Bubble King D.C. 150 or mini 160

[abhishek@1985]

Hi Slief ,

Looking for some advice here .Am planning to get either a double cone 150 or mini 160 for a 70 gallon all acro tank with 20-25 gallon sump .
Currently have 10 fishes - mostly anthias and wrasses and butterfly and hence fed like 4 times a day .

Now , I love the footprint of the 160 and the pump .But I always prefer to have the pump located outside the body for easy cleanup .
Plus the footprint of the D.C. 150 is better suited for me .
But question is whether it can handle the bio load as I might add more fishes .

Wish it came with RD3 pump for the D.C. 150 and I would buy it immediately .

Please share your thoughts .

Regards,
Abhishek

[slief]

I like the 160 for it's set it and forget it nature. The Double Cone takes much more time to get dialed in. You could go either way. While I also subscribe to having the pump outside the body is better mentality, the Mini's are terrific skimmers, easy enough to service and work amazingly well. I have a Mini 160 on a 90 gallon of mine and really love it.

[abhishek@1985]

Thanks slief for the prompt reply. If I go with a DC 150 , any pointers to help make tuning easier ?
What water level in sump is recommended and do I need to turn the volute on the pump to make finer air adjustments ?

Regards,
Abhishek

[slief]

Originally Posted by abhishek@1985

Thanks slief for the prompt reply. If I go with a DC 150 , any pointers to help make tuning easier ?
What water level in sump is recommended and do I need to turn the volute on the pump to make finer air adjustments ?

Regards,
Abhishek

I'd start with the skimmer at 6.5-6.75" deep and start with the nozzle 4.5 fulls turns out from fully closed. You will need to use the nozzle to fine tune from there and every system is different. The amount of waste/dissolved organics, salinity, surface tension all impact the ideal setting. The ideal setting can range between 1.5 and 5.5 full turns out but it's usually between 4 and 5.5 full turns out. It also helps to close the nozzle all the way by turning it in and use a sharpie pen to draw a line across the nozzle into the part it threads into. This will give you a point of reference for where you are at when fine tuning. It also helps to take notes.

Use the nozzle to find the point where the foam is the most dense. On the 150, you will be aiming to get the line where bubbles turn to foam about an 1 or 2" below the white collar where the cup attaches to the body.

Here is a short video I did when testing a Double Cone 150 a couple years ago. It touches on some of the issues people run into when they don't understand how to tune it properly. This was done in a test tank that I dumped some skimmate into so it had something to skim.
https://youtu.be/AA5WRls5h9E

[abhishek@1985]

THats an amazing and precise note Slief !! Thanks a lot .
1 last question - what's considered as heavy load by bubble King ?
If I go for the D.C. 150 for a 90-100 gallon tank , what's the maximum load it can take .

My tank currently has a pair of clowns , 3 Randall's anthias , 3 wrasses and a copperband fed atleast 3 times a day with frozen mysis , bribe shrimp , LRS ,nutramar ova .
Is this high ?

Regards,
Abhishek

[slief]

Originally Posted by abhishek@1985

THats an amazing and precise note Slief !! Thanks a lot .
1 last question - what's considered as heavy load by bubble King ?
If I go for the D.C. 150 for a 90-100 gallon tank , what's the maximum load it can take .

My tank currently has a pair of clowns , 3 Randall's anthias , 3 wrasses and a copperband fed atleast 3 times a day with frozen mysis , bribe shrimp , LRS ,nutramar ova .
Is this high ?

Regards,
Abhishek

You current load is nothing. A heavy load would be 1/2" of fish per gallon of display volume. You have a long ways to go! These skimmers are also very conservatively rated. I doubt you would ever have too heavy of a load in a 90 gallon display..