Bubble King Skimmer Club

[slief]

Originally Posted by kavatica

OK Slief ill be patient with it and make the small adjustments down the road youve really cleared up allot for me man, one last thing i see allot of skimmers that have the foam just crazy going over into the pot is this something i should see down the road as well i mean i know theirs allot of variables and tanks being diffrent but im just curious.
Thanks.

That depends heavily on the amount of DOC's in the water coupled with how wet you have the skimmer adjusted. The heavier the amount of DOC's the thicker and heavier the foam. The lesser the amount of DOC's the less thick and heavy the foam. Also, in an absence of DOC's the bubbles tend to burst at surface more as you don't get the same kind of foam fractioning. In my experience, it's the proteins or DOC's that kind of keep the bubbles or foam together. As such, a ton of thick foam is usually the sign of a lot of dissolved organics in the water which isn't usually a good thing in terms of water quality. Those that don't run a decent skimmer and setup something like a Bubble King that is really efficient will find that the skimmer will produce a crazy amount of foam in the short term and then settle in to a thinner foam as the skimmer catches up and reduces the amount of DOC's in the water. Once you get to know your skimmer and it's adjustments, you will get a pretty good feel for how well it's working and what's going on with your water quality in terms of dissolved organics in the water column.

[slief]

Originally Posted by slief

That depends heavily on the amount of DOC's in the water coupled with how wet you have the skimmer adjusted. The heavier the amount of DOC's the thicker and heavier the foam. The lesser the amount of DOC's the less thick and heavy the foam. Also, in an absence of DOC's the bubbles tend to burst at surface more as you don't get the same kind of foam fractioning. In my experience, it's the proteins or DOC's that kind of keep the bubbles or foam together. As such, a ton of thick foam is usually the sign of a lot of dissolved organics in the water which isn't usually a good thing in terms of water quality. Those that don't run a decent skimmer and setup something like a Bubble King that is really efficient will find that the skimmer will produce a crazy amount of foam in the short term and then settle in to a thinner foam as the skimmer catches up and reduces the amount of DOC's in the water. Once you get to know your skimmer and it's adjustments, you will get a pretty good feel for how well it's working and what's going on with your water quality in terms of dissolved organics in the water column.

I also forgot to mention that a brand new system will not have much if anything in the way of DOC's just like a system with a very light fish load. The end result will be a skimmer that doesn't produce thick foam and produces very little skimmate.

[kavatica]

Originally Posted by slief

I also forgot to mention that a brand new system will not have much if anything in the way of DOC's just like a system with a very light fish load. The end result will be a skimmer that doesn't produce thick foam and produces very little skimmate.

Originally Posted by slief

That depends heavily on the amount of DOC's in the water coupled with how wet you have the skimmer adjusted. The heavier the amount of DOC's the thicker and heavier the foam. The lesser the amount of DOC's the less thick and heavy the foam. Also, in an absence of DOC's the bubbles tend to burst at surface more as you don't get the same kind of foam fractioning. In my experience, it's the proteins or DOC's that kind of keep the bubbles or foam together. As such, a ton of thick foam is usually the sign of a lot of dissolved organics in the water which isn't usually a good thing in terms of water quality. Those that don't run a decent skimmer and setup something like a Bubble King that is really efficient will find that the skimmer will produce a crazy amount of foam in the short term and then settle in to a thinner foam as the skimmer catches up and reduces the amount of DOC's in the water. Once you get to know your skimmer and it's adjustments, you will get a pretty good feel for how well it's working and what's going on with your water quality in terms of dissolved organics in the water column.

Thats kind of what i thought but thought id ask, but really thanks for the info on this man. If i have any issues to come ill be in touch, thanks again.

[Reef_men]

Hi Evrybody,

I bought a new Bbk double con 150, I did set it up saturday, I did put the skimmer in the sump.

Set water depth to 6.75"
Open wedge pipe all the way
Open the white nozzle 4 0r 5 turns

The water seems to be pulsating into the skimmer. The water/foam level increases and decreases in rhythm. I also see air/water pulsating through the silicone tube from the volute into the red standpipe.

After reading comments on reef central, I did open and close the white noozle to increase and decrease the amount of air, but the skimmer still surging with the set ups.

Any recommandation?

Thanks

[UWUALineman]

SLIEF!!!!!!!!!! LoL
Reef, I'm currently in the same situation as you. First and foremost, be very patient.
This skimmer is extremely temperamental. I'm running my 150 at 7 turns out I believe on the nozzle and 7 inch water depth. I have found the higher you run the skimmer level the more air you need to add, there's just nothing else I have found to work. Continue opening the white nozzle until the surging possibly subsides.
It is not an ideal way to dial in the skimmer as I would prefer less air in mine and adjust with the wedge pipe.

