Bubble King Skimmer Club

[Proline]

Originally Posted by wpnorton

Nope, I'm not sure it's the motor, but it sure seems like it. The impellor will spin Intermitintly for a minute then stop dead. Manualy rotating the impellor doesn't prompt it to move at all. Could it be a power cord issue? Can I send it in to be serviced?

The motorblock isn't dead. You'll want to examine the bearing for calcification, then re-seat it properly.

- Albert

[wpnorton]

I'll pull it apart again and examine/clean everything. I hope your right. It sounds like worst case scenario IYO woulb be a bad bearing. I'll let you know if it's still DOA after another vinegar scrubbing.

[Creetin]

You will want to check both bearings. The top just under the black plastic plate, and the one thats seated in the motorblock.
My money says the top one needs a good cleaning. Be care full with the top one and dont force it free. Let it soak overnight. (The whole impeller assembly)

[wpnorton]

We'll....I'm a dumb ***. After soaking and cleaning the impeller assembly, I tried to reassemble and must have pushed in the wrong spot. The ceramic shaft snapped in two. How do I do about getting a replacement? I think I read somewhere that it takes a 50mm impeller?

[Jeremy B.]

We can get an impeller assembly for you. Give us a call at 317-895-9005.

[KRASHPD]

For a 50 Gallon tank with 20g sump, would the Mini Bubble King 160 or Alpha Cone 170 be a better skimmer? Or, is there a better choice then these two?

[mojo~]

The 160 is even toobig really but it would work. the 170 is bigger yet. IMO, Maybe a SRO 1000, vertex in 100 or something on those lines would be a better fit.

Just my two cents though.

[Canadian]

I run a BK Mini 160 on a 50g with 20g sump and I agree with Mojo that it is probably oversized. I don't get the most consistent skimming and I have to keep the bubble line quite high in order to get it to collect in the cup and not smatter skimmate all over the riser tube. And for reference I have 10 fish in my 24" 50g tank, feed 3 times a day and run the outlet from my Biopellets to the skimmer intake (i.e. all things should contribute to more skimmate production).

Originally Posted by KRASHPD

For a 50 Gallon tank with 20g sump, would the Mini Bubble King 160 or Alpha Cone 170 be a better skimmer? Or, is there a better choice then these two?

[asmodeus]

Originally Posted by Jeremy B.

I would recommend cleaning the skimmer every 3-5 months, just make it standard practice. I knew a guy who purchased a Mini 180 that was 10 months old, and pulled the impeller out upon receipt. It was the nastiest, calcium deposit covered impeller I have ever seen. It was completely white!

Hmmmmm that reminds me what is it going to cost for a wet neck. for a SM 250

[Gomojoe]

Does the D300 from Premium Aquatics come with the RDII motor? It doesn't really say on the website?

[Jeremy B.]

@asmodeus, are you referring to the self cleaning head? To my knowledge I don't know of anyone making a true wet neck for the BK's.

@Gomojoe, we have 1 D300 Internal left with the RDII pump on it. The remaining Delux's have RDI's.

[Padrino]

Jeremy,
In your honest opinion, What would be a better skimmer the SM250, Alpha 300 or a different skimmer?

[Laverna]

Well I guess I am part of the BK skimmer club ...
Thanks to everyone here who posts as I needed to make a decision between
skimmers and your threads/posts helped a bunch. This is very exciting for me as I have always bought my skimmers used to get a better unit than if it was new. I will have 4 10 gallon surges on my system so I went with the external set up so I dont need to worry about the sump volume.
Here are a few pics... Enjoy.
















Excellent skimmer and extremely easy to set up and tune!

[Padrino]

Originally Posted by Padrino

Jeremy,
In your honest opinion, What would be a better skimmer the SM250, Alpha 300 or a different skimmer?

Sorry i should specify that this will be on a system ranging between 350-500 gallons

BTW Laverna that looks sweet!

[asmodeus]

Originally Posted by Jeremy B.

@asmodeus, are you referring to the self cleaning head? To my knowledge I don't know of anyone making a true wet neck for the BK's.

@Gomojoe, we have 1 D300 Internal left with the RDII pump on it. The remaining Delux's have RDI's.

ya that is it I cant believe that I jsut called it a wet neck after looking at it the self cleaning head..

