Bubble King Skimmer Club

[cbrguy]

I'd go with the 400. I am pretty sure the max size for the 300 is 700g and you would be over that.

[dadonoflaw]

thats what i was afraid of.

[ccradr]

So I joined theclub by purchasing a SM250. The question I have is what are you guys using to prop your skimmers up on in your sumps? And where can I find it?

[ccradr]

So I joined the club by purchasing a SM250. The question I have is what are you guys using to prop your skimmers up on in your sumps? And where can I find it?

[BananaHammer]

I am pretty much a lurker in the forum. But I joined the BK club with a 300 Internal Deluxe. This thing is amazing. I look at my euro-reef and can't begin to think that I was actually impressed by it.

My skimmer arrived and of course it was like x-mas morning. After running for a few days, there was some chatter in the pump. I am gone 4 days out of the week, so the panic set in. I contacted Proline Aquatics to see if the problem could be resolved.

Albert Dao returned my email promptly and then proceeded to contact me by phone to walk through the issues. Without having the skimmer sitting in front of me, we went back and forth of possible things it could be. He basically gave me a check list that I could go down next time I was home.

Well, the problem was the impeller. The needle wheel was not seated tightly on the shaft. I sent Mr. Dao an email after he had tried to call me (missed the call) on a SATURDAY because he knew I would be home on the weekend. The following Wednesday he had shipped my impeller and it was in my hands by Friday (if memory serves).

I just want to give props to the people at Proline for being so quick on their response and overall customer service experience. If I ever have to upgrade again, I will do another Bubble King. This thing is... well, simply amazing. Any product that Proline Aquatics handles would put assurance in my purchasing decision.

Thanks to this thread, my decision was made mostly based on the discussions present here.

Cheers all!
- Blake

[Padrino]

Great to hear!

[tonyespinoza]

could use some help with sizing a skimmer for my system...

I bought a Deluxe 300 External for a large SPS system i was building (200g display, 100g fuge, 100g sump). But recently upgraded the display to 350g, there will be 2 fuges 150g each (one dark and one chaeto) plus a sump. So it's looking like 700g total volume. The BK 300 may be able to keep up since the stocking level will actually be in line with roughly a 300g display. But I am thinking of leaving room in the sump to drop in a SM 250 or a 300 Internal. Does anyone have any experience running multiple BK's on a big system? If I were starting from scratch I might start with a bigger skimmer, but this BK 300 Deluxe External hasn't even seen saltwater yet so it seems like a shame to sell it and start over at this point...

[tonyespinoza]

Another thought is that maybe the new BK Cone would be a nice compliment to the BK 300 Deluxe i already have... maybe has different strengths and won't compete as directly?

[tbone28]

I've received several PM's over the past couple of weeks asking me if I still like my SM250 and how I have it set up, so I decided to take a quick pic.

Sump level: 8.5"
pump intake nozzle: I have it set where the black dots meet the 2nd time around
Wedge pipe: ??? no point of reference. All I can advise is to mark your sweet spot with a Sharpie marker. That's what I did. You can see in the pic the 2 black lines I marked. I used that as a reference point when I want to go wetter or more dry

For those who asked if I still like my skimmer, I think this pic will answer your question

This pic is 5 days worth:

[Proline]

T-Bone
Where have you been?

[Creetin]

Good to see ya still around. Seen ya had some work ahead of ya a bit back. Hope things have been well.

[catastrofe]

Originally posted by Johnny Reefer
Posted earlier about buying a second BK SM250, as I was impressed with the first one. However, the construction of the second 250 is unlike the first. Two main differences.
- The two skimmers are the same height, overall, but the body of the second skimmer is shorter and the neck is longer. I do not see this as an isuue. The two skimmers appear to perform equally.
- The collection cup on the first skimmer is simply held on by gravity. Simply lift it off for cleaning. However, the second skimmer's collection cup screws on. And plastic threads, at that. Why? Why change a good thing? This really irks me. I paid $1700 CAD for this skimmer and I really hope it isn't ruined by the plasctic threads becoming damaged by removing this cup twice/week for cleaning .

I'm the proud new owner of Supermarin 200/RD2. It replaces my BK Mini 160 which was undersized for my system. This quality of this skimmer is amazing, and it's quieter than my Mini! You can see some pics in this thread:

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showth...readid=1618482

I have to agree with Johnny on the threaded collection cup. The lift off design of the Mini is perfect and apparently this design was used on the original Supermarin. I wonder why the change?

From a practical standpoint, screwing/unscrewing the cup is a pain because of the drain fitting/tubing. It catches on the wedge-pipe assembly with every revolution. In a sump mounted under a cabinet, you almost have to be a carnival contortionist in order to remove/replace the cup.

Maybe Klaus can chime in on the design change?

[ccradr]

T-Bone....what size tank do you have? Whats the stocking like? Do you dose carbon?

[tbone28]

Originally posted by ccradr
T-Bone....what size tank do you have? Whats the stocking like? Do you dose carbon?

180g, 220g total volume. heavy stocking (tangs and anthias) and heavy feeding twice daily.

[Proline]

For those having problems with the drain tube catching during cup removal, you can trim the hose down and reinsert the stopper for a quick fix

- Albert

[tonyespinoza]

hey albert - what is the collection cup waste tube size on both the BK 300 Deluxe and BK 250 Cone? are they both 10mm?

[DaveJ]

Alright... dumb question, but we are allowed this right??

