Skimmer upgrade!

[Coralfreak]

As many of know I put a Deltec AP851 on my system several months ago, but have been wanting to upgrade to an AP902. Sort of lucky for me, Sone(slovan) happened to notice a thread on the Deltec forum where someone was wanting to downgrade from a 902 to an 851 and pointed it out to me. We worked out a deal, the skimmer was in Indianapolis so yesterday we met in Peoria, IL and made the trade

Here is a pic of the AP851:

And here is the Deltec AP902, at 39" tall and with a 10" dia tube, this thing is a monster:

It is currently being gravity fed at around 600gph, a bit less than the recommended 800gph, but a good increase from the 350gph with the AP851. I am thinking this may not be such a bad thing, at ~600gph I have around 1.5X/hour turnover. The lower flow through the skimmer creates less turbulence and increased contact time, so in theory with the two Eheims pulling in air and recirculating the water, it should skim just about everything from the water before exiting the skimmer.

Not much "nog" production so far, but I am still tweaking it, its a little more work adjusting two pumps as opposed to the one on the AP851.

Allen

 

[Double-J]

Awesome Allen!!! I have to clean my collection cup every 2 days with my 902, great skimmer!

 

[slovan]

Nice trade Allen! It looks like you got the better end of the deal for sure. :thumbsup:

Feed your fish with some extras to make it start skimming!

 

[Covey]

Cool, I like the wider neck on the new one. Good deal.

 

[IowaKevinK]

amazing

 

[Coralfreak]

Well, its starting to kick in, heres a shot of the collection cup from tonight:

I also like the wider neck, at least I get my arm in there to clean it, only problem is I can hardly reach the bottom:eek1:

Once I get this broke in and adjusted, I'll be adding a nice school of Anthias to get some more color/action in the tank.

 

[slovan]

Yep, I'd say your skimmer is working! :lol:

How wide is the neck on the 902? I always had problems cleaning the neck of the 851 since my hand wouldn't fit in the neck.

 

[Coralfreak]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8401288#post8401288 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by slovan
Yep, I'd say your skimmer is working! :lol:

How wide is the neck on the 902? I always had problems cleaning the neck of the 851 since my hand wouldn't fit in the neck.

Its just shy of 5 1/2" in diameter, I hear ya on cleaning the 851, it was a challenge to clean it up. You know, you could just stop over and check it out sometime

 

[slovan]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8401392#post8401392 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Coralfreak
You know, you could just stop over and check it out sometime

Nah, you live a block out of my way to and from work. Plus it's too cold out. Maybe in the springtime... :lol:

I'll come and check it out when you get your anthias. You should be able to keep those things fat when you can afford to feed as much as you need to with your new toy!

 

[Covey]

Lets see more nog!

 

[Coralfreak]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8413706#post8413706 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Covey
Lets see more nog!

Here ya go

And just for fun click on this pic for a video..

 

[leeweber85]

Hey, Nice skimmer! Where do you plan on ordering your anthias from? I've been wanting to order some as well, maybe we could split the shipping.

Lee

 

[Coralfreak]

Hey Lee,

Most likely LiveAquaria.com, I've had good luck with them and they have about the best guarantee you can find. Not sure how we'd work it all out, I'm a fair distance from you. I'm still not real sure what type I want to get, thinking of possibly Lyretails, Huchtii or Bartlett's Anthias.

 

[jdreefer]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8416058#post8416058 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Coralfreak
Hey Lee,

Most likely LiveAquaria.com, I've had good luck with them and they have about the best guarantee you can find. Not sure how we'd work it all out, I'm a fair distance from you. I'm still not real sure what type I want to get, thinking of possibly Lyretails, Huchtii or Bartlett's Anthias.

Either of you two ever in Dsm? Last time I was in The Dive Shop, which has been several weeks, they had a whole tank full of Anthias. I think they were Bartlett's but don't recall for sure. They had been there for a couple of weeks and from their looks, I would guess they were adjusted and eating well. I have no idea if they still have them or prices but they looked extremely healthy.

 

[Atticus]

Nice skimmer Allen, that thing is a BEAST!!! Looks big enough to skim your fish right out of the water...

 

[Coralfreak]

Nice skimmer Allen, that thing is a BEAST!!! Looks big enough to skim your fish right out of the water...

Close, hopefully it will at least get the, ah, waste out and leave the fish.

Yeah, I actually stopped by the Dive Shop a couple weeks ago and they did have some Anthias, I think you are right in them being Bartletts. Prices did not seem out of line at all and they were all eating well, I may check them out again now that I have a skimmer to allow me to feed more heavily.