Would appreciate your recommendation

[phixer]

A couple of questions. I need a skimmer recommendation for a 672 gal tank. I have a height restriction of 32" . Looking at Aqua C EV 1000 or ETSS 1800 XR. Are there any others that would work for this set up?
Should I use a deep sand bed in display or just in the refugium? Here's why I ask, if the DSB requires waste from the tanks inhabitants to work wouldnt the skimmer render it useless if the DSB is in the refugium? If I put the DSB in the fuge and something goes wrong with it, it would be easier to replace than if in the display tank. Ive heard that a DSB will eventually reach a saturation point where it can no longer process the waste produced. At this point the algae problems begin. Is there any truth to this?
Thank you all

 

[acrylic51]

I won't get into the debate on DSB, but if it were me it would seem more plausible and reasonable to run the DSB in your sump.....As you mentioned yes they will reach a saturation point regardless of what some will say and they will need to be recharged....Thus IMO easier done in the sump vs the DT......
As far as skimmers, you mentioned 2 and there are tons of skimmers that are way better suited for the application.....AquaC and ETSS would be my last choice unless given to me for the job on a 672 gallon tank......Reef Octopus, Skimz, ATB, and there are a few others that would be tops on my list.....

 

[phixer]

Thanks Shawn, how about MRC skimmers have you any knowledge about them?

 

[acrylic51]

That was my skimmer I ran on my 240....They are an external skimmer basically, and need a good pressure rated pump to drive the beckett heads....I ran the MRC 3R dual beckett recirc skimmer. A skimming monster and when it comes to skimmers processing tons of water you can't go wrong with a beckett skimmer.
I might add that these are not a set and forget type skimmer. These things do need to be tweaked, and different things can affect how they skim and air quality being number 1 issue IMO.....They have separate adjustments for the beckett heads which control the air into each beckett. These things have a prefilter on them and they do clog quite frequently. Some people complain over time that the becketts themselves start to rattle; make noise, which isn't an uncommon problem, and it's an easy fix that can be done with a little super glue. With that said if I were to run this skimmer again I would supply the skimmer with air from the outside.....I did that on my skimmer as well after some time and playing with it.
I'm not sure what pump MRC recommends anymore to drive their skimmers....At 1 point a mag drive and Blueline or Panworld were pump choices....Stay away from Blueline, Panworld IMO.....I had nothing but issues when I ran the skimmer with these pumps, and went through 4 different pumps, and all were junk IMO.....I can speak from a bit of experience again on these pumps, and I'm running 1 currently on my rock curing vat and it sucks.....Noisy and runs warm....I'm also running a smaller 1 on my mixing station and again runs warm, but his 1 is rather quiet, but it's probably running a bit warm due to the load it's carrying.....I'm using it to circulate roughly 200 gallons of water at about 4' of head.....This pump I am creating the issue for, but the others there is no excuse. With that said you can get a good or bad pump of any brand no adays......
Another thing to consider with using this skimmer is that the exit or drain output from the skimmer cannot be submerged below the water line of the sump. If you attempt to set it up this way it won't skim properly due to putting to much back pressure on the skimmer......

 

[phixer.]

Interesting, Looking at an MRC Orca Pro 2 , it comes with a Reeflo pump? Have no experience with that pump though. It's a needle wheel skimmer. I'll steer clear of the pumps you mentioned though.
The other MRC I have my eye on is the MR-6R but it's a recirculating one so different configuration entirely. If possible I would gravity feed this one from the overflow. It dosent come with a pump.
It's been many years, glad to see your still on the boards here.

 

[acrylic51]

Quote:
Originally Posted by phixer. http:///t/394241/would-appreciate-your-recommendation#post_3509014
Interesting, Looking at an MRC Orca Pro 2 , it comes with a Reeflo pump? Have no experience with that pump though. It's a needle wheel skimmer. I'll steer clear of the pumps you mentioned though.
The other MRC I have my eye on is the MR-6R but it's a recirculating one so different configuration entirely. If possible I would gravity feed this one from the overflow. It dosent come with a pump.
It's been many years, glad to see your still on the boards here.
Wow......You have a big setup currently; and I'm curious what pumps your using on your current setup......
The MR-6R is basically as I descrbed my 3R.....Just it has a longer body....That is 1 of the nice things about that line is you can add onto the "neck" I'll call it and actually increase the size capacity of the skimmer.....Again I can't recall off the top of my head what pumps their recommending now, but it would need to be a good pressure pump to drive that beast.....
As far as the Orca Pro 2 skimmer.....Again same deal made by the same company MRC, but teamed up with Reeflo (Chris) and is utilizing the Reeflo pump.....Reeflo pumps have been around a long time.....Basically they are a spin off of Sequence pumps.....The Reeflo pump is just outfitted with a needlewheel impeller......Again love the Reeflo pumps, cant beat them when it comes to moving tons of water....These skimmers were the "hot ticket" awhile back, but I think the major drawbacks of the skimmer are the electrical consumption when you compare it to other similarly sized skimmers and electrical consumption.....Another is size of the skimmer....The other major drawback I can see is cost.....When it comes right down to it, know adays the new cone skimmers these monsters can't really rival with.....Money wise probably close but electrical consumption they can't compete....
Sorry I reply out of sequence, but certain things catch my eye over time......As far as gravity feeding the skimmer.....Well there's no correct or incorrect way and to each his own.....I think you would be more better suited to actually run another pump to supply water to the skimmers vs gravity feeding from an overflow......Funny thing is back in 2005 I was on the same path of feeding mine from the overflow, and basically its a bad idea.....Sounds novel, but those tiny, small bubbles that come through the overflow, and it doesn't have to be constant or consistent bubbles, but these wreak havoc on the skimmer and makes it hard to tune, and then it makes the foam head somewhat unstable do to the skimmer wanting to "burp" since it's intaking bubbles disrupting what the pump is doing.....This was talked over many hours back when I purchased my skimmer directly from the oringinal owner of MRC. A few others were involved in the conversation back then as well, and even on my current setup I had thought about feeding directly from the skimmer, but drawing from past knowledge won't even bother......