[slief]

Originally Posted by UWUALineman

SLIEF!!!!!!!!!! LoL
Reef, I'm currently in the same situation as you. First and foremost, be very patient.
This skimmer is extremely temperamental. I'm running my 150 at 7 turns out I believe on the nozzle and 7 inch water depth. I have found the higher you run the skimmer level the more air you need to add, there's just nothing else I have found to work. Continue opening the white nozzle until the surging possibly subsides.
It is not an ideal way to dial in the skimmer as I would prefer less air in mine and adjust with the wedge pipe.

LOL...

You know UL, you could have a point in that opening the volute until the surge subsides is the key with that skimmer. I wish I had one to play with because I am sure I could find the sweet spot in a hurry. On the flip side, it's kind of funny to hear somebody say they would prefer less air in their skimmer. There are some that believe "he who has the most air wins" and are all hung up on how much air or scfh a skimmer is rated for. In my experience, you want as much air in the skimmer as possible (to a point). That point being where the skimmer starts responding for the worse or where you get bubbles that burst constantly at the surface.

In the case of this particular skimmer as well as others, surging is generally caused when there is so much water flow that the water can't exit the skimmer fast enough. The water height will raise creating head pressure inside the skimmer. There is a point at which that pressure will create a siphon out the effluent pipe of the skimmer. This causes the water level to drop fast. The cycle is then repeated which is why you see a constant up and down motion in the skimmer body that we refer to as surging. I've also seen this happen where something is directly in front of the effluent pipe on the skimmer such that it causes a bit of back pressure in the skimmer. Realizing that and also realizing that sump levels vary from one tank to the next, the adjustable volute becomes the tool of choice for balancing things out. Since this pump is constant rpm, opening the volute increases the air flow into the pump which in turn displaces some water with an equal amount of air, thus decreasing the amount of water entering the skimmer body while increasing the air.

Between sump level adjustments and volute adjustments is a sweet spot where you get a nice quality foam and a stable water/air mixture that doesn't produce much if any surging in the skimmer body. The nice quality foam is assuming you have enough DOC's which I will get to.

Reef_men, first off, welcome to Reef Central!!
A couple things come into play when installing a new skimmer. Reef_men, this one applies to you.. Give things a bit more time to settle in. A new skimmer (and you probably already know this) needs to build a slime coating up in the neck and body. We refer to this as breaking in. Until that happens (it can take up to two weeks) the body and neck will have more friction which can cause bubbles to pop prematurely or the bubbles may be larger than they will once the skimmer breaks in. During the break in period, adjustments to a minor degree will be a bit futile in that your fine tuning adjustments will really need to be made after the skimmer is completely broken in.

Having said, this is something I have mentioned in previous posts but I will reiterate it now. A skimmer needs proteins to create good foam. This is why they are called "protein skimmers" and this is a key ingredient to foam fractioning in a skimmer. These proteins are commonly referred to as DOC's or dissolved organic compounds. These DOC's are generated from waste like fish poop, uneaten food etc. It is why skimmers are rated for specific sized tanks and perceived loads. There are basic guidelines to minimum and maximum stock levels and good skimmer manufacturers like Royal Exclusiv rate the skimmer based on tank sizes due to perceived minimum and maximum stock loads. Royal Exclusiv is one of the few manufacturers that rates their skimmers honestly and conservatively where as many of the cheaper brands over rate them and tell you the skimmer is capable of larger volumes then they really are.

A skimmer is like a car or truck and needs a certain amount of fuel to operate and in the case of a skimmer, fuel comes in the form of DOC's. A smaller tank can only provide a small amount of DOC's where as a large tank can provide a large amount of DOC's. The end result is that if you place a really large skimmer on a really small tank, it will not work properly because there won't be enough protein or DOC's in the water for it to generate a good foam head. Instead what you will get are large bubbles that burst at the surface instead of a nice thick sticky foam where the bubbles stick together and overflow into the skimmer cup in a nice thick foam mess. If you have a well stocked tank and don't run a skimmer for a while and then set one up that is properly sized for the load, the skimmer will make some crazy foam for a while until it catches up with the waste and exports it in the form of skimmate. Then once it catches up, you would notice the bubbles or foam kind of change and the skimmate production slows down because there isn't enough waste in the water to keep up a great foam head or to keep the skimmer producing that nasty dark skimmate. With a properly sized skimmer, this is normal. Skimmate production will slow down but should remain consistent. With an oversized skimmer, this will be inconsistent. The skimmer will produce well for a short amount of time until the DOC's are reduced. Then it will idle along until the DOC's build back up at which point the skimmer will produce again and the cycle will repeat. Slow down, pick back up...

I only bring that up in case you guys or anybody happening upon this thread isn't aware of why the skimmer does what it does and what keeps them producing skimmate.

