ATB Fan Club

[SPotter]

Well I waited one day too long to clean......





Look at the sludge on the bottom of the cup....



A little vinegar, soak for 5 mins and good as new.




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[Reef_Noob]

That's what I'm talkin about...awesome!!
Photographic proof of what ATBs are capable of

[SPotter]

This one stunk bad.....had to open all of the windows.


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[Brando457]

Steve I am eating over here man!

[zibba]

Originally Posted by Reef_Noob

Hi zibba,
Thanks man
I am an equipment junkie
I believe in bringing the "equipment into the display" motto.

Absolutely! And, you've done a fantastic job!

Originally Posted by SPotter

This one stunk bad.....had to open all of the windows.

Very nice man! I might have to get some skimmate shots up myself.

[coral_lagoon]

Is anyone runnning the Elegance 200 Pro skimmer?
I like the looks of this skimmer, especially with the pump at the bottem inside the skimmer making it more compact. Thanks..

[zibba]

Nog!



'nuff said.

[Reef_Noob]

This is what my ATB has been doing....

[zibba]

Dirty!

[SPotter]

its amazing what this hobby does to us.....we actually get excited over things this disgusting!!!!

[Brando457]

I emptied a full skimmer cup yesterday, I prayed for death after the smell.

Sent from my Samsung Galaxy Note 2

[Reef_Noob]

Originally Posted by zibba

Dirty!

Yes indeed...
Someone who saw the pictures called it "Maximus disgustus"

[Reef_Noob]

Originally Posted by SPotter

its amazing what this hobby does to us.....we actually get excited over things this disgusting!!!!

Hehehehehehe
Ooooo yyeeahhh....welcome to the dark side!!

[Reef_Noob]

Originally Posted by Brando457

I emptied a full skimmer cup yesterday, I prayed for death after the smell.

Sent from my Samsung Galaxy Note 2

Yo Brando,
+1
Hahahaha....too funny

[ale2539]

I'm not seeing any elegance pros here, Is it cause of the pump being inside the skimmer that there being over looked

[Hesham]

Originally Posted by ale2539

I'm not seeing any elegance pros here, Is it cause of the pump being inside the skimmer that there being over looked

No, not overlooked. I have an Elegance Pro 200 that I've been running for a couple of years. I'm using it fully externally (not in sump) on a 220 gallon reef display (~300 system gallons overall).

I added a gate valve to the output to have better control of water level in the skimmer. I didn't like the "twist pipe" mechanism that the skimmer came with for water height as it didn't seem very safe for an external setup. I wrapped the "twist pipe" with white silicon tape (Rescue Tape) to prevent leaks.




I also installed an automatic skimmer cup cleaner from Avast. I sent Avast my lid and they modded the lid and returned it to me very quickly. I still clean the skimmer cup about once a week but when I travel, it's sometimes left uncleaned for up to about 3 weeks.

I also highly recommend the Avast "Skimmate Locker". Here's a few days of gunk;



The locker comes with a pressure sensor that hooks up to my Neptune controller. When the locker is full, the Neptune turns off the skimmer's pump and sends out an email. Avast offers another type of locker that has an AC socket that the skimmer pump can be connected to directly; this avoids needing to use an external controller.

The locker works very well; it's saved me from flooding a few times. It holds the stink in as well with the carbon cup at the top. When I empty it, I just pull out the pressure sensor, drop the sensor into the tank to stop the skimmer pump, and then take the vat over to the toilet (with the bathroom fan set to "12"), and then dump away. I can hold my breath for about 30 seconds which is long enough to dump, flush, and run away.

As you can see from the photo of the locker, the skimmer is working fine. The scale on the side of the locker is in liters. Avast also has a bigger vat available.

I added several months ago a CO2 absorption reactor to the setup. It's a canister that holds C02 absorber (i.e. soda lime) that ties to the air feed line of the skimmer. It raises my pH by about 0.2 to 0.3 over normal - not a lot but I have low pH in my system and every bit helps.

