sdheath
New member
A few months ago I saw a writeup of one of the new Reef Life Support Systems skimmers. I was most intrigued by the variable speed DC pump w/controller that comes as part of the package. I searched for reviews of the skimmer but found very little in the way of actual user experience. The little I did find was all positive so I went ahead and ordered one. More info on the MFR site here.
First impression: This skimmer is very well built out of fairly heavy clear and white acrylic. The design is a standard cone with the pump mounted internally (they make external models as well) with a bubble diffuser. The packaging was very well thought out and everything arrived in perfect condition.
Assembly: There were NO instructions provided. RLSS has a sped-up video of someone putting one together on their website, but I didn't find that until I finished putting it together. In any case I managed to put it together in a few minutes without any difficulty.
Initial Operation: After a quick vinegar bath and rinse it went into my sump, which has a water level of about 9". I opened the standpipe all the way and set the pump tp full speed. After about 12 hours it was starting to bubble up to the top so I removed the drain plug fron the collection cup and left it running obernight. The next morning the skimmer was overflowing as I expected it to be given the higher than normal water depth in my sump. I ran my last skimmer raised up 2-1/2" and I thought about putting this one on a riser but I decided to just bump the pump speed down a little. The variable speed DC has six speed settings, so I set it to the 4th position which I assume is about 2/3 pump speed. It has been running that way for several days, and the skimmate gets a little darker each day. I figure that eventually I'll put it back on the riser and increase the oump speed but I'm going to run it this way a bit longer first. My guess is that making that change will let me get a drier skimmate by allowing a longer contact time that will come from the higher air volume and lower water height.
So far I'm very impressed. The pump is completely silent, and the air silencer extremelt effective. Yesterday I put a tee on the air intake to put my ozone generator back online, and now I can hear the air whistle. I'll need to tweak it a bit I guess. I'm getting more skimmate than I did from my Avast CS1, but that is to be expected with the additional 2" in diameter and the more powerful pump. I'll post updates as things progress in hopes of helping others who are considering this skimmer.
First impression: This skimmer is very well built out of fairly heavy clear and white acrylic. The design is a standard cone with the pump mounted internally (they make external models as well) with a bubble diffuser. The packaging was very well thought out and everything arrived in perfect condition.
Assembly: There were NO instructions provided. RLSS has a sped-up video of someone putting one together on their website, but I didn't find that until I finished putting it together. In any case I managed to put it together in a few minutes without any difficulty.
Initial Operation: After a quick vinegar bath and rinse it went into my sump, which has a water level of about 9". I opened the standpipe all the way and set the pump tp full speed. After about 12 hours it was starting to bubble up to the top so I removed the drain plug fron the collection cup and left it running obernight. The next morning the skimmer was overflowing as I expected it to be given the higher than normal water depth in my sump. I ran my last skimmer raised up 2-1/2" and I thought about putting this one on a riser but I decided to just bump the pump speed down a little. The variable speed DC has six speed settings, so I set it to the 4th position which I assume is about 2/3 pump speed. It has been running that way for several days, and the skimmate gets a little darker each day. I figure that eventually I'll put it back on the riser and increase the oump speed but I'm going to run it this way a bit longer first. My guess is that making that change will let me get a drier skimmate by allowing a longer contact time that will come from the higher air volume and lower water height.
So far I'm very impressed. The pump is completely silent, and the air silencer extremelt effective. Yesterday I put a tee on the air intake to put my ozone generator back online, and now I can hear the air whistle. I'll need to tweak it a bit I guess. I'm getting more skimmate than I did from my Avast CS1, but that is to be expected with the additional 2" in diameter and the more powerful pump. I'll post updates as things progress in hopes of helping others who are considering this skimmer.