[Jeremy B.]

The self cleaning heads for the 250 model skimmers are on sale right now for $629. If you want the one with the cup cleaner as well that one goes for $1019, but I can get you 15% off of that one for a limited time if interested.

[jbanks]

Joining the Club with an SM250 running on 180 display with 50 Gallon Sump. Sorry, no just out of the box shots, I was too anxious to set her up

Just set up




Three weeks later....disgusting...and the smell is unbearable...carbon pads here I come!! NO CUP BITING FOR ME

This was Thursday night:


Last night:

[Padrino]

What is the difference between the RD1 and RD2 pumps?

[asmodeus]

Hmm well as you all know I have a SM250 skimming a 150 gal mixed reef mostly SPS and slowly making it to a lps tank with 5-6 sps and the rest softies and leathers.
where is everyone keeping there water level at i would like to run a wet skim mate, Or is that possible. and the volute on the pump how many turns are people running them at.

I hear 2
I have 3 for a wetter look
I also hear that its to much skimming for my tank, I should only tun it 12 per day on a timer. is that a good idea. Or should I start jacking up the feeding. I thought about getting a smaller skimmer too.

[Padrino]

I would suggest increase feeding, If you decide to downsize i have a BK mini 160 and would love to buy a SM250 perhaps a trade of some type?

[asmodeus]

hmmmm 160 I had the pleasure of trying the 200 on this tank wasnt that great bought it used it for a month and sold it
thanks any ways

[jbanks]

Originally Posted by asmodeus

Hmm well as you all know I have a SM250 skimming a 150 gal mixed reef mostly SPS and slowly making it to a lps tank with 5-6 sps and the rest softies and leathers.
where is everyone keeping there water level at i would like to run a wet skim mate, Or is that possible. and the volute on the pump how many turns are people running them at.

I hear 2
I have 3 for a wetter look
I also hear that its to much skimming for my tank, I should only tun it 12 per day on a timer. is that a good idea. Or should I start jacking up the feeding. I thought about getting a smaller skimmer too.

I'm currently running at 2 turns, but I'm skimming fairly dry. You can always raise your water level in your skimmer to skim wet.. With SPS, I don't subscribe to the skimming too much concept. If the system is running too clean and your corals are fading you can always feed more or add more fish..

My SM250 is on a 180 filled with SPS colonies and frags along with a fairly heavy fish load and it's considered overkill on my system as well, although the skimmate it's collecting is getting darker and thicker by the day. If a skimmer is too large for a system, at some point you should see a noticeable change in your foam head as nutrients are depleted. I also think the diameter of the neck has somethig to do on whether a skimmer is too big for a system or not and the Sm250 has a very wide neck. ( I'd like to hear Jeremy's thoughts on this based on his exeperience with testing multiple skimmers) As I see it, If your not feeding heavily and do not have a heavy bio-load, you may be on to something.

[unbreakable]

Does anyone clean the "neck" of their BK180 or BK160 mini? Its the part where you set the cup on the body. Mine is getting dirty

[tbone28]

Originally Posted by jbanks

I'm currently running at 2 turns, but I'm skimming fairly dry. You can always raise your water level in your skimmer to skim wet.. With SPS, I don't subscribe to the skimming too much concept. If the system is running too clean and your corals are fading you can always feed more or add more fish..

My SM250 is on a 180 filled with SPS colonies and frags along with a fairly heavy fish load and it's considered overkill on my system as well, although the skimmate it's collecting is getting darker and thicker by the day. If a skimmer is too large for a system, at some point you should see a noticeable change in your foam head as nutrients are depleted. I also think the diameter of the neck has somethig to do on whether a skimmer is too big for a system or not and the Sm250 has a very wide neck. ( I'd like to hear Jeremy's thoughts on this based on his exeperience with testing multiple skimmers) As I see it, If your not feeding heavily and do not have a heavy bio-load, you may be on to something.

I, too, run an SM250 on a 180g. I'm also at 2 clicks. It has been running strong like this for 2+ years now

[jbanks]

Hey TBone, I knew we would cross paths at some point.. Your suppport for the SM 250 played a huge role in my decision to buy this skimmer.. What a great purchase... Thanks for all the pics that you posted in the past...