tom obrecht
Active member
Impressive! I will keep working on the Volcano and Scott to see what we can muster up. That is the kind of bubble density I'm looking for so if the venturi doesn't work I may have to add an air pump.
New Tank
- Thread starter tom obrecht
- Start date
tom obrecht
Active member
Thought it was time for an update even though I don't have much good to say. The volcano is far below my expectations as far as performance goes. The air density inside the body is very light for such a large unit. Hahn was nice enough to come over and stick his air flow meter on to see what was happening. The volcano is pulling less that my old Deltec! AAAARRRGGG!! I ordered an air pump to see what happens. Should be here on Monday.
The real bad news is that Spazz is not answering his phone, returning phone messages or replying to emails. I have been in contact with other volcano owners and they said the same thing...no reply. I'm writing this as a warning that if anyone has an interest in these units to hold off.
The tank has taken a major downhill swing since this unit was installed...algae outbreak, coral recession and die off. A real bummer especially since I was told by Spazz as these skimmers would run circles around my Deltec. Yeah right!
I'll keep everyone informed on the air pump installation.
The real bad news is that Spazz is not answering his phone, returning phone messages or replying to emails. I have been in contact with other volcano owners and they said the same thing...no reply. I'm writing this as a warning that if anyone has an interest in these units to hold off.
The tank has taken a major downhill swing since this unit was installed...algae outbreak, coral recession and die off. A real bummer especially since I was told by Spazz as these skimmers would run circles around my Deltec. Yeah right!
I'll keep everyone informed on the air pump installation.
hahnmeister
In Memoriam
Well Tom, I dont know what your schedule is like, but I managed to score a deal on some Prodobio at the convention. I talked to the guys and told them what your tank was going through, and they kept their suggestion and reasons/science very simple. They sold me two products to last a 500g tank in your condition about 2 months to try out. Anyways, it should help get your tank back on track. The overall opinion of the prodobio users was that your tank's bacteria at this point are most likely not very 'diverse' which could hurt you more than anything... but thats a different topic I suppose... up to you if you want to try it or not.
Otherwise, Im not sure what you mean by 'you ground out' the intake... all you had to do was use that venturi sleeve/insert system w/o the actual inserts... just hate to have you tearing up stuff for no reason. You mentioned it might need some tweaking... Ill give you a call soon. It might be easy, or it might require an air meter and kill-a-watt.
Otherwise, Im not sure what you mean by 'you ground out' the intake... all you had to do was use that venturi sleeve/insert system w/o the actual inserts... just hate to have you tearing up stuff for no reason. You mentioned it might need some tweaking... Ill give you a call soon. It might be easy, or it might require an air meter and kill-a-watt.
tom obrecht
Active member
The air pump arrived today. It has seemed to improve the performance quite a bit. The water level is down in a more normal range and the foam head is much better. The tank has cleared up considerably so I think we are making headway. I still have not heard anything from Spazz so I think he is basically not serving his clients any more. Others have said the same thing. That concerns me greatly and will probably have to take my complaints to the next level. I'm not 100% satisfied with the skimmers performance but at least it appears right now that I should be able to keep a few pieces from biting the dust. Guess time will tell.
tom obrecht
Active member
One way or another I hope to get things back on track.
Thanks for the kind words. I also hope one day it will be stunning!
hahnmeister
In Memoriam
As for any of the pieces you might have lost (I remember a good few)... you might just want to try Bill. Im pretty sure he has almost all of that stuff... and I know he has it for less than F&S. Plus, he's getting in all those cool Aussie LPS as well and Im sure plenty of other things.
You two might want to start a 'Volcano Support Group'...lol.
You two might want to start a 'Volcano Support Group'...lol.
tom obrecht
Active member
I don't think that is very funny!!
tom obrecht
Active member
I have decided to pull the Volcano off line and go with a more proven and repitable brand. The tank is going to need some time to recover and turn itself around. Hopefully I will get some pics up of the new skimmer and post here.
hahnmeister
In Memoriam
I wont give it away here Tom, but don't you mean 'new skimmerS'?
tom obrecht
Active member
Aren't we being sly!
Ok, Ok...skimmerS!
tom obrecht
Active member
I decided to go with two Bubble King SUpermarine 250's and here's why. Iwas going to go with a BK 400 deluxe but with my sump design it wouldn't fit in the sump (I want to do an internal skimmer this time). I can get both skimmers to fit in my sump as it is now. I can also get the same amount of air as the 400 with the 250's. If a pump does happen to go out I still have a skimmer up and running with the other skimmer. I have heard that some in Europe have two skimmers on their systems. Plus the 2 SM's were less $ than one 400. Seemed like a good choice. Time will tell however. I'm excited to get them operating and see what they can do with the tank. It will take some time to get things turned around but I feel it can be done.
hahnmeister
In Memoriam
I suggested to Tom this idea that two smaller skimmers may be better than one large. So if it doesnt work, its all my fault. Klaus, and a couple other hobbyists from the EU told me about this 'dual skimmer' thing. I suppose you could look at it as 'when they upgraded, they kept their existing skimmer and just added another' cost savings. But there are some other benefits.
One is cost. Two SM250's are less than one Deluxe 400.
Two is resale (along the lines of cost). Its much easier to unload dual SM250's than a single monster.
Three is redundancy. Should one pump go out for some reason... with a single large skimmer... you are going to have problems. With two smaller skimmers... not so.
