The Life Reef Skimmer Club

[pga7602]

Pga7602, what depth do you have the skimmer at?

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I have it plumped externally Mike. Not that it really matters to this skimmer is what I've been reading. Most of it can be adjusted out by using the gate valve. My water level is at 9.5 inches inside my skimmer chamber.

 

[solitude127]

I have it plumped externally Mike. Not that it really matters to this skimmer is what I've been reading. Most of it can be adjusted out by using the gate valve. My water level is at 9.5 inches inside my skimmer chamber.

Looks good. how loud is the pump?

 

[pga7602]

Looks good. how loud is the pump?

At the moment I am using a mag 12 with a silicone matt under the pump. I cant hear the pump. The skimmer venturi does make noise but it's not any louder than my Aquamaxx ConeS. Please do note that my bed is literally next to my tank so I am sensitive to any noise my tank makes. I doubt you will be able to hear it in a living room.

 

[kolpiny]

Lifereef size for 220 gallon sps system volume

Lifereef size for 220 gallon sps system volume

I've been looking into lifereef skimmers. I am trying to choose a size. I'm considering a three foot skimmer externally behind the tank or a 26" costume skimmer in my sump.
System set up:
My sump is under the tank. There's 28" between bottom of sump and bottom of display. I have 9 and a half inches behind the tank. The tank is 180 gallons with a 60 gallon sump (40 gallons of water). Behind the tank, the wall is drywall (worried about humidity from external skimmer next to wall). Want to get a skimmer that is appropriately sized. Like everyone, I do have aspirations of setting up a larger tank down the road...

I guess I could always extend the skimmer height later, as long as a 26" skimmer will be sufficient. My previous skimmer was a swc 230.

Thank you in advance for your opinions!!!

 

[EvMiBo]

Personally, from what I've seen. A svs30 would be a minimum for the setup. Would probably prefer the 36. I think a 24 would work well but maybe it would become overwhelmed with the bioload. My advice is just based on what I've seen here and what people seem to be using with X water volume. Fwiw, and if you've read some of this thread I've probably said it a million times - I'm running a svs30 on 135 display with 30 g sump (130g total water volume).

Have you considered putting up a thin layer of plexi glass on the drywall in that area? I'm assuming nobody sees that area.

 

[jason2459]

And how the skimmer is designed I don't see much humidity being produced from it. It's setup to suck it back in. I'd put a weight on the lid and drain to some container under the stand and get a neck cleaner to help reduce maintenance and foam from pushing up the lid.

 

[solitude127]

At the moment I am using a mag 12 with a silicone matt under the pump. I cant hear the pump. The skimmer venturi does make noise but it's not any louder than my Aquamaxx ConeS. Please do note that my bed is literally next to my tank so I am sensitive to any noise my tank makes. I doubt you will be able to hear it in a living room.

Thanks for the feedback. Any shots of the skimmate yet?

 

[kolpiny]

Thanks for the feedback! For a 36 inch skimmer, which pump would you use? Has anyone used current USA Flux dc pumps? There's one maxed out at 1900gal/hr and another at 3170g/hr. they seem just like the jebao dc pumps. Spend 30% more and go with a vectra m1 maxing out at 2000g/hr. Or go with a mag 12,18 or 24. My major wish is to minimize wattage use and maximize performance if the skimmer.

Thanks again!

 

[jason2459]

Thanks for the feedback! For a 36 inch skimmer, which pump would you use? Has anyone used current USA Flux dc pumps? There's one maxed out at 1900gal/hr and another at 3170g/hr. they seem just like the jebao dc pumps. Spend 30% more and go with a vectra m1 maxing out at 2000g/hr. Or go with a mag 12,18 or 24. My major wish is to minimize wattage use and maximize performance if the skimmer.

Thanks again!

Well, just because a pump is DC won't make it more efficient wattage wise. These are not the skimmers for that.

My mag 18 on my 36" MTC pulled something like 60 watts and its rated for a max of 150 watts. A waveline dc 12000 apex ready version has a max watt rating lightly above that and pulls around 147-150 watts at max. The AC pump with lower rated head pressure pulled a lot less watts.

It's going to be all about that head pressure too. You want to get as high of head pressure rating as you can get.

 

[Breadman03]

Well, just because a pump is DC won't make it more efficient wattage wise. These are not the skimmers for that.

My mag 18 on my 36" MTC pulled something like 60 watts and its rated for a max of 150 watts. A waveline dc 12000 apex ready version has a max watt rating lightly above that and pulls around 147-150 watts at max. The AC pump with lower rated head pressure pulled a lot less watts.

It's going to be all about that head pressure too. You want to get as high of head pressure rating as you can get.

