Skimz skimmer club

[ericarenee]

Looking at skimz sm 201 to replace an old swc cone i have that broke. This sm 201 seems to be perfect at 360 bucks for my stocked 150. The footprint is also small n saves space. Is there a better skimmer in that price range with not a massive footprint?

I have this skimmer got it from BRS and its now about a year and a half old. I Have town it down twice to clean the body and the pump and no apparent signs of any wear . mine has the Eden 5000 pump. i think right before i got it they change the impeller design as there was issues in the past with the pump..

I would buy it again in a second...

 

[Scorpius]

Hey guys the 4 screws that hold the front cover on the pump ES2800, one of them is starting to rust. I don't see anywhere where I can find replacements on BRS. Idea's?

 

[ericarenee]

Hey guys the 4 screws that hold the front cover on the pump ES2800, one of them is starting to rust. I don't see anywhere where I can find replacements on BRS. Idea's?

Call or email brs.... its odd with them rusting mine still look like new.. I bet they will send you new ones.

 

[FirstContact]

Looking to purchase a skimmer for an upcoming build (200g-250g, heavy bioload, sps dominant). Skimz is one of the few brands I think I have it narrowed down to, but not sure of the model to go with. Kone, Oval, Leopard, Monster, or recirculating. Suggestions?

Being a completely new build, sump will also be a new build, and all equipment will be kept in garage, so space is not an issue.

With recirculating you never have to worry about sump level, and adjustments are easy and fine tunable. I will never go back to a single pump protein skimmer. I run my external Skimz Kone SK222 in my sump and love it. Both the SK222 and SM202 are very popular. BRS uses the SM202 on their new tank that they've been doing videos on all year. Both of these models use AC pumps Eden 5000. Reef Octupus has recirculating models with DC pumps. The air flow difference between the older AC pumps and the newer DC pumps is tremendous, but I bought my Skimz SK222 when you could only get DC pumps on protein skimmers with Bubble King.

 

[kegogut]

Hey guys the 4 screws that hold the front cover on the pump ES2800, one of them is starting to rust. I don't see anywhere where I can find replacements on BRS. Idea's?

Call or email brs.... its odd with them rusting mine still look like new.. I bet they will send you new ones.

This is what I would do. BRS customer support is one of the most knowledgeable about the productsthey sell. They've also always been willing to help out any way they can to help out a customer.

If they for some reason cant help you I would take the screw up to a place like Fastenal and try to match it up.

 

[Scorpius]

Call or email brs.... its odd with them rusting mine still look like new.. I bet they will send you new ones.

Problem is the rust is also inside the pump where the screw enters so even if I get new screws there's always the opportunity for rust again.

Buying a new pump still doesn't eliminate the four screws.

With 20% off I may just upgrade to the Octa series skimmer and keep my old one as a backup.

 

[ericarenee]

Problem is the rust is also inside the pump where the screw enters so even if I get new screws there's always the opportunity for rust again.

Buying a new pump still doesn't eliminate the four screws.

With 20% off I may just upgrade to the Octa series skimmer and keep my old one as a backup.

How old is your skimmer / pump and did you get it from BRS..

They have a year warranty on them like i said mine is well over a year old close to two years and my screws look like new. I know this because i actually tore my skimmer down 3 weeks ago took the pump apart and soaked it all in vinegar .. All Parts look new still
My Skimmer has the eden 5000 pump ..

 

[Scorpius]

How old is your skimmer / pump and did you get it from BRS..

They have a year warranty on them like i said mine is well over a year old close to two years and my screws look like new. I know this because i actually tore my skimmer down 3 weeks ago took the pump apart and soaked it all in vinegar .. All Parts look new still
My Skimmer has the eden 5000 pump ..

20 months old. Bought it back in March 2015.

 

[FirstContact]

You don't have anything to lose by contacting BRS. They may charge you a few dollars for the screws, or maybe screws are such a small part it will be free. They are supposed to be handling the warranty claims for Skimz, so I'm not even sure you need to have purchased from a them.

 

[Scorpius]

You don't have anything to lose by contacting BRS. They may charge you a few dollars for the screws, or maybe screws are such a small part it will be free. They are supposed to be handling the warranty claims for Skimz, so I'm not even sure you need to have purchased from a them.