So reef_men, in your case, I suggest giving it a bit more time. You might consider raising the water level in your sump a tad but then again, you may be ok where you are at. Assuming your tank isn't brand new and assuming you have enough waste to feed the skimmer, you are going to have to find a balance between sump level and volute turns that not only creates stability inside the skimmer body but a balance that also produces decent skimmate assuming you have a decent amount of waste to feed it. Every tank is different. Salinity, DOC's, feeding habits, type of food being fed, even dissolved O2 or micro bubbles in the sump from the overlfow imact a skimmers performance. Oily foods such as mysis impact it as well just like placing your hands in the water. Those two can kill the skimmers foam in in a matter of seconds and it can take a couple hours or more depening the system volute for the skimmer to rebound.

I hope that helps. I monitor this thead constantly so I will keep an eye out for your posts. In the mean time, reef_men, how about a bit of info on your tank including display size, stock load and age of the system so I know a bit more and can better help you in the future.

[Lacktaters]

I will apologize ahead of time for this post, because I'm sure this question has already been answered in this thread. I'm just too lazy to read through 120 pages to find the answer.

I have a gen1 BK Mini 160 that works perfectly. I've had it for a few years and love it! It's darn near silent. My only complaint is that I can hear the air draw, a faint hissing sound, even from the other room. If I plug the tip of the silencer with my finger, the hissing stops, but the skimmer starts to overflow. I've pulled apart the silencer, and it's just an empty chamber containing two plastic straws. Is there anything with which I can fill the silencer to combat this hissing sound? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers

[Aquatron]

Try putting a cotton ball inside

[slief]

Originally Posted by Lacktaters

I will apologize ahead of time for this post, because I'm sure this question has already been answered in this thread. I'm just too lazy to read through 120 pages to find the answer.

I have a gen1 BK Mini 160 that works perfectly. I've had it for a few years and love it! It's darn near silent. My only complaint is that I can hear the air draw, a faint hissing sound, even from the other room. If I plug the tip of the silencer with my finger, the hissing stops, but the skimmer starts to overflow. I've pulled apart the silencer, and it's just an empty chamber containing two plastic straws. Is there anything with which I can fill the silencer to combat this hissing sound? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers

Did you buy this skimmer used? There is usually a foam filter in the BK silencers or at least there are on many of the new ones. That filter is in large part a key to the "silencer". You can as mentioned above add some cotton to it but it will likely restrict air flow if not immediatly, sooner rather than later. A better idea would be a tad bit of filter floss and not pack it in.

[Lacktaters]

Originally Posted by slief

Did you buy this skimmer used? There is usually a foam filter in the BK silencers or at least there are on many of the new ones. That filter is in large part a key to the "silencer". You can as mentioned above add some cotton to it but it will likely restrict air flow if not immediatly, sooner rather than later. A better idea would be a tad bit of filter floss and not pack it in.

Yeah. It was purchased used.

[slief]

Originally Posted by Lacktaters

Yeah. It was purchased used.

The previous user may have removed the foam from it then. Many of us do that as it can clog over time and restrict air flow. I haven't had that issue but I did remove the foam on one of my previous BK skimmers as noise has never been an issue on my tank.

[kavatica]

I'm such a noob I had the cover plate on wrong pump blasting through the holes instead of blasting the non hole part on that plate, only reason why I checked cause lastnight I was bored and just read through allot more of these threads and found one where someone was having an issue with theirs and the problem was that so I was like let me check mine.
Makes a diffrence in the skimmer got allot more head. (And who doesn't love that) lol

[danrobberg]

So what's the verdict guys? Are the bk skimmers worth it? I'm looking at a double cone 180 with rd3 pump for a 93 cube tank with total water volume of 120 gallons.

[slief]

Originally Posted by danrobberg

So what's the verdict guys? Are the bk skimmers worth it? I'm looking at a double cone 180 with rd3 pump for a 93 cube tank with total water volume of 120 gallons.

I think so.. I love my BK as most others do as well. The Double Cone 180 would be a great choice for your system. Especially with the RD3 pump.

[powder_blue]

My BK DC 180 w/ RD3 is the best skimmer I've ever owned. That RD3 is the cat's meow

[boogie01]

May I ask why it's the cats meow? I have the original pump on my skimmer and have the original return pump......I actually prefer without the bulky box that has to be put somewhere. Do they do anything better or something other than they are adjustable?

[slief]

Originally Posted by boogie01

May I ask why it's the cats meow? I have the original pump on my skimmer and have the original return pump......I actually prefer without the bulky box that has to be put somewhere. Do they do anything better or something other than they are adjustable?

