The Life Reef Skimmer Club

But here check this out. I currently have a dcp 18000 on my skimmer and the waveline dc12000 for a uv pump. The ratings you usually see are at the pump and not usually from the wall. The 18000 is rated for 130watts and the waveline 150watts.

They are both pulling from the wall a good amount more. The controller usually consumes around 20-30watts itself more or less depending on controllers.

bc1431033057e9fa4454db0e7d890e42.jpg
 
Oh yeah, check out the return pump's watts used in that screen shot. That's a mag18 rated at 150watts under head pressure with my sump in the basement. lol
 
jason2459 said:
Oh yeah, check out the return pump's watts used in that screen shot. That's a mag18 rated at 150watts under head pressure with my sump in the basement. lol
Click to expand...


The skimmer outlet is what my mag 12 pulls on a 24" with standard Venturi. I use a Jebao 8000 as my return and that pulls 44 watts lol

95daffaae6f83c9fc6269fc2ec132f3c.png




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
That lines up with the dct8000 rated 68watts. It's pulling 100% of the 65% speed setting. Push it to 100% and it will try to always pull 100%. An AC pump will reduce watts pulled under pressure.

That also shows me the lifereef is not putting any head pressure on that mag12 that's rated for around 110watts. Which seems very odd and to me seems like something is wrong. I'd get a second opinion from a killowatt. My apex was within 2watts of the killowatt though. If I recall someone had their mag18 usage in here too. I'll have to look back. Which was higher watts used then mine but that's expected going from 3/4" to 1"

But if you got a more efficient AC pump like a sicce or tunze that's rated more towards the same watts used as that Jebao the AC pump placed into the same application would draw less power making it more energy efficient. I happen to have that setup between the mag 18 and waveline dc12000. Both rated at 150 watts. And even the dcp18000 rated slightly less. All set to 100% and full open flow minus head pressure by the plumbing or venturi in case of the skimmer.

Downside is the AC pump would have to be controlled via a valve of some kind to control the flow if needed. The DC pump has a convenient controller or some can be controlled via a controller. Like the waveline apex ready versions.
 
Last edited:
Orcus Varuna said:
The skimmer outlet is what my mag 12 pulls on a 24" with standard Venturi. I use a Jebao 8000 as my return and that pulls 44 watts lol

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

I was just discussing this with Jeff via email. Based on my understanding, your Mag 12 is probably running close to it's max on a 24". My understanding is that the 24" can handle a max of 2400 gph. If your Mag 12 is not seeing much head pressure, then it's probably running close to full force, and full wattage.

^ based on the knowledge of a novice....or lack thereof. :)

In any event, I am going to jump to a Fluval SP6 on my 30". It's max is 3434 gph. Jeff's comment was that it should be "fantastic."
 
Ok, it’s taken me longer than I’d hoped to find the time to post, it here it is,,, finally. (Note: All images below are clickable thumbnails, even though they don't have text saying so.)

First, I’d like to mention (as others have before) the packaging. Lifereef products are very well protected – possibly even on the side of wasteful… but he’s probably found it better to be over safe than have someone unhappy that their stuff has arrived damaged.

For a CLF1, 2 Bio-Media Reactors, Skimmer, and 12 inch refugium, my order arrived in three large boxes. The largest box not only had an extra cardboard outer sleeve, but inside several inches of packing peanuts the sump was inside yet another cardboard sleeve. The three boxes and a total of 112 carton closing staples (these babies were not popping open accidentally), over 2 cubic feet of bubble wrap, and 13 cubic feet of packing peanuts. (Seriously - after unpacking, I have the largest box and one of the other boxes completely full of packing peanuts…)

<a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4370/36775764905_64011f3a71_o.jpg" width="2590" height="2250" alt="LifeReef_Unboxed_But_Still_Wrapped_Cropped"><img src="https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4370/36775764905_dfbb43f251_t.jpg" width="100" height="87" alt="LifeReef_Unboxed_But_Still_Wrapped_Cropped"></a></script>

The Skimmer, although only the “24” model was larger than I expected. Not larger than the listed footprint or dimensions, it just has a presence larger than you would expect for a 6.5 by 6.5 base – possibly due to the flange and the external pump and fittings. But still, it just feels solid and “heavy duty”. (You know how sometimes you buy something that’s been engineered to the extreme and has everything calculated to minimal tolerances to save money on construction/materials so that is feels delicate and even flimsy? Well, this is NOT that. It feels “substantial”.)