I'm running a Mag 18 on my SVS3-36. I'll try to remember to hook up my KillAWatt tomorrow for a solid reading.

 

[jason2459]

I'm running a Mag 18 on my SVS3-36. I'll try to remember to hook up my KillAWatt tomorrow for a solid reading.

I believe it will read slightly higher on the lifereef. The mtc uses 3/4" more restrictive 684 mazzei vs the 1" spa injector or 1" 984 mazzei.

 

[kolpiny]

Man you fellow reefers are so generous with your time. Thank you!

I just happened to stumble upon a couple Laguna 1350 motors for a discontinued price... this motor will run my swc230 skimmer... I may wait on buying the lifereef and use my existing skimmer. These motores usually last me 2-4 years, so I should have a working skimmer for 4-8 years for about a hundred dollar investment (I have three working impellers). Am I crazy for considering sticking with my swc needle wheel or should I sell it and go to a lifereef... the swc uses the same motor block as the vertex and bubble king askoll motor... so it should be sufficient I think...maybe I'll put the money towards an apex controller instead...

Thanks again for your input and advice!

 

[Breadman03]

I believe it will read slightly higher on the lifereef. The mtc uses 3/4" more restrictive 684 mazzei vs the 1" spa injector or 1" 984 mazzei.

To the best of my knowledge, it's a stock skimmer but I got it third (or more) hand.

 

[jason2459]

To the best of my knowledge, it's a stock skimmer but I got it third (or more) hand.

Awesome. Something with your setup is putting more head pressure on the pump then mine with the MTC. Even though the life reef is 1" plumbing and venturi vs. the 3/4" plumbing and venturi of the MTC.

These were my readings.

Mag18 with MVX stock 684 mazzei venturi
Air draw: ~12 scfh
Max head height:16.85'
Watts: rated 150watts actual: 62-63watts
Skimmate produced: ~3 cups dry/day high side

Mag18 with 784 mazzei
Air draw: ~14scf
Max head height: 16.85'
Watts: rated 150watts actual: 65-66watts
Skimmate produced: ~3 cups dryish/day low side


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Edit: and as a reference here's some stats of the mag18 as a return pump in my setup
Mag18 as return pump w/ ~12' head height
Max head height:16.85'
Watts: rated 150watts actual: 71.18watts
Flow: rated 1500gph@0 head actual: ~750gph@12' head pressure

 

[2000se]

So since we are talking about MAG 18 pumps, (which BTW - this is great info listed above on those stats/specs)- I have one for my 24inch skimmer w/a mazzei venturi. However, I opted to use a syncra silent 3 on mine hoping it would be silent. just trying to make the tank quieter. I wonder if this is even doing any good. I have a very light bio-load so I am really not getting much skim. Lots of bubbles, but really no junk. Mostly liquid.

Also, I feel if I run the 18, I will be churning through water like crazy. Like a super high turnover in my sump.. IDK...Do I 'need' the 18 for this ?

 

[africangrey]

what is the ideal air flow for a balanced skimming?

 

[Pablos RSM 450]

So since we are talking about MAG 18 pumps, (which BTW - this is great info listed above on those stats/specs)- I have one for my 24inch skimmer w/a mazzei venturi. However, I opted to use a syncra silent 3 on mine hoping it would be silent. just trying to make the tank quieter. I wonder if this is even doing any good. I have a very light bio-load so I am really not getting much skim. Lots of bubbles, but really no junk. Mostly liquid.

Also, I feel if I run the 18, I will be churning through water like crazy. Like a super high turnover in my sump.. IDK...Do I 'need' the 18 for this ?

I am happy with a Jecod DCT 6000 on mine. I run it on the 8th setting 86% and it is a beast not to mention that I can turn it down to the lowest setting after changing filter socks and or water change to avoid overflowing.

 

[2000se]

Just makes me wonder if I'm not getting skim because I don't have enough pump on it. I see tons of bubbles and what not, maybe since I have such a light bio-load if only skims randomly, then does nothing until the bio-load increase enough to make skim.. who knows..

 

[jason2459]

what is the ideal air flow for a balanced skimming?

Around 20scfh on a 30-36" model.


It was mentioned somewhere in this thread and I've seen it mentioned somewhere else as well. I also found on my mtc once I hit 20scfh of air draw I really saw some serious skimming happen. But once above 24scfh I got diminishing returns.

 

[fftfk]

Just makes me wonder if I'm not getting skim because I don't have enough pump on it. I see tons of bubbles and what not, maybe since I have such a light bio-load if only skims randomly, then does nothing until the bio-load increase enough to make skim.. who knows..[/I used to have problems with mine not skimming until I increased the load.