agiacosa
11/14/2009, 12:35 PM
All,
Wanted to pass along some knowledge I gained while working with my Sapphire Aquatics Solana/Cardiff Skimmer. I've had it for a couple of months and just had to replace the impeller.
This skimmer is a clear upgrade to the stock skimmer that comes with the aquarium and it fit perfectly into the back of the aquarium. I don't know how this skimmer compares to the Tunze 9002.
One thing that concerns me about this skimmer is how you have to bend the air intake hose because of how the pump fits into the bottom of the skimmer. As you can see in the attached picture below, the hose tends to kink. I'm concerned that it is restricting the air intake but the skimmer seems to be OK.
The other issue I had was the mesh wheel disintegrating. Take a look at the attached pictures and compare the white wheel (what I received and how it looked after two months of use) with the new one I purchased and just received. I find it hard to believe that it disintegrated after only two months. The skimming was seriously impacted.
Anyway, Kyle at Sapphire Aquatics was very nice and helpful. I received the new wheel and carefully removed the old one. I then used Teflon tape and used the foam packaging it came in to press it into place. It's skimming nicely now as you can see.
Overall, it's a good skimmer but wish it was more plug and play.
Wanted to pass along some knowledge I gained while working with my Sapphire Aquatics Solana/Cardiff Skimmer. I've had it for a couple of months and just had to replace the impeller.
This skimmer is a clear upgrade to the stock skimmer that comes with the aquarium and it fit perfectly into the back of the aquarium. I don't know how this skimmer compares to the Tunze 9002.
One thing that concerns me about this skimmer is how you have to bend the air intake hose because of how the pump fits into the bottom of the skimmer. As you can see in the attached picture below, the hose tends to kink. I'm concerned that it is restricting the air intake but the skimmer seems to be OK.
The other issue I had was the mesh wheel disintegrating. Take a look at the attached pictures and compare the white wheel (what I received and how it looked after two months of use) with the new one I purchased and just received. I find it hard to believe that it disintegrated after only two months. The skimming was seriously impacted.
Anyway, Kyle at Sapphire Aquatics was very nice and helpful. I received the new wheel and carefully removed the old one. I then used Teflon tape and used the foam packaging it came in to press it into place. It's skimming nicely now as you can see.
Overall, it's a good skimmer but wish it was more plug and play.