I did buy it from BRS. My main concern is I have an issue with this pump design and it'll happen again whether I get a new pump/screws. I have to decide on whether to dump some money into this skimmer or try another model.

 

[Scorpius]

So I called BRS to see if buying a new front pump cover also included new screws and it does not. They didn't have any laying around either. I was told to try my local hardware store. They were helpful, but if you're my warranty center then you need to have every bit and piece of these skimmers.

Oh well Avast Marine just made $250 off of me. Looking forward to building a skimmer.

 

[Big K]

I just got the SM202 from BRS's Black Friday sale. Looking forward to seeing how it works on my system! Struggling with hair algae ATM so hoping that and a new carbon/GFO reactor eliminates it all.

 

[yevgenb]

Hello,

I joined skimz club a year ago with sn-123. After a year pump started to die and I got a new replacement from BRS ( thank you guys!). Its a new, upgraded pump, white instead of black/blue. However I was surprised to find that it came with different impeller, and it looks like this is not a skimmer impeller - it doesn't make lot of foam but noise instead. I wonder if its wrong impeller :

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[ericarenee]

Hello,

I joined skimz club a year ago with sn-123. After a year pump started to die and I got a new replacement from BRS ( thank you guys!). Its a new, upgraded pump, white instead of black/blue. However I was surprised to find that it came with different impeller, and it looks like this is not a skimmer impeller - it doesn't make lot of foam but noise instead. I wonder if its wrong impeller :

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I think that is the wrong impeller . Do you get bubbles in the skimmer body?

 

[BIGCYCS805]

Looks like a regular pump propeller to me not a needle wheel at all which is needed

 

[yevgenb]

I think that is the wrong impeller . Do you get bubbles in the skimmer body?

Not much... And it's noisy. I put old impeller back and it works just fine. Now need to explain it to BRS.

 

[triguy]

With recirculating you never have to worry about sump level, and adjustments are easy and fine tunable. I will never go back to a single pump protein skimmer. I run my external Skimz Kone SK222 in my sump and love it. Both the SK222 and SM202 are very popular. BRS uses the SM202 on their new tank that they've been doing videos on all year. Both of these models use AC pumps Eden 5000. Reef Octupus has recirculating models with DC pumps. The air flow difference between the older AC pumps and the newer DC pumps is tremendous, but I bought my Skimz SK222 when you could only get DC pumps on protein skimmers with Bubble King.

Do you recommend the Kone over the Monster series for performance or is that only if you are tight on space?

 

[FirstContact]

I went with the Kone over the Monster series because of the design differences like the much lower bubble plate and cone body. But I think they probably both perform equally well. One point about the Monster that I did like better was that the pump is accessible above the platform and not underneath the skimmer body. Not too much of a big deal. I never liked having the pump inside the body of the skimmer. I want my pump to be easily accessible and to be external from the skimmer body.

Two things I recently added that have increased performance were a Vertex collection cup neck cleaner and ozone. The differences are just amazing and I never expected the differences to be so great. I always looked at neck cleaners as pricey options for those that wanted a toy and were too lazy to clean the cup.

 

[JW76]

Sm163

Sm163

My sm123 is skimming nicely

My SM163 is arriving today. Could you pass along any advice, or tips you learned along the way to dial it in correctly? I guess first and foremost, what's your water level you have it sitting in? Thanks in advance.

 

[ericarenee]

My SM163 is arriving today. Could you pass along any advice, or tips you learned along the way to dial it in correctly? I guess first and foremost, what's your water level you have it sitting in? Thanks in advance.

I have sm 201 its sitting in 8 inches of water . Close the air intake and then open in 3/4 turn... open the gate to about half and let it settle.. once its settled you want to get the level in the middle of the neck just under the collection cup .

Slowly close the gate turning it clockwise to raise the water level do it tiny amount at a time.. to lower the water level turn it counter clock wise..

once it starts foaming keep closing the gate until the foam reaches about 1/2 way up into the collection cup. Fine tune by closing the and opening the air valve ... This is how i do mine rather its the right way or not i just know it produced very well.

my gate valve is like 1/5th open and air valve maybe 1/2 turn.. i have to drain the collection cup 2 times a week and clean it every other week