Which Bubble King for 180 Gallon Tank

[mikale44]

Hi!
I have read almost all threads in this section but I'm still unsure on which Bubble King skimmer to buy. I'm between the Bubble King Mini 200 and the Double Cone 200.
I recently upgraded to and 180 gallon reef tank, mostly lps, and my Nyos 160 is barely keeping up with the bioload. I currently have a purple tang, yellow tang, gem tang, hippo tang, magnificent foxface, mystery wrasse, royal gramma, harem of 6 clownfish, 2 Pajama Cardinalfish and a mandarinfish. Plan to add trio of anthias and probably midas blenny.
In all the threads the majority recommends the Double Cone? Mostly for the easy cleaning of the pump. I Would like a set it and forget it skimmer. I don't want to spend much time adjusting a skimmer I order to work properly. Space isn't an issue on my sump.
So which one is the best option?
Also how's spare parts availability in the US? How's post sale customer service?

Thanks for all your advice

 

[slief]

Hi!
I have read almost all threads in this section but I’m still unsure on which Bubble King skimmer to buy. I’m between the Bubble King Mini 200 and the Double Cone 200.
I recently upgraded to and 180 gallon reef tank, mostly lps, and my Nyos 160 is barely keeping up with the bioload. I currently have a purple tang, yellow tang, gem tang, hippo tang, magnificent foxface, mystery wrasse, royal gramma, harem of 6 clownfish, 2 Pajama Cardinalfish and a mandarinfish. Plan to add trio of anthias and probably midas blenny.
In all the threads the majority recommends the Double Cone? Mostly for the easy cleaning of the pump. I Would like a set it and forget it skimmer. I don’t want to spend much time adjusting a skimmer I order to work properly. Space isn’t an issue on my sump.
So which one is the best option?
Also how’s spare parts availability in the US? How’s post sale customer service?

Thanks for all your advice

I’d go with the Double Cone 200. Maintenance will be much easier. Set it between 28 and 32 watts, adjust the level inside the skimmer via the wedge pipe and that’s pretty much it.

As for parts, we have a warehouse in Ft. Myers Florida and stock all parts there. As for support, we are available in the US virtually 7 days a week. You can PM me anytime if you need something as I check here every day and generally respond within a matter of an hour or two unless I am asleep. I also monitor my email 7 days a week both night and day.

 

[mikale44]

Thank you Silef!
Why do you recommend de DB cone 200 over the Bubble King Mini 200? Other than the maintenance? Does it perform better? Better quality? Newer version?
I'm asking because in all the threads I've read you always suggest the DB cone over the Minis.

 

[slief]

You don't have the motor inside the body which means you don't need to remove the skimmer and take it apart to service the pump for routine maintenance (cleaning the pump) which should be done every 4-5 months. Outside of that, they both share the same pump so tuning is about the same but because the motor is outside the body, there is a bit more contact time in the double cone which makes it a bit more efficient in terms of how fast it will remove dissolved organics though that difference is negligible. Regardless, I always prefer having the pump outside the body whenever possible which is why I'd recommend the Double Cone over the Mini if space isn't an issue since the pump just slips off the input tube on the double cone making removing the pump a 2 second affair without ever having to touch the skimmer body.

 

[ohashimz]

I own both bk mini and dc. The dc is much better both in performance and maintenance ad said earlier.
On the size thu, when I talk to RE they adviced to follow exactly your DT size. So I personally would advice going dc180. They told me the skimmer is sized for the dt at a heavy load. Meaning for a heavy load 180g a dc 180 is appropriate.
With BK, oversizing will give disadvantage rather than advantage. It's very powerful skimmer and if your load is not enough for the skimmer performance will reduce.
You would be suprised, they recomended DC 180 for my 200 system cause they thought my load is not heavy enough...I have 4 tabgs, 4 anthias, 4 clown, 3 wrasses and full sps that I feed regulary...
That being said, if you are thinking of future upgrade or planning to run a heavy load dc 200 will work most likley but it will work poorly if you have light load on a 180g tank.

 

[slief]

I own both bk mini and dc. The dc is much better both in performance and maintenance ad said earlier.
On the size thu, when I talk to RE they adviced to follow exactly your DT size. So I personally would advice going dc180. They told me the skimmer is sized for the dt at a heavy load. Meaning for a heavy load 180g a dc 180 is appropriate.
With BK, oversizing will give disadvantage rather than advantage. It's very powerful skimmer and if your load is not enough for the skimmer performance will reduce.
You would be suprised, they recomended DC 180 for my 200 system cause they thought my load is not heavy enough...I have 4 tabgs, 4 anthias, 4 clown, 3 wrasses and full sps that I feed regulary...
That being said, if you are thinking of future upgrade or planning to run a heavy load dc 200 will work most likley but it will work poorly if you have light load on a 180g tank.

Well said! And I agree that the load is light and the Double Cone 180 would work well for the fish load as it is. For the 200 to be really consistent, the fish load should be increased.

 

[mikale44]

Hey Slief!
Thanks for your advice. I'm finally going through with the purchase. I'm going with the Double Cone 200.
I just want to make sure I'm making the right purchase. I made my aquarium cabinet to support a future upgrade to a 275 gallon tank and I dont want to purchase a new skimmer all over again, I plan to do that in about 6 months.. What woul your advice be? Stay with the double cone 200? Or the double cone 250? Or the SM 200?