<a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4401/35613518144_93ba8d45df_o.jpg" width="1056" height="1664" alt="LifeReef_SVS3-24_Skimmer_Signature_Series_Cropped50"><img src="https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4401/35613518144_d7dfafcdd4_t.jpg" width="63" height="100" alt="LifeReef_SVS3-24_Skimmer_Signature_Series_Cropped50"></a></script>

One such “substantial” feature I liked was that Jeff at Lifereef doesn’t use the usual generic o-ring to seal the flange. It’s more of a heavy duty rubber gasket covering the full flange surface, so you get multiple o-rings worth of sealing connections. Here’s some images of it.

<a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4417/35972898733_4c63176fe7_o.jpg" width="2824" height="1668" alt="SVS3-24_Skimmer_Flange_Seal_Cropped75"><img src="https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4417/35972898733_758a7c6a7d_t.jpg" width="100" height="59" alt="SVS3-24_Skimmer_Flange_Seal_Cropped75"></a></script>

<a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4389/36734580386_05f6826188_o.jpg" width="1100" height="663" alt="SVS3-24_Skimmer_Flange_Cropped75"><img src="https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4389/36734580386_ba0e5fa681_t.jpg" width="100" height="60" alt="SVS3-24_Skimmer_Flange_Cropped75"></a></script>

Although this is the Lifereef Skimmer Club thread, I’ll finish with a couple of shots of my full setup. =D When I get around to changing the refugium exit fittings to something more my liking and/or get it installed I’ll post some updated pics in the newer “Let’s see your Lifereef Sumps!” thread.

Jeff did a nice job on the welds (they all look perfect – no bubbles or uneven seams anywhere) and my special requests – including the 4 way pvc side outlet on the reactor manifold. I had the part shipped straight to him and it ended up being a furniture fitting, but he routered out the blockage and installed it without incident.

<a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4429/36775761295_163e3d0887_o.jpg" width="2861" height="2116" alt="LifeReef_Custom_CLF1_Signature_Series_Cropped"><img src="https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4429/36775761295_7b938823fd_t.jpg" width="100" height="74" alt="LifeReef_Custom_CLF1_Signature_Series_Cropped"></a></script>

<a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4367/36402934766_0f90fdda40_o.jpg" width="1337" height="847" alt="Custom_LifeReef_Signature_Series_Cropped50"><img src="https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4367/36402934766_79ea67a8ea_t.jpg" width="100" height="63" alt="Custom_LifeReef_Signature_Series_Cropped50"></a></script>


If Lifereef is at all in your price range, and you can afford to wait through his build list, I highly recommend going for it. (Or, get on his build list now and start socking money away until your turn comes up.)
 
Last edited:
The Life Reef Skimmer Club

Celtic_Fox said:
Ok, it's taken me longer than I'd hoped to find the time to post, it here it is,,, finally. (Note: All images below are clickable thumbnails, even though they don't have text saying so.)



First, I'd like to mention (as others have before) the packaging. Lifereef products are very well protected "“ possibly even on the side of wasteful"¦ but he's probably found it better to be over safe than have someone unhappy that their stuff has arrived damaged.



For a CLF1, 2 Bio-Media Reactors, Skimmer, and 12 inch refugium, my order arrived in three large boxes. The largest box not only had an extra cardboard outer sleeve, but inside several inches of packing peanuts the sump was inside yet another cardboard sleeve. The three boxes and a total of 112 carton closing staples (these babies were not popping open accidentally), over 2 cubic feet of bubble wrap, and 13 cubic feet of packing peanuts. (Seriously - after unpacking, I have the largest box and one of the other boxes completely full of packing peanuts"¦)







The Skimmer, although only the "œ24" model was larger than I expected. Not larger than the listed footprint or dimensions, it just has a presence larger than you would expect for a 6.5 by 6.5 base "“ possibly due to the flange and the external pump and fittings. But still, it just feels solid and "œheavy duty". (You know how sometimes you buy something that's been engineered to the extreme and has everything calculated to minimal tolerances to save money on construction/materials so that is feels delicate and even flimsy? Well, this is NOT that. It feels "œsubstantial".)







One such "œsubstantial" feature I liked was that Jeff at Lifereef doesn't use the usual generic o-ring to seal the flange. It's more of a heavy duty rubber gasket covering the full flange surface, so you get multiple o-rings worth of sealing connections. Here's some images of it.











Although this is the Lifereef Skimmer Club thread, I'll finish with a couple of shots of my full setup. =D When I get around to changing the refugium exit fittings to something more my liking and/or get it installed I'll post some updated pics in the newer "œLet's see your Lifereef Sumps!" thread.



Jeff did a nice job on the welds (they all look perfect "“ no bubbles or uneven seams anywhere) and my special requests "“ including the 4 way pvc side outlet on the reactor manifold. I had the part shipped straight to him and it ended up being a furniture fitting, but he routered out the blockage and installed it without incident.













