xabo
Premium Member
Nothing's there.
The Life Reef Skimmer Club
- Thread starter d2mini
- Start date
Nothing's there.
Harry_Y
New member
Last edited:
SausageArm
New member
xabo - it works and looks fine here at my side.
Harry Y - did it work for you?
Harry Y - did it work for you?
xabo
Premium Member
Second one worked.
Harry_Y
New member
Johnseye
Reef Addict
I think he has a 900g
SausageArm
New member
Display tank holds 2700 litres of water, 2500 litres when the rock is in, sump holds around 1000 litres.
Never had a marine tank before, these Lifereef skimmers are unheard of over here in the UK, but it certainly looks to my inexperienced eye to be doing the business! So glad I too a chance and went with the VS3-72.
EvMiBo
VictoriaConcordiaCrescit
Starting your first reef tank with that volume seems really daunting to me. Have you thought about just a 100gal display and 30ish gal sump? Might save you a BIG headache. YOLO I suppose.
Also, fwiw, I've had 4 different skimmers in my ~8 years in the hobby, and my lifereef is my favorite so far. You'll get several other people who will say the same about [insert name here] pinwheel skimmers.
Johnseye
Reef Addict
I don't know. A lot can go wrong a lot faster in a small volume tank. Things happen slower and are harder to screw up in a large volume tank. Everything's just bigger and more expensive.
bayoupr
New member
Is anyone using the Ecotech Vectra M1 pump on their Lifereef skimmer? If so what size skimmer, type of venturi, water depth or if external and what spped are you running the pump at? And the main thing, how is it working for you? Thinking about switching mine over to this pump but not sure how it will handle the height of my skimmer.
Johnseye
Reef Addict
Yes. SVS3-24. Standard venturi. 10" depth. Running at 60% but that's because of heat, otherwise I'd run it at 100%. Works great.
EvMiBo
VictoriaConcordiaCrescit
My train of thought was that things are going to go wrong regardless, since it's the first setup. And with a tank of that size compared to a say 100g display + 30g sump it's going to get really expensive really fast. I don't want to discourage anyone.
It really bums me out that the vortech pumps add so much heat. It's like a better version of a mag pump I suppose.
Johnseye
Reef Addict
what Ive learned is that its the wattage that produces the heat. The Vectra is 80w of heat at 100%. Just compare that to other pump wattage. The nice thing about a dc pump os that you can adjust flow.
jerseypete
New member
I'm running the vectra as external return pump and haven't see any increase in temp. Maybe it's a lot different run internally.
Johnseye
Reef Addict
Internally all the heat will go into the water. Externally the heat increases temp in the tank depending on the flow of water through the pump and your air temp/circulation in the room.
The Mag 18 by comparison is rated at 150w. It's not going to run at full because of the head but it's probably going to run hotter than the Vecrta. Another comparison is the Fluval SP4. I used this pump briefly with my Lifereef. It's rated at 88w and was running at about 55w (verified with a Kill A Watt). The Fluval is a great AC pump for this skimmer and if you want to go that route I'd recommend it. However I still prefer the Vectra M1. I can push more flow with it and go into a feed mode which doesn't stop the skimmer entirely helping with any overflow into the cup.
It's fine for me right now because it's a lot cooler in the house. I will be replacing the skimmer however because I don't have the room for the heat it adds to the tank in the summer. I'll buy a low watt rated pump/skimmer, likely a BK mini. Although I may be upgrading to a larger tank and running it all in the basement with an option for running the skimmer externally in which case I'll stick with the Lifereef and Vectra.
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