 

[slief]

Hey Slief!
Thanks for your advice. I’m finally going through with the purchase. I’m going with the Double Cone 200.
I just want to make sure I’m making the right purchase. I made my aquarium cabinet to support a future upgrade to a 275 gallon tank and I dont want to purchase a new skimmer all over again, I plan to do that in about 6 months.. What woul your advice be? Stay with the double cone 200? Or the double cone 250? Or the SM 200?

Stay with the 200. It will be more than up to the task. You could go with the SM200 but it needs a heavier load then the Double Cone to keep it happy and might be inconsistent on the existing system unless you plan on adding a bunch more fish to the upgrade where as the the Double Cone will be easier to tune on the existing system and fine for the upgrade as well with a moderate fish load. Now if you are planning a bunch more fish with the upgrade, then the SM200 would be worth considering but I do think the 250’s would be oversized unless you plan a truly heavy fish load.

 

[mikale44]

Thanks Slief. I will go with the double cone 200 then. I'll let you know when it's installed and working for further advice

 

[kennytze]

I have a Supermarin 200 on a 180 gal mixed reef and wish I would have researched a little bit more before purchase. I think Slief is correct on DC 200 for your tank the SM 200 is a great skimmer but was inconsistent until my fish load was finalized. I have the following in my tank.
7' Sailfin Tang
6" Black Tang
6" Male Zebra Angel
6" Lamarck Angel
5.5" female Zebra Angel
4.5" Spotbreast Angel
3" female Bellus Angel
5" Blue Throat Trigger
2) 4" Pyramid Butterflies
5" Longnose Butterfly
4" Goldflake Angel
6" Labouti Wrasse
4" Pintail Wrasse
9) 3" Designer Clownfish

With this heavy load it still took alot of fine tuning for consistency.

 

[mikale44]

Bummer! My double cone 200 arrived broken. I'm gonna be contacting Premium Aquatics tomorrow morning.

 

[slief]

Bummer! My double cone 200 arrived broken. I'm gonna be contacting Premium Aquatics tomorrow morning.

Damn!!! That's too bad. Seems that one took a SERIOUS beating in transit!

 

[mikale44]

The guys at Premium Aquatics are awesome. A guy named Luke apologized for the trouble and send me a new one right away, no questions asked. So today I received the new one. I'm going to install it next week. We'll se how it goes.

 

[mikale44]

Hi! I finally installed my DB cone 200 and I'm really impressed at the quality and the performance, even though it has been only a couple of hours it's already producing skimmate. Not even close with all the others skimmers I have used on my 15 years in the hobby. I currently have it at 30 watts and pipe fully open. Any advice on adjustments?

 

[slief]

Hi! I finally installed my DB cone 200 and I'm really impressed at the quality and the performance, even though it has been only a couple of hours it's already producing skimmate. Not even close with all the others skimmers I have used on my 15 years in the hobby. I currently have it at 30 watts and pipe fully open. Any advice on adjustments?

Great to hear! I think you're off to a great start. Once it settles in and catches up, you might need to close the wedge pipe a bit to raise the level inside the skimmer but time will tell. It looks like it's running perfect though! Welcome to the BK family! :beer:

 

[biecacka]

Great choice on that particular skimmer. I run it on my 240 with close to 30 fish and it keeps up crazy easy. You will love it!


Corey

 

[mikale44]

Great to hear! I think you're off to a great start. Once it settles in and catches up, you might need to close the wedge pipe a bit to raise the level inside the skimmer but time will tell. It looks like it's running perfect though! Welcome to the BK family! :beer:

Thanks! I closed the wedge pipe a little bit today. This skimmer is pulling nasty stuff out. I'm really impressed by the performance. I'll keep you updated.

 

[mikale44]

Great choice on that particular skimmer. I run it on my 240 with close to 30 fish and it keeps up crazy easy. You will love it!


Corey

Thanks! I'm already loving it. You get what you pay for with this skimmer.

 

[mikale44]

Hi! I just wanted to update you and let my experience in the forum. It's been six days since I set up the skimmer and like Slief said I had to close the wedge pipe half way and it's performing flawlessly. I can't believe how well it's working. Never had a skimmer performing this well so fast. I had a Vertex Omega, Bubble Magus, Reef Octopus SRO and the last one a Nyos.
Nyos is a good skimmer as well as the others brands but Bubble King is in another league. I was between this skimmer a Lifereef and a Reef Octopus Elite. I'm so glad I went with this one. Only time will tell i the long run.

Here's a pic of 7 days of skimming.

Any thoughts Slief? To dry?

 

[slief]

Hi! I just wanted to update you and let my experience in the forum. It's been six days since I set up the skimmer and like Slief said I had to close the wedge pipe half way and it's performing flawlessly. I can't believe how well it's working. Never had a skimmer performing this well so fast. I had a Vertex Omega, Bubble Magus, Reef Octopus SRO and the last one a Nyos.
Nyos is a good skimmer as well as the others brands but Bubble King is in another league. I was between this skimmer a Lifereef and a Reef Octopus Elite. I'm so glad I went with this one. Only time will tell i the long run.

Here's a pic of 7 days of skimming.

Any thoughts Slief? To dry?

Great to see & heat! Judging by the skimmate, I'd say it's about perfect!