Ultimately, they make fine tuning much easier. You don't need to reach in and adjust the volute but instead, adjust the flow and air to water ration (both are tied in together) with the push of a button. Because they have so many steps in the pump speed, you really have an ability to adjust the skimmer like no other product on the market. They also allow for a bit more flexibility in terms of sump levels. With a deeper sump, your likely to need less flow into the skimmer where as with a really shallow sump, you likely to need more. With the standard pump, sump levels become more critical. Lastly is a bit of power savings as the RD3's are rarely run at full power. I've run both and much prefer the RD3. It really makes fine tuning a dream. That said, the standard Red Dragons are also great pumps and a terrific combination with any Bubble King. The RD3 just makes things a bit more user friendly and easier to setup, fine tune and make random adjustments.

[boogie01]

I gotcha, and i agree advantages are there I just wished they offered it without the controller for those who like the products but like a set and forget setup with minimal equiptment. Mine is fine how it is but am thinking doing a new tank and would need new eqpt. if it could be set, then the controller unplugged and set in a closet/drawer would be sweet.

[kalgra]

I have the older style supermarine 200. Does anyone know if the optimal depth is 18-23cm like the new ones? I can't seem to find any documentation on the one I have.

[Klaus Jansen]

.@kalgra ...

Hope, it helps ....18-23 is the best level for this modell....

....http://royalexclusiv.net/images/cont...enance_eng.pdf

best regards ... Klaus

[kalgra]

Originally Posted by Klaus Jansen D

.@kalgra ...

Hope, it helps ....18-23 is the best level for this modell....

....http://royalexclusiv.net/images/cont...enance_eng.pdf

best regards ... Klaus

Thanks Klaus,

That is the manual I found. However mine is the version that does not have the cone at the top. So while it makes sense it would still function the same way at the same depth I was not sure.

[RoyalExclusivUS]

Since the announcement has officially been made on the Royal Exclusiv Website and the Royal Exclusiv Facebook page, the cat is out of the bag and I figured I would share this here as well.

Many of you know me by my other user name Slief. As you are already aware, I have been helping Royal Exclusiv Bubble King users in an unofficial capacity for a long time. Well, I am now officially heading up Royal Exclusiv USA support and service. There will be some serious changes in store from a support standpoint here in the US.. I've seen and coveted the way companies like Kessil, Tunze and Ecotech handle their support and service here in the US. In my mind, there is absolutely no reason why one of the best Skimmer, Pump and Sump manufacturers in the industry shouldn't have the best support and service in the industry to match.

I will be heading to Florida late next week to meet with the US RE team and put together a plan to insure that comes to fruition. I've been a reef aquarium and salt water hobbyist for over 27 years and I am also a Royal Exclusiv user and have been for a long time. I wouldn't take on a position like this if I didn't believe wholeheartedly in the quality of the product and my ability to see to it that my ideas for service and support can be implemented. As such, I will do my best to support new users and old and to set a new benchmark for the support provided by Royal Exclusiv here in North America.

We are also looking to setup an Official Royal Exclusiv Forum/Sponsorship here at Reef Central. I have already reached out to Reef Central to get that ball rolling. I will also be in contact with all of the Royal Exclusiv dealers here in North America so they know about the changes and have my contact info as well.

There will be more news in the coming weeks but I figured I would share this with you guys here. Also, please checkout the Royal Exclusiv Facebook page for more info and like us there if you want to keep up with the latest news.
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Royal...811?fref=photo

Here is the announcement.
We are very proud to announce that we have a new member at RE’s US-Team! Scott Leif is an absolute expert in our products and most of all saltwater aquarists will know him from his great activities at “Reef Central”.
As the responsible for our West-Coast Depot at Chatsworth, California. Scott will take care for the coming up “Royal Exclusiv” board at “Reef Central” and also for our customer and technical support in the US.
Thanks for joining us, Scott and WELCOME AT RE


http://royalexclusiv.com/

[kavatica]

Well i think it safe to say my BBK Mini 200 has broke in and i gotta say this skimmate i poor out smells like dog farts man omg , Love this skimmer!!!

[powder_blue]

Question about my RD3 on my DC180. I am currently running at 24w. It constantly shows 23-24 on the display. I push the up button and it shows 26 but then the pump runs at 24-25. I push it again to 28 and it runs at 26. I don't understand why. Any suggestions?

[slief]

Originally Posted by powder_blue

Question about my RD3 on my DC180. I am currently running at 24w. It constantly shows 23-24 on the display. I push the up button and it shows 26 but then the pump runs at 24-25. I push it again to 28 and it runs at 26. I don't understand why. Any suggestions?

I think when you push the key pad, the display initially provides a calculated estimate based on the motor speed percentage. Then, moments later it will display the actual draw which will vary ever so slightly based on head pressure within the skimmer. As such, the estimated draw when you first press the button may be slightly different than the actual draw that is displayed once the flow settles in. That would be my hypothesis anyway.