If Lifereef is at all in your price range, and you can afford to wait through his build list, I highly recommend going for it. (Or, get on his build list now and start socking money away until your turn comes up.)
Click to expand...



Your build looks fantastic and I couldn't agree more! I will say though for what you get, while it is expensive, at least my build was not as expensive as I thought it would be.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Celtic_Fox said:
Ok, it’s taken me longer than I’d hoped to find the time to post, it here it is,,, finally. (Note: All images below are clickable thumbnails, even though they don't have text saying so.)

First, I’d like to mention (as others have before) the packaging. Lifereef products are very well protected – possibly even on the side of wasteful… but he’s probably found it better to be over safe than have someone unhappy that their stuff has arrived damaged.

For a CLF1, 2 Bio-Media Reactors, Skimmer, and 12 inch refugium, my order arrived in three large boxes. The largest box not only had an extra cardboard outer sleeve, but inside several inches of packing peanuts the sump was inside yet another cardboard sleeve. The three boxes and a total of 112 carton closing staples (these babies were not popping open accidentally), over 2 cubic feet of bubble wrap, and 13 cubic feet of packing peanuts. (Seriously - after unpacking, I have the largest box and one of the other boxes completely full of packing peanuts…)

<a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4370/36775764905_64011f3a71_o.jpg" width="2590" height="2250" alt="LifeReef_Unboxed_But_Still_Wrapped_Cropped"><img src="https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4370/36775764905_dfbb43f251_t.jpg" width="100" height="87" alt="LifeReef_Unboxed_But_Still_Wrapped_Cropped"></a></script>

The Skimmer, although only the “24” model was larger than I expected. Not larger than the listed footprint or dimensions, it just has a presence larger than you would expect for a 6.5 by 6.5 base – possibly due to the flange and the external pump and fittings. But still, it just feels solid and “heavy duty”. (You know how sometimes you buy something that’s been engineered to the extreme and has everything calculated to minimal tolerances to save money on construction/materials so that is feels delicate and even flimsy? Well, this is NOT that. It feels “substantial”.)

<a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4401/35613518144_93ba8d45df_o.jpg" width="1056" height="1664" alt="LifeReef_SVS3-24_Skimmer_Signature_Series_Cropped50"><img src="https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4401/35613518144_d7dfafcdd4_t.jpg" width="63" height="100" alt="LifeReef_SVS3-24_Skimmer_Signature_Series_Cropped50"></a></script>

One such “substantial” feature I liked was that Jeff at Lifereef doesn’t use the usual generic o-ring to seal the flange. It’s more of a heavy duty rubber gasket covering the full flange surface, so you get multiple o-rings worth of sealing connections. Here’s some images of it.

<a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4417/35972898733_4c63176fe7_o.jpg" width="2824" height="1668" alt="SVS3-24_Skimmer_Flange_Seal_Cropped75"><img src="https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4417/35972898733_758a7c6a7d_t.jpg" width="100" height="59" alt="SVS3-24_Skimmer_Flange_Seal_Cropped75"></a></script>

<a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4389/36734580386_05f6826188_o.jpg" width="1100" height="663" alt="SVS3-24_Skimmer_Flange_Cropped75"><img src="https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4389/36734580386_ba0e5fa681_t.jpg" width="100" height="60" alt="SVS3-24_Skimmer_Flange_Cropped75"></a></script>

Although this is the Lifereef Skimmer Club thread, I’ll finish with a couple of shots of my full setup. =D When I get around to changing the refugium exit fittings to something more my liking and/or get it installed I’ll post some updated pics in the newer “Let’s see your Lifereef Sumps!” thread.

Jeff did a nice job on the welds (they all look perfect – no bubbles or uneven seams anywhere) and my special requests – including the 4 way pvc side outlet on the reactor manifold. I had the part shipped straight to him and it ended up being a furniture fitting, but he routered out the blockage and installed it without incident.

<a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4429/36775761295_163e3d0887_o.jpg" width="2861" height="2116" alt="LifeReef_Custom_CLF1_Signature_Series_Cropped"><img src="https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4429/36775761295_7b938823fd_t.jpg" width="100" height="74" alt="LifeReef_Custom_CLF1_Signature_Series_Cropped"></a></script>

<a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4367/36402934766_0f90fdda40_o.jpg" width="1337" height="847" alt="Custom_LifeReef_Signature_Series_Cropped50"><img src="https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4367/36402934766_79ea67a8ea_t.jpg" width="100" height="63" alt="Custom_LifeReef_Signature_Series_Cropped50"></a></script>


If Lifereef is at all in your price range, and you can afford to wait through his build list, I highly recommend going for it. (Or, get on his build list now and start socking money away until your turn comes up.)
Click to expand...

