM G3 that I owned previously-- the MTC is much quieter. The Danner Mag12 seems like a very quiet pump to me.
Ok- I'll stop being lazy and upload a video- warning though-- it's really boring!
 
Gregr, thanks for the video that was exactly what I wanted to see. I like the slow rotation of the bubbles at the bottom of the skimmer.
 
I've had this MVX-26 about 6 weeks now- time for a review!
mtcskimmer5.jpg

It came pretty much completely assembled so all I had to do was cut some hose and connect it to the Mag12 MTC recommends. It's extremely quiet (quieter than the Reef Octopus it replaced), a surpise since the pump is very powerful and the skimmer is built like a tank-- truly it one solid piece of equipment. They use 1/4" acryllic for the body and a schedule 80 gate valve comes stock- makes it super easy to fine tune the water level. A 3/4" Mazzei injector fills the skimmer with dense fine bubbles and it also has a 90 degree effluent drain [barbed] nozzle that easily connected to the waste bucket I have set up with a float switch to kill the skimmer pump when it gets full. The skimmer output swivels 120 degrees to help fit in tight-ish spaces. It replaced a Reef Octopus XS225 space saver model no prob.
It took about 9 days to break in and even during the break in there were no micro bubbles leaking into the return section of my sump. Once the break in was over it started producing really dense foam and it's never stopped. I thought the RO skimmer was pretty good but now I know differently, and it's embarassing that I went years with totally mediocre skimming... Now, in only 6 weeks, I can see a difference in the water quality. Aside from lower nutrient levels my filter socks didn't clog in a month (wow). With the old skimmer I was lucky to get 7-10 days before they started overflowing. A while back I experimented with turning my skimmer off at night but had to stop because algae started to grow. Now it's time to revisit that idea.
mtcskimmer7b.jpg
So is this 26" tall total or just the reaction chamber or what?
 
The PH? You mean oxygen level?

It's up to the individual whether they want the air line inside the cup or not but keep in mind the ph of the humid air inside the cup is lower than outside your cup. I personally have used little sponges on my air intakes outside the cup to minimize dust and other debris from creeping into the venturi's suction side. Happy reefing !
 
I don't see how that would limit the wattage used by the pump. It doesn't operate at different power outputs.

The Mag 12 draws 110 watts but that is not what it's running at. it is being restricted by the venturi therefore you will be running much lower in wattage. You may be at anywhere from 60-70 watts
 
Back
Top