MTC skimmer club!

[jason2459]

Don't know what was so out of whack with level 8 but level 9 kicked butt.

Not quite 1.25 gallons so around 5.5 cups per day.

Ended up averaging about 128watts

I didn't ramp up to 10 tonight. Hope to do so tomorrow night. Just didn't have the time to clean it out and tweak the water level. That actually takes longer then cleaning the collection cup out. Have to keep checking it as it settles into the new setting and make sure its not skimming to wet or not enough to get the foam up and over properly.

But so far every single setting has been rock solid consistency wise once dialed in.

 

[Cabarles]

Thanks. Forgive my ignorance but which is better or what would be one reason to go with one over the other?

 

[jason2459]

Spam bot ^^^ Not a human.

 

[jjvanb]

Joining the club!! Finally got a hold of Jeff... 30" with quick change head in the works!

 

[jason2459]

Joining the club!! Finally got a hold of Jeff... 30" with quick change head in the works!

That's awesome. Be patient as it will be a few weeks. I think mine took 5? I'd have to look back in this thread.

What pump are you going with?

 

[jjvanb]

What pump are you going with?

Hmmm..... I have not decided yet. Though I'm hoping it won't take me as long as it did to decide on the skimmer! One of the reasons I went with the mvx is because I'm not convinced of dc pumps long term reliability, and so many manufacturers seem to be going that way these days. Of course if things change, then the mvx has that flexibility. At the moment I am thinking to just go with the mag 18. Dr fosters has them on sale for $140. Though it would be nice to find something that's adds less heat, as I live in s. Florida.. the sicce hf pumps look interesting, but I don't want to spend $300+ on the pump.

 

[jason2459]

I think you'd be happy with the mag18 on the 30". If you look back in my posts here you'll see that the mazzei puts a good amount of pressure on the pump and its watts used drops quite a bit and runs at lower watts then the DC pump.

 

[Jayreefer]

What size tank are you putting the 30" on?

I love my RLSS but when I go bigger than my current 240 gal I think I will be going with the MVX.

 

[jjvanb]

The 30" is going on a 150g .. I could probably get away with the 26" model, but since I can fit the 30 under my stand, I figure a few more inches of reaction height is never a bad thing. I checked sizing with Jeff when I was ordering, and he said it would work fine.

My bio load is light at the moment, but plan on adding more fish, and possibly try out some form of carbon dosing, so I wanted some flexibility going forward.

By the way, there is a small error on the MTC website. The quick change head only adds 1.5 inches of height, not 3.

 

[jason2459]

Yep, found that out when I got mine. I was expecting closer to 39" for my 36" w/ quick change head. About 37 1/4" with thumbscrews in but I don't have that handle on top which would probably make it at least 37 1/2"

 

[jason2459]

Level 10!

Almost done. 2 more levels left.

I got the collection cup and neck cleaned out tonight. I also ran a half cup of boiling rodi water through the venturi just to make sure it's cleaned out too.

Level 10 is pulling around 24 scfh. Bouncing between 22-24scfh.

And pulling about 143 watts. Again pretty similar with the 684.

 

[jason2459]

Level 10 is done and performed right on par with around 6 cups per day

Ended up pulling an average of 148.9 watts

The waveline is certainly pulling more air and more watts so more water flow but not really getting more production. My guess is it would do better with a taller reaction chamber.

One more level to go.

 

[jason2459]

Level 11 full speed 100% with the 784 mazzei.

Pulling the most so far all around and exceeding the maxx watt rating


Pulling around 26scfh

Usually there is only 1 maybe 2 watts variation while looking at watts used live. This setting is bouncing around quite a bit between 153 and 159 watts. Its listed max watts used is 150 watts.

Impressive.

 

[jason2459]

FWIW I'm already at 1.25 Gallons at the end of day 2 here. Looks like this is going to break the 6 cups per day mark.

 

[jjvanb]

Did you put your swabbie on there yet?

 

[jason2459]

Did you put your swabbie on there yet?

Not yet so each setup has been the same and a fresh full collection cup and neck cleaning to start off with.

 

[whyamisofly]

Absolutely crazy - thanks again for doing this Jason!