Four is that phenomenon that some people report with BK's in the long run (look over at Zeovit.com for instance) where their BK's stop producing foam after time. The systems mature, and sometimes the skimmate production of the tank cant keep up. IMO, this is why some people ended up trying the Zeovit Revolutions and claiming that they were better than their 3x larger BK's... it wasnt the technology/design so much as they were just using a smaller skimmer. With two smaller skimmers, if the day comes when they arent producing as much, you can simply shut one off, and the one smaller skimmer will still produce skimmate. A single SM250 is rated 150-800 gallons (Id say more like up to 500g myself if a low load, 250 if a high load)... so in theory, one could handle Tom's system (at times). But, some of you might know that Tom is 'addicted to Anthias', and so his bioload could easily jump up to 'a pound of food a day', in which case, running dual skimmers offers that 'tuning'
Five is alternating cleaning days. Depending on the skimmer, cleaning the collection cup can disrupt skimmate production for a few minutes, or a whole day. By alternating cleaning days, you can eliminate this lag, and always have a functioning skimmer on the system.
The one downside that some might bring up is that sometimes with one large skimmer, you can get extra dwell time... as in, they are taller. But with these 'high efficiency' skimmers like BK and ATB, this isnt so much a factor: the dwell time is in the giant foam head they produce. Another bonus for some is that simply cleaning a 10" diameter SM250 collection cup is much easier than cleaning the 14"-16" diameter ones... not to mention skimmer placement and handling. Tom mentioned to me that running 'dual-smallers' would also mean he wouldnt have to redo his sump to accomidate a larger skimmer.
My suggestion was that with dual skimmers, you can also try different types of skimmers... like an ATB Medium and a SM250, or rather, a short and fat one and a tall and narrow one... they might be better at removing different things. Sometimes rather than looking for these features in one large skimmer, its better to get them from two smaller skimmers. Tom opted for the BK's I think due to track record: BK has been around for a while and is proven to give results. No more room for risk w/ performance claims that just dont add up.
So I dont know what the rest of you guys think... I know there is a macho factor to run a single large skimmer, but there are actually a couple other reefers near me now that run the 'dual skimmer' setup, and they are quite happy with it. I plan on doing the same on my next system. I have the ATB XL, but I also plan on running a smaller 8" diameter, 6' tall force fed cone-top skimmer as a backup... is is likely that at times, my next system will not keep up with the ATB XL's extraction power, so then I will have the smaller/taller skimmer as backup in 'low nutrient' settings.
One is cost. Two SM250's are less than one Deluxe 400.
Two is resale (along the lines of cost). Its much easier to unload dual SM250's than a single monster.
Three is redundancy. Should one pump go out for some reason... with a single large skimmer... you are going to have problems. With two smaller skimmers... not so.
Four is that phenomenon that some people report with BK's in the long run (look over at Zeovit.com for instance) where their BK's stop producing foam after time. The systems mature, and sometimes the skimmate production of the tank cant keep up. IMO, this is why some people ended up trying the Zeovit Revolutions and claiming that they were better than their 3x larger BK's... it wasnt the technology/design so much as they were just using a smaller skimmer. With two smaller skimmers, if the day comes when they arent producing as much, you can simply shut one off, and the one smaller skimmer will still produce skimmate. A single SM250 is rated 150-800 gallons (Id say more like up to 500g myself if a low load, 250 if a high load)... so in theory, one could handle Tom's system (at times). But, some of you might know that Tom is 'addicted to Anthias', and so his bioload could easily jump up to 'a pound of food a day', in which case, running dual skimmers offers that 'tuning'
Five is alternating cleaning days. Depending on the skimmer, cleaning the collection cup can disrupt skimmate production for a few minutes, or a whole day. By alternating cleaning days, you can eliminate this lag, and always have a functioning skimmer on the system.
The one downside that some might bring up is that sometimes with one large skimmer, you can get extra dwell time... as in, they are taller. But with these 'high efficiency' skimmers like BK and ATB, this isnt so much a factor: the dwell time is in the giant foam head they produce. Another bonus for some is that simply cleaning a 10" diameter SM250 collection cup is much easier than cleaning the 14"-16" diameter ones... not to mention skimmer placement and handling. Tom mentioned to me that running 'dual-smallers' would also mean he wouldnt have to redo his sump to accomidate a larger skimmer.
My suggestion was that with dual skimmers, you can also try different types of skimmers... like an ATB Medium and a SM250, or rather, a short and fat one and a tall and narrow one... they might be better at removing different things. Sometimes rather than looking for these features in one large skimmer, its better to get them from two smaller skimmers. Tom opted for the BK's I think due to track record: BK has been around for a while and is proven to give results. No more room for risk w/ performance claims that just dont add up.
So I dont know what the rest of you guys think... I know there is a macho factor to run a single large skimmer, but there are actually a couple other reefers near me now that run the 'dual skimmer' setup, and they are quite happy with it. I plan on doing the same on my next system. I have the ATB XL, but I also plan on running a smaller 8" diameter, 6' tall force fed cone-top skimmer as a backup... is is likely that at times, my next system will not keep up with the ATB XL's extraction power, so then I will have the smaller/taller skimmer as backup in 'low nutrient' settings.
tom obrecht
Active member
Not yet. Have to wait on some legal outcomes first. If that doesn't come through then it will go up 4 sale.
tom obrecht
Active member
That's funny how on this page (half way down) you are quoted as saying you won't be disappointed with the SM 250. Strange?
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1385190&perpage=25&pagenumber=8
Looking through the BK thread looks like many are happy from what I can see.
Can't be worse than what I have now!
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