The Life Reef Skimmer Club

[Piper27]

When I used the lifereef on a system that was not fed a lot of food and had a low bioload I could skim with the water level up in the 3" neck and I would get low amounts of nsty skim. On higher bioloads the water level would have to be lower and it would fill quicker. My system now is very high bioload. I can feed a ton of food and the skimmer will pull out tons of stuff, if I feed less the next day the skim production goes down some. I think if you feed more you will get more skim, as long as there are inhabitants in the reef that will eat the food. Be careful if you feed more you may need to lower the water level in the neck to avoid an overflow.
This is the only skimmer where I can feed as much as I want without worrying about nutrients. It pulls out what I put in. These skimmers also work well in lower salinity from what a good friend told me, so it may be my choice when I setup a fish observation system for new arrivals when we setup our large reef. Still contemplating how we will qt fish though but its a great option for sure.

 

[jcolley]

Joining the club finally. Picked up Bayoupr's 36" and looking forward to trying it out. I have a Jebao DC 8000 that I plan to use, has anyone had good results on DC pumps?

I had thought about incorporating a level sensor to an Arduino to control the pump if necessary.

 

[dcmartinpc]

Nice pickup jcolley! It would have been mine a week ago if I hadn't decided I needed a bigger skimmer

Just recently here in this thread it has been discussed that a DC pump might not be the best choice for this skimmer. I have always run my large skimmers on external Iwaki or Blueline pressure pumps. They work well, are fairly quiet, and are just about the most reliable pumps out there. The only downside is that they tend to use a little more electricity. I swear by them though. Between Iwaki and Reeflo I have been able to find any external pump I have ever needed and they have served me extremely well. I have a 20+ year old Iwaki MD100RLT and I have done nothing to it but replace the bearings.

Don

 

[GatorAlum05]

been fighting high nutrients and cyano for a few months. Weekly water changes. After almost two weeks of svs3 in my 55g and a lot of gunk being pulled out the cyano has retreated and seem to be dying off. No water changes in last two weeks. I love this skimmer.

 

[EvMiBo]

Joining the club finally. Picked up Bayoupr's 36" and looking forward to trying it out. I have a Jebao DC 8000 that I plan to use, has anyone had good results on DC pumps?

I had thought about incorporating a level sensor to an Arduino to control the pump if necessary.

I'm running the DC9000 on a 30" body and am not really impressed tbh. Some are saying it might be because of my currently low bioload, but I had better skim with my previous pinwheel. It's definitely the pump, and apparently the DC pumps say they're running at 6/6 setting, but the controller will dial the pump down in some cases to run more efficiently (supposedly they do this when run through venturis?). I've only heard that here and wish I did before I bought the DC9000. I still may try the DC12000. I think if you're going to try anything on the 36" body it should be the DC12000, but ultimately I think the 36" bodies (and taller) need a pressure rated pump, or a Mag pump.

 

[EvMiBo]

rEeF - How's the iwaki 40RT working on that 24" body?

 

[EvMiBo]

Alright, I have a Mag 18 on the way for my 30" body. The DC9000 isn't cutting it for me...

I was running my previous pinwheel (Diablo XS225) on the wet side and could empty the cup once, sometimes twice a week. I'd usually let it get nearly full. I would also argue that it's collection cup held more than the stock LR collection cup. All of that being said the LR has pulled about 1/4 of what I'd like in this amount of time (much darker though), with the DC9000 on 6/6. I fear closing the gate valve much more because the waterline is already about 5/8 the way up the next.

 

[DavidinGA]

Curious about life reef....

But... It seems like all the pics I see of the reaction chamber are hardly full of bubbles. What's the deal? Why isn't the reaction chamber jam-packed with bubbles?

I currently have a super reef octopus 3000int skimmer with the standard bubble blaster pump and it's completely full of bubbles unlike the life reef skimmer pics I see... What's the story?

My sro 3000:

 

[mikeatjac]

David it is a different design. I thought the same as you before I jumped on board. There is a violent disturbance in a small area that makes it work.

 

[DavidinGA]

David it is a different design. I thought the same as you before I jumped on board. There is a violent disturbance in a small area that makes it work.

When you say "violent disturbance" that makes me think you are saying it has high turbulence. Correct?

My understanding has always been that you don't want excessive turbulence in the reaction chamber but a slower more controlled rise in the bubbles...

 

[cww180]

Any updates after the pump change?

 

[azjohnny]

Curious about life reef....

But... It seems like all the pics I see of the reaction chamber are hardly full of bubbles. What's the deal? Why isn't the reaction chamber jam-packed with bubbles?

I currently have a super reef octopus 3000int skimmer with the standard bubble blaster pump and it's completely full of bubbles unlike the life reef skimmer pics I see... What's the story?

My sro 3000:

Lifereef is a more balanced skimmer, IMO the BB pumps draw too much air and not enough water. I have previously owned a SRO 5000INT

 

[azjohnny]

I think if you're going to try anything on the 36" body it should be the DC12000, but ultimately I think the 36" bodies (and taller) need a pressure rated pump, or a Mag pump.

I have a Fluval Seas SP4 ( 1800 gph) and a 1078 Mazzei with my VS3-36 and very happy with the results

 

[cww180]

Seems like these skimmers really do a great job, I was thinking of the 24" or a Aquamaxx CO-1.

 

[mikeatjac]

When you say "violent disturbance" that makes me think you are saying it has high turbulence. Correct?

My understanding has always been that you don't want excessive turbulence in the reaction chamber but a slower more controlled rise in the bubbles...

That is what I used to think but the excessive turbulence seems to work better than a lot of bubbles slowly rising up.

 

[DavidinGA]

Lifereef is a more balanced skimmer, IMO the BB pumps draw too much air and not enough water. I have previously owned a SRO 5000INT

Ya I've experimented with an air intake valve on the sro and couldn't really tell if that improved performance or if it stayed about the same. Their are definitely limits to how much air you should try to shove in a reaction chamber tho...

The absolute worst thing about my sro is the irritating air intake fitting gets build up on it which reduces the air intake and changes the whole air/water mix which often can cause overflows (less air in means more water in which means it's gonna overflow). This would be number one reason to change skimmer design.

 

[Jason Lester]

Ya I've experimented with an air intake valve on the sro and couldn't really tell if that improved performance or if it stayed about the same. Their are definitely limits to how much air you should try to shove in a reaction chamber tho...

The absolute worst thing about my sro is the irritating air intake fitting gets build up on it which reduces the air intake and changes the whole air/water mix which often can cause overflows (less air in means more water in which means it's gonna overflow). This would be number one reason to change skimmer design.

That's why I got rid of my sro 3000. It kept getting plugged up at the venturi causing overflow. It would be ok if you wanted to clean it all the time, but I don't need more maintenance.

 

[cww180]

Did you buy a lifereef?

 

[Jason Lester]

Yes, I've had the 24" in sump for about two months. It's really nice not having the unexpected overflows.

 

[ksed]

How about in terms of performance any difference between the two