When you guys are quoting your sump level, are you referring to the height from the base plate to the water line? Or the top of the nozzle on the pump to the baseline??

Reason I ask is that my Deluxe 250 red dragon is about 4" tall to the intake nozzle... so how the depth is measured counts. That results in, for example, the depth in the sump to the base plate being 8" and the actual height of the top of the intake nozzle to the waterline is 4".

[tmantaylor18]

Just got done reading all 91 pages. I picked up a bk mini 200 yesterday. Will this work with my 125 + 40 gallon sump ok?

[Proline]

Originally posted by tonyespinoza
hey albert - what is the collection cup waste tube size on both the BK 300 Deluxe and BK 250 Cone? are they both 10mm?

You bet, same on both models.

Originally posted by DaveJ
Alright... dumb question, but we are allowed this right??

When you guys are quoting your sump level, are you referring to the height from the base plate to the water line? Or the top of the nozzle on the pump to the baseline??

Reason I ask is that my Deluxe 250 red dragon is about 4" tall to the intake nozzle... so how the depth is measured counts. That results in, for example, the depth in the sump to the base plate being 8" and the actual height of the top of the intake nozzle to the waterline is 4".

Bottom of the baseplate to the resting water level within the sump. This will put you at the 'sweet spot' for these skimmers.

Originally posted by tmantaylor18
Just got done reading all 91 pages. I picked up a bk mini 200 yesterday. Will this work with my 125 + 40 gallon sump ok?

All I can say is 'get a lot of fish, corals and feed lots'.

In all seriousness, this is largely dependent upon many variables including stocking density, age of the tank, composition of the fauna, secondary filtration processes/methodology and the age of the tank.

If you're finding that the skimmer has trouble pulling gunk out of the water consistently, you may have to set it to run on a timer OR take it as a queue to buy more corals.



- Albert

[goofball310]

WOOHOOO!!!!!! I'm finally gonna be part of the club. I placed my order with Salty Supply two weeks ago for a 300ext and I finally got the tracking number yesterday. I kinda feel let on though cause they kept telling me they would send it out, and then yesterday they told me it went out last week. When I checked the tracking number it didn't go out til yesterday. Oh well, live and learn and move on. Skimmer should be here by Friday and should be on my tank by..................................................................

Maybe I'll use it to skim my 2.5 gallon SPS pico until my 175gal cube is built in June. Better yet, I'll just use the BK as my pico.

[TheReefKeeper]

Albert Any News Yet?
Thanks

[TheReefKeeper]

Albert Any News Yet?
Thanks
Chad

[TommyBelfast]

I have joined this club through the purchase of a Bubble King Super Marin(es) 200.

I’ve been running it for a few days, so it is still breaking in.


The build quality seems quite good, and the pump appears to be of high quality and is very quiet. I actually started to use a cone skimmer from a different RC sponsor, but decided I wanted a little more, and went with the dual cone of the BK SM 200. If aquatic genius Klaus Jensen says that a cone within a cylinder is better, then it must be so. Heck, if Klaus Jansen declared the superiority of a rhombic dodecahedron within an octagonal prism powered by dual Red Dragon air stones, I’d be in!

Anyway, I will now complete the internet tradition of asking product-related questions after already making the purchase:

1. I have read in previous thread that RE was considering an upgrade path for those who own a Red Dragon-powered skimmer to move to a Red Dragon II, is this still a possibility?
2. On those lines, I also read that Mr. Jansen suggested the 170W RD 2 was too much for these smaller bodies, and that the upcoming 80W RD2 was a better match. However, I see that some retailers are pairing these with the RD2-170. Which is better?
3. I’m making a custom sump around this new skimmer, and not sure how to size the skimmer compartment. How would the footprint change with a Red Dragon 2 replacing the Big Block Red Dragon?
4. The label on my Red Dragon 1500 claims an adjustable air intake of 1000-1600 L/h, and adjustable water-flow of 800-3000 L/h. I see that I can adjust the water-flow with the convenient twisting nozzle, but it was stated that this does not change the airflow significantly. How would air be adjusted?

Great skimmer so far. This was a bit more than I was planning to spend on a protein skimmer, but I am glad I did. I’m sure it will pay off down the road with a healthier system and I won’t have to stress out and wonder if I have the best skimmer or not.

[catastrofe]

I'm curious as to why there's a difference in the airline construction between the SM200 with a standard RD pump and the SM200/RDII that I received. It also looks like the standard pump comes with a fitting/hose attachment for ozone but the RDII doesn't? Pics are posted here: http://reefcentral.com/forums/showth...readid=1618482

[TommyBelfast]

Originally posted by catastrofe
I'm curious as to why there's a difference in the airline construction between the SM200 with a standard RD pump and the SM200/RDII that I received. It also looks like the standard pump comes with a fitting/hose attachment for ozone but the RDII doesn't? Pics are posted here: http://reefcentral.com/forums/showth...readid=1618482

Somewhere in one of these threads I saw the question posed about model designs changing. The company response was something along the lines of "Klaus is always making improvements to his designs."

I think you have a newer one--your airline hose goes right into the wedgepipe like the new generation minis. You also get the 90 degree elbow in your collection cup drainline--mine goes straight down so it can get in the way when I am putting the collection cup on.

I have seen pictures of the big block red dragon nozzles with ozone intake, but I have no ozone intake on mine SM200. I guess I got one of the early ones. We'll have to splice in ozone into our airline hoses.