 

[phixer.]

The 672 is one Im currently building. Have put together a couple of similar sized tanks over the years since I used to hang out here many years ago. I hate bowing so am making this one thicker, since the panels will be heavier and harder to machine Im going to get them smooth and then use #42 instead of solvent to bond it.
I have two Sweetwater SHE 2.4 pumps from a 1700 gallon shark tank that I took down many years ago. Will probably change the seals out and re-use one for a closed loop and the other for the sump. I knocked the salt off of them and they look pretty good, thinking they put out about 4200 GPH each but dont quote me on that. Id have to look it up.
I wont bother running the overflow into the skimmer as you suggested. Really do like these MRCs, just dont know which one is best. Have to ask, why dont you like the downdraft ETSS 1800? It dosent seem too popular I noticed, is this because of build quality or just older technology?

 

[acrylic51]

Those are heavy panels......I have a piece of 2" laying around and holy crap.....Couldn't even imagine building with that......It's hard getting a good edge on thick material.....1" IMO is to much to go through an average jointer at the house.....To much for me to handle.....You could do it with a good router and straight edge, but that's going to require a good quality beefy router to tackle that material and bits would be outrageous........
Curious how your planning to control the weight of the panels....Being when you apply your solvent 42 how your going to support them to prevent squeeze out and creating a dry joint.....I'm use to working with the 40 and have gotten pretty good at it....Actually I enjoy sniffing it mostly......Bad headaches in the morning though.....
I wasn't trying to discourage you on how you set the skimmer up.....I just recall that was my first choice to cut down on pumps, and was advised by Andy about possible issues.....The skimmer did work trust me, and as I pointed out if your looking for a set and forget I don't truly think either fit that bill.....I guess I'm trying to compare it to a smaller needlewheel skimmer where you adjust it and not much tweaking needed after that.....The Orca is a needlewheel, but I think it would be easier to tune and keep tuned vs the standard MRC 6R. Pound for pound I don't think neither of these have any real great advantage over the more size equivalent cone skimmers on the market.....Comes down to electrical consumption and that's why most have shunned them IMHO.....
As far as ETSS.....Kinda beckett style skimmer, and old school.....Trust me nothing wrong with them, but again it all comes down to efficiency and comparing to what's out there today and you compare them to the cone skimmers....It's a no brainer, and better performance out of the new skimmer....Build quality wasn't ever an issue really with ETSS.....Just that style of skimmer doesn't fit the consumption role most of us are trying to chase.....Face it running a system isn't cheap be it from equipment to the build stand point. Then you factor in your costs to run monthly and you spending major cash powering a skimmer.....I'd rather use that big pump to push water around my tank vs inside my skimmer....With that said why not incorporate smaller pumps, and yes on cone skimmers there'd be multiple pumps, but they will still draw nothing compared to the monsters your talking and they won't pull near the air/water ratio as well.....

 

[phixer.]

Definately, that's why Im using the 2 part stuff this time. 678 lbs empty is what it will weigh. Pinske makes a straight edge 120" long or I could make one but it's risky trying to route material this long. At least I wouldnt feel comfortable doing it by hand. I think I will just have an acrylic shop with a 10ft CNC router table bevel the edges for me rather than try do it myself. The key to not having to anneal it is to keep the material cool during machining. After it's milled, if you wipe the edge with alcohol and it crazes then it probably overheated when machined and will need to be scraped down to get to the good material, normally about .030 to .050 taken off. If you wipe it with alcohol and it dosent craze right away then the edge is probably good and can be cemented without annealing.
Interesting...thats for sure, I need to find anyway I can to save electricity on this. Have you noticed a difference in power consumption and performance with a cone skimmer? Have never owned one so I have nothing to compair it too.
May sell the Sweetwater pumps if I dont use them. They were free so Id like to get some use out of them but not if their energy hogs. They are supposed to be pretty energy efficient for their size but as mentioned I may not need pumps this big.

 

[acrylic51]

I haven't personally run a cone skimmer, but the in all honesty if you look at the power consumption of the pumps used to drive the skimmers a beckett skimmer isn't electrical efficient.....The small pumps used on the newer model skimmers at tops might pull 40w, vs a power hungry pressure pump......Then you factor in (1) pressure pump to drive the becketts of the skimmer....then possibly another pump smaller of course to supply the skimmer with water.....Way over what a newer model skimmer would consume. You could possible run 2 cone skimmers both equal in size compared to 1 equally sized beckett skimmer.....Plus the air the new skimmers pull, the becketts still lagging......




Model



Watts @ 10’ Head



Amps @ 115V







SHE1.7



170



1.5







SHE2.4



220



1.9







SHE2.9



260



2.9







SHE4.4



400



4

Again just a quick comparison on what your suggesting on running.....Not sure entirely what exact pump your running, but their up there.....

I'm sure the numbers are close and I'm quite certain these puppies could more than handle your flow from DT to sump and definitely for a CL..........

Again looking at nothing but shear numbers and these pumps can be changed as far as impellers, and the numbers still are a little better.......

Again more food for thought......You have to think about it.....At some point in your setup you seriously have to start thinking about electrical consumption with nothing more in mind than shear size of the system.....Figure a return pump or 2......A couple CL pumps.......Skimmer supply pump, and then a pump to drive the skimmer, plus any other additional PH's utilized inside the DT......

 

[phixer.]

Thanks. I need to consider this.