It's a pain to remove the skimmer pump from the skimmer body. A set of screws need to be removed to disassemble the skimmer partially. I would only recommend an Elegance Pro with the internal skimmer motor if you have a space constraint. Otherwise, suggest going with an ATB that uses an externally mounted pump.

Also, I have the earlier ATB pump. These skimmers are available (or will be available soon) with DC pumps. The DC pump will save on energy costs and will be dead quiet. I have already replaced my return pump and my reactor feed/skimmer feed pump with DC pumps (RLSS DC10000 and RLSS DC5000). I would really like to update my Elegance Pro 200's pump to a DC pump.

[Brando457]

Word of advice is to make sure you close the drain valve after cleaning the cup :WHOOPS!

[ale2539]

Thank you very much for taking the time to write all this info that is so helpful. I will be getting the skimmer with the pump in the skimmer since i have room issue's. I will get the dc pump. which one does it come with. I really don't want the internal pump but i have no choice. By the pump being internal does it make the skimmer less effective. I have a 840 v2 now and the foot print puts the pump to close to the wall which makes it vibrate..

Originally Posted by Hesham

No, not overlooked. I have an Elegance Pro 200 that I've been running for a couple of years. I'm using it fully externally (not in sump) on a 220 gallon reef display (~300 system gallons overall).

I added a gate valve to the output to have better control of water level in the skimmer. I didn't like the "twist pipe" mechanism that the skimmer came with for water height as it didn't seem very safe for an external setup. I wrapped the "twist pipe" with white silicon tape (Rescue Tape) to prevent leaks.




I also installed an automatic skimmer cup cleaner from Avast. I sent Avast my lid and they modded the lid and returned it to me very quickly. I still clean the skimmer cup about once a week but when I travel, it's sometimes left uncleaned for up to about 3 weeks.

I also highly recommend the Avast "Skimmate Locker". Here's a few days of gunk;



The locker comes with a pressure sensor that hooks up to my Neptune controller. When the locker is full, the Neptune turns off the skimmer's pump and sends out an email. Avast offers another type of locker that has an AC socket that the skimmer pump can be connected to directly; this avoids needing to use an external controller.

The locker works very well; it's saved me from flooding a few times. It holds the stink in as well with the carbon cup at the top. When I empty it, I just pull out the pressure sensor, drop the sensor into the tank to stop the skimmer pump, and then take the vat over to the toilet (with the bathroom fan set to "12"), and then dump away. I can hold my breath for about 30 seconds which is long enough to dump, flush, and run away.

As you can see from the photo of the locker, the skimmer is working fine. The scale on the side of the locker is in liters. Avast also has a bigger vat available.

I added several months ago a CO2 absorption reactor to the setup. It's a canister that holds C02 absorber (i.e. soda lime) that ties to the air feed line of the skimmer. It raises my pH by about 0.2 to 0.3 over normal - not a lot but I have low pH in my system and every bit helps.

It's a pain to remove the skimmer pump from the skimmer body. A set of screws need to be removed to disassemble the skimmer partially. I would only recommend an Elegance Pro with the internal skimmer motor if you have a space constraint. Otherwise, suggest going with an ATB that uses an externally mounted pump.

Also, I have the earlier ATB pump. These skimmers are available (or will be available soon) with DC pumps. The DC pump will save on energy costs and will be dead quiet. I have already replaced my return pump and my reactor feed/skimmer feed pump with DC pumps (RLSS DC10000 and RLSS DC5000). I would really like to update my Elegance Pro 200's pump to a DC pump.

[Hesham]

Originally Posted by ale2539

Thank you very much for taking the time to write all this info that is so helpful. I will be getting the skimmer with the pump in the skimmer since i have room issue's. I will get the dc pump. which one does it come with. I really don't want the internal pump but i have no choice. By the pump being internal does it make the skimmer less effective. I have a 840 v2 now and the foot print puts the pump to close to the wall which makes it vibrate..