 

[jason2459]

No problem. It's been interesting to say the least.


Also to note, the microbubbles coming out of this thing is insane right now. :eek1:

 

[jason2459]

Level 11 3rd day is over.

I must have been seeing things this morning. It is getting harder to see the level in the bucket with the skimmate running dryer then what I was running before with the Aquamaxx.

But it's at 1.25 gallons for sure now. I shook the bucket to make sure I was seeing the water line right.

So, about 6 cups per day again.

Ended up averaging 150.42 watts! Like it had 0 head pressure against it as 150 is its listed max watts used. But the aquamaxx shows listed max watts can be exceeded.

I'd love to see what this waveline could do on a taller body skimmer. I think these higher flow rates and air draw would really shine. As it is the lower flow rates and air draw with the lower wattage is probably best for this 36".

I can now put together the finally list of compiled numbers!

 

[jason2459]

Some cool stats update 4


Aquamaxx Em 300
Air draw: ~38 scfh
Watts: rated 27watts actual: 31.38watts
Skimmate produced: ~1 cup dry/day and ~3cups wet/day low side


-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Mag18 as return pump w/ ~12' head height
Max head height:16.85'
Watts: rated 150watts actual: 71.18watts
Flow: rated 1500gph@0 head actual: ~750gph@12' head pressure

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Mag18 with MVX stock 684 mazzei venturi
Air draw: ~12 scfh
Max head height:16.85'
Watts: rated 150watts actual: 62-63watts
Skimmate produced: ~3 cups dry/day high side


Mag18 with 784 mazzei
Air draw: ~14scf
Max head height: 16.85'
Watts: rated 150watts actual: 65-66watts
Skimmate produced: ~3 cups dryish/day low side

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Waveline DC 12000 @ Level 8 w/ 684 mazzei
Air draw: ~18scfh
Max head height: 22.96'
Watts: rated: 150watts (w/ adapter) 139watts (after adapter) actual: 114wattts (w/ adapter)
Skimmate produced: ~4 cups dry/day


Waveline DC 12000 @ Level 9 w/ 684 mazzei
Air draw: ~22scfh
Max head height: 22.96'
Watts: rated: 150watts (w/ adapter) 139watts (after adapter) actual: 128wattts (w/ adapter)
Skimmate produced: ~6 cups dryish/day!!!


Waveline DC 12000 @ Level 10 w/ 684 mazzei
Air draw: ~24scfh
Max head height: 22.96'
Watts: rated: 150watts (w/ adapter) 139watts (after adapter) actual: 142wattts (w/ adapter)
Skimmate produced: ~6 cups dry/day


Waveline DC 12000 @ Level 11 w/ 684 mazzei
Air draw: ~24scfh
Max head height: 22.96'
Watts: rated: 150watts (w/ adapter) 139watts (after adapter) actual: 147wattts (w/ adapter)
Skimmate produced: ~5.5 cups dry/day


-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Waveline DC 12000 @ Level 8 w/ 784 mazzei
Air draw: ~22scfh
Max head height: 22.96'
Watts: rated: 150watts (w/ adapter) 139watts (after adapter) actual: 114wattts (w/ adapter)
Skimmate produced: ~3 cups dry/day


Waveline DC 12000 @ Level 9 w/ 784 mazzei
Air draw: ~22scfh
Max head height: 22.96'
Watts: rated: 150watts (w/ adapter) 139watts (after adapter) actual: 128wattts (w/ adapter)
Skimmate produced: ~5.5 cups dry/day


Waveline DC 12000 @ Level 10 w/ 784 mazzei
Air draw: ~24scfh
Max head height: 22.96'
Watts: rated: 150watts (w/ adapter) 139watts (after adapter) actual: 143wattts (w/ adapter)
Skimmate produced: ~6 cups dry/day


Waveline DC 12000 @ Level 11 w/ 784 mazzei
Air draw: ~26scfh
Max head height: 22.96'
Watts: rated: 150watts (w/ adapter) 139watts (after adapter) actual: 150wattts (w/ adapter)
Skimmate produced: ~6 cups dry/day



Will calculate out the efficiency/performance thing next. but right now I have to rip apart a power bar... ha!