Quote:
Originally Posted by Sumi
Thank You!
My DT is small (although the manufacturer of the MBK160 states that it is rated for tanks up from 200l, which mine, barely, but fulfills), but I have lots of corals and fish. That's why I'm upsizing my current skimmer, because it can't keep up. But I see your point & agree that probably a time will come when it will probably just work when skimming wet or it will even just idle. I can live with that and accept it.
So the pump issue with these were remedied? I've found a german forum where 3 guys had the same issue, including the OP of this thread & even RE stepped in there. At the end of the day I believe all 3 of them sent their skimmer back because they never worked as they should (well it's not exactly easy to decide/understand what the operating range really is, as I write about this later on), but my german is not very good to be honest 
Because if nothing had been done, then I see no guarantee that the skimmer will perform in 19cm of water depth (even though the specification on their website says it should, more about this later). And if this is the case, then I'd rather send it back right away without even unboxing it (it hasn't arrived yet), so I only loose the shipping costs, but don't end up with a $800 door stop*.
*That said, I understand that I didn't do my research properly about the operating depth, and misunderstood RE's website where it is stated that it would operate in 13-30cm depth, while the manual calls for 20-22cm. I have to admit I didn't look at the operating manual before my purchase as usually I only do that after I've got what I've bought, but this time I was super excited, so was thinking I'll prepare myself while the skimmer is "in flight" I think it should be clarified on the website, right at the product description what they mean by operating depth & also bring out the correct numbers from the manual right there, if those are the correct ones, so others don't make my mistake. So if we twist the things, I can see how it is my fault & there is nothing to do about it & end up with a door stop at the end of the day. |
Pump issue?? The AC based Red Dragon is proven to last a decade or more if properly maintained. That pump is arguably the most coveted skimmer pump ever made. The ONLY time those pumps fail is when they are neglected. If you take the pump apart and clean it every 4 to 5 months using a 10 minute soak in vinegar followed by a good scrubbing inside and out, they will never let you down. If you neglect them, then the motors will fail eventually. I’d bet those who had real issues (which are very far and few) didn’t take care of their pumps or dosed alk, kalkwasser or calcium up stream and near their pumps.
As for operating depths, there is a wide range and a sweet spot. The sweet spot of 20-22cm means you won’t have to close the wedge pipe much. At lower sump levels, you need to close the wedge pipe more to get the water level up in the skimmer unless you have a heavier load. The more you close the wedge, the more sensitive it becomes to adjustments of the wedge so a slight turn of the wedge pipe will have more of an impact on the internal level. If your sump level is deeper, you aren’t closing the wedge pipe nearly as much and it’s less sensitive to adjustments making it a bit more easy to adjust the level since you won’t have to worry about a fraction of a turn making a big difference in the level inside the skimmer.
Now having said that, if the load is really light then the high sump depth can be important. The reason being is that the proteins in the water (dissolved organics) impact the surface tension of the water as well as the skimmers ability to foam fraction. The proteins actually cause the level in the skimmer to rise so the more proteins in the water from the fish load, the less critical the sump level is. In the absence of enough dissolved organics, you need to raise the level inside the skimmer to get the breakline up higher.
The guy in the previous post has a really small tank for this skimmer. A tank that I’d not recommend this skimmer for. Robert for example has a Redsea Reefer 170!! That is only 34 gallons and he only has a few fish! I’d never recommend this skimmer on that size tank. He couldn’t possibly ever have enough load to have this skimmer perform correctly but in his case, raising the level in the sump raised the level inside the skimmer. Not that the skimmer will ever generate much skimmate with that load but at least he got his level up inside the skimmer. Either way, that is not an issue with the pump but but instead an issue with his choice of skimmer for his tank and load. Had he had a substantial fish load in a larger tank, the level inside the skimmer would have been higher even with his original low sump level.
Keep in mind, the Mini 160 is rated from 200l to 500l and at the low end of the sizing range, it’s assumed that the user would have a heavy fish load. A heavy load is 1/2” of fish per display gallon based on industry standards which in the case of 200l/52 gallons equates to 25” of fish. So in Roberto’s case, I’m not the least bit surprised that he was having issues but make no mistake, his issue has nothing to do with the pump. Instead, it has everything to do with his choice of skimmer for his display size. And in his case, it was the wrong choice. Plain and simple. Had he asked here, we would have told him it was not a good choice. And especially with a Bubble King which are one of the few skimmer brands on the market that are truly conservatively rated and not over rated like so many other skimmers.