If you are running the Elegance Pro 200 in sump, I don't believe there is any performance degradation. I took many airflow measurements a while back and the air draw when the skimmer is run in sump was the same as ATB publishes. This is for the AC powered motor. I cannot comment about the performance with the new DC pumps.

When the Elegance Pro 200 is run out of sump (as in my case), the performance is less than published. I found this was related to the flow rate of the pump feeding the skimmer and constriction of the feed line into the skimmer. This can be alleviated partially by upsizing the feed tube into the skimmer and increasing the flow rate of the external feed pump. The actual problem when running the skimmer out of sump is that the skimmer's internal pump is partially starved of feed water; the design could have been improved by using a slightly smaller pump that sits farther away from the inlet of the skimmer or by including a larger diameter inlet opening on the skimmer (it is difficult to describe without seeing actual construction of the skimmer and seeing the location of the internal pump's inlet).

Be careful when taking the skimmer apart. The titanium screws that fix the top cone down to the lower body of the skimmer can be over-tightened resulting in cracking of the acrylic. The micro cracks can be fixed easily by applying some Weld-On but it is more easy to not be a gorilla like me and avoid over tightening the screws. The cracks wouldn't be an issue in sump since any leaking would be captured by the sump.

As you see in my photos, I take no chances and house the skimmer as well as all my reactors in vats that capture any leak and then drain back to the sump. Leaks happen ...

[ale2539]

Question. This is my current system. I have a 140gallon display with a 15gallon refuge and a 30gallon sump. I have 4 tangs with a total amount of about 25 fish. I like to feed heavy. and my tank is about 90% Sps. My question is i currently have a Atb 840 v2 and was wondering if i should upgrade to a elegance 200 or a Deluxe 8.5. what do you think.

[RevHtree]

Originally Posted by Hesham

If you are running the Elegance Pro 200 in sump, I don't believe there is any performance degradation. I took many airflow measurements a while back and the air draw when the skimmer is run in sump was the same as ATB publishes. This is for the AC powered motor. I cannot comment about the performance with the new DC pumps.

When the Elegance Pro 200 is run out of sump (as in my case), the performance is less than published. I found this was related to the flow rate of the pump feeding the skimmer and constriction of the feed line into the skimmer. This can be alleviated partially by upsizing the feed tube into the skimmer and increasing the flow rate of the external feed pump. The actual problem when running the skimmer out of sump is that the skimmer's internal pump is partially starved of feed water; the design could have been improved by using a slightly smaller pump that sits farther away from the inlet of the skimmer or by including a larger diameter inlet opening on the skimmer (it is difficult to describe without seeing actual construction of the skimmer and seeing the location of the internal pump's inlet).

Be careful when taking the skimmer apart. The titanium screws that fix the top cone down to the lower body of the skimmer can be over-tightened resulting in cracking of the acrylic. The micro cracks can be fixed easily by applying some Weld-On but it is more easy to not be a gorilla like me and avoid over tightening the screws. The cracks wouldn't be an issue in sump since any leaking would be captured by the sump.

As you see in my photos, I take no chances and house the skimmer as well as all my reactors in vats that capture any leak and then drain back to the sump. Leaks happen ...

What feed pump are you using? I am thinking of going external with my skimmer as well.

Also does anyone know where I can get a replacement pinwheel for my elegance 200 pro? Or better yet an upgraded pinwheel?

[Hesham]

Originally Posted by RevHtree

What feed pump are you using? I am thinking of going external with my skimmer as well.

Also does anyone know where I can get a replacement pinwheel for my elegance 200 pro? Or better yet an upgraded pinwheel?

I am using an RLSS DC-5000 as the feed pump to my reactors. The DC-5000 feeds into a manifold that distributes to an ozone reactor, carbon reactor, phosphate reactor, and skimmer.

I sent you a PM concerning the pinwheel replacement.