So right about the packing. And getting rid of all the peanuts is a real chore! I accidentally threw out with the ocean of peanuts my skimmer cup with the stuff packed in it - but retrieved it before the garbage men came.

I note that you got 2 bio reactor cannisters (2L). that seems excessive, as the rule of thumb is less than 1L per 200 gallons of total volume. Also, I have read that you are supposed to drain those into the skimmer chamber, so you may want to run the hoses from the top outputs into the other chamber. For this reason, I went with 3 media canisters to run carbon and phosphate removers (post skimmer) and then went with an external Reef Octopus bio pellet reactor that is plumbed in and out of the skimmer chamber using bulkhead connections.
 
jason2459 said:
That lines up with the dct8000 rated 68watts. It's pulling 100% of the 65% speed setting. Push it to 100% and it will try to always pull 100%. An AC pump will reduce watts pulled under pressure.

That also shows me the lifereef is not putting any head pressure on that mag12 that's rated for around 110watts. Which seems very odd and to me seems like something is wrong. I'd get a second opinion from a killowatt. My apex was within 2watts of the killowatt though. If I recall someone had their mag18 usage in here too. I'll have to look back. Which was higher watts used then mine but that's expected going from 3/4" to 1"

But if you got a more efficient AC pump like a sicce or tunze that's rated more towards the same watts used as that Jebao the AC pump placed into the same application would draw less power making it more energy efficient. I happen to have that setup between the mag 18 and waveline dc12000. Both rated at 150 watts. And even the dcp18000 rated slightly less. All set to 100% and full open flow minus head pressure by the plumbing or venturi in case of the skimmer.

Downside is the AC pump would have to be controlled via a valve of some kind to control the flow if needed. The DC pump has a convenient controller or some can be controlled via a controller. Like the waveline apex ready versions.
Click to expand...



I'd posted my Mag 18 watts in an SVS3-36. I forget the number, but it wouldn't be too hard to find.

My thought is DC if you want minimal noise and vibration. AC is likely less expensive both short term and long term for a given quality level.
 
LR refugium - drain plumbing into LR sump

LR refugium - drain plumbing into LR sump

I have the LF1-300S with Life Refugium. For those that are running a LR sump and fuge, how have you set up the plumbing?

In the stock set up, the fuge drains directly, via PVC, into the chamber with the return PVC, and in fact is on the same side of the baffle in that center chamber, under the egg crate and filter pad. As a result, and run off into the overflow in the fuge (algae, etc.) will go directly into the return PVC without passing through a filter pad.

I modified my set up to have that PVC fuge drain stop and drain into the other side of the baffle in the center chamber, so that all the fuge drain water would need to pass though the filter pad before entering the return PVC. This is working fine as post this modification, I am seeing macro algae leaves and hair algae accumulating on the filter pad. I have since added filter bag mesh to the egg crate on top of the overflow in the fuge, but this is something that I am still tweaking as I do not want to cause a blockage at this point in the system.
 
nycman said:
So right about the packing. And getting rid of all the peanuts is a real chore! I accidentally threw out with the ocean of peanuts my skimmer cup with the stuff packed in it - but retrieved it before the garbage men came.

I note that you got 2 bio reactor cannisters (2L). that seems excessive, as the rule of thumb is less than 1L per 200 gallons of total volume. Also, I have read that you are supposed to drain those into the skimmer chamber, so you may want to run the hoses from the top outputs into the other chamber. For this reason, I went with 3 media canisters to run carbon and phosphate removers (post skimmer) and then went with an external Reef Octopus bio pellet reactor that is plumbed in and out of the skimmer chamber using bulkhead connections.
Click to expand...



Even though they are called "bio reactors" they are just a standard upflow fluidized reactor. Basically just a really nice phosban reactor. If I was buying again I would absolutely buy all "bio reactors".


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Could some one that has a sp4 tell me the true width I'm getting conflicting measurements 6.5"-7.5" the LF1300s sump space is only 6 3/4"x13" maybe this is why the mag is default not only performance but it's what the sump can accept the mag18 is only 5" on its side
 
Breadman03 said:
I'd posted my Mag 18 watts in an SVS3-36. I forget the number, but it wouldn't be too hard to find.

My thought is DC if you want minimal noise and vibration. AC is likely less expensive both short term and long term for a given quality level.
Click to expand...
I'd love to see those numbers. Thanks.
 
Breadman03 said:
Here it is. I did find an obstruction in my Venturi, so I'll have to hook it up again to see what it's drawing now.
Click to expand...

I thought I remembered someone posting numbers and I did reply to that saying somethings wrong. lol

Curious what the numbers are now cleared out.
 
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