jamesbuf November 26, 2008 November 26, 2008 Finally got my latest toy up and running last night. How does one upgrade from a Deltec. Look and see................. There is easily 3-4 times as many bubbles in the body as compared to my old Deltec. Looks like it's in the "break-in" period, but a foam head is starting to form this morning. This thing is a BEAST!!! I'll never have to upgrade again!!!
jamesbuf November 26, 2008 Author November 26, 2008 Oh yeah, forgot to say what kind of skimmer it is. Its an Orca 250, with a Reeflo needlewheel pump.
jason the filter freak November 26, 2008 November 26, 2008 So in terms of price how is it against a comparable del tec
davelin315 November 26, 2008 November 26, 2008 It's cheaper from what I remember. The only problem for me in looking at that was that I didn't have room for a non-submersible skimmer in my tank room.
DaveS November 26, 2008 November 26, 2008 What's that hose that runs down to the gate valve which is attached to the PVC that got tons of other valves? Is is the feed into the skimmer? What's all those other valves on the PVC for? You got lots more toys coming online? BTW, it looks like your skimmate drains into that PVC pipe but it looks like the pipe goes through the table, underneath and dumps into the refugium? Wacky!!
jason the filter freak November 26, 2008 November 26, 2008 What's that hose that runs down to the gate valve which is attached to the PVC that got tons of other valves? Is is the feed into the skimmer? What's all those other valves on the PVC for? You got lots more toys coming online? That would be the incoming water BTW, it looks like your skimmate drains into that PVC pipe but it looks like the pipe goes through the table, underneath and dumps into the refugium? Wacky!! Looks like that to me too...
paenian November 26, 2008 November 26, 2008 I'll never have to upgrade again!!! On the contrary, now you need to upgrade your tank to keep up with that skimmer. Paul
vaironman November 26, 2008 November 26, 2008 Then a new lighting system for the new tank. The list goes on. It's catch 22. We are all addicts to this hobby. Reefnuts, I named my small circle of 4-5 reef friends.
davelin315 November 26, 2008 November 26, 2008 This thing is a BEAST!!! I'll never have to upgrade again!!! I agree with everyone else. That's like saying that Steve Outlaw won't change tanks before the end of the year.
gastone November 26, 2008 November 26, 2008 so is it better than a bubble king? I can't argue the merits of skimming capability of one over the other as I've owned neither, though from doing a fair amount of research I would classify both of them as excellent skimmers. However, a dart is just a tiny bit cheaper to replace than a red dragon.
jamesbuf November 26, 2008 Author November 26, 2008 so is it better than a bubble king? Depends. I personally don't like non-recirculating skimmers. I had a non-recirc skimmer once and I'll never own one again. Having the bubble producing pump also be the feed pump, means that all king of crap is gonna get stuck inside the needlewheel. The first time I cleaned the needwheel, it have snail shells, cheato, and all kinds of other random crap caught inside the needlewheel. It wasn't until after I cleaned out all that junk, that I realized how much this severaly affected bubble production. I'll always own a recirculating skimmer because it increases dwell time and you can filter the water coming into the skimmer, so that no large particles get inside the skimmer body to clog the needlewheel. I don't think this will be an issue with the Reefle pump though, since it'll probably rip anything large into shreds. Plus I like not having my skimmer sitting in the water. All kinds of stuff grown on the outside of the skimmer and such. Plus, I like how I have the skimmer at eye level. I used to hate having to get on the floor and squeeze inside the stand to do maintanance on my in-sump skimmers. Now that I have all my equipment in the closet, I'm much better about doing my regular maintanance on equipment. That being said, I've been impressed with every BubbleKing I've ever seen. I think they are WAAAAAAAY overpriced for what they are. I ended up getting an incredible deal on the Orca, which ended up about 1/4 of the price of a comparable rated BubbleKing. I don't care how good those Red Dragon pumps are, they aren't worth that. I saw two people using this skimmer before me, Dan (zoozilla) and Kahn (Bendalat), and both have had great success. I've seen what this skimmer can do and I'm looking forward to having this skimmer for many many years to come.
jamesbuf November 26, 2008 Author November 26, 2008 BTW, it looks like your skimmate drains into that PVC pipe but it looks like the pipe goes through the table, underneath and dumps into the refugium? Wacky!! That's exactly what what it does. As you can see, it converts to 2" to 4", then 4" to 6" opening. I wanted my equipment on top of the stand, but I didn't want tubing and PVC going all over place, so I figured one drain up top could help do away with alot of the excess tubing. I installed that about a year ago.
jamesbuf November 26, 2008 Author November 26, 2008 On the contrary, now you need to upgrade your tank to keep up with that skimmer. Paul Already have plans. The equipment closet is actually next to my bedroom, so I'm setting up a 60gal cube (2X2X2) in my bedroom, and just plumbing it in-line with my existing system. Its gonna house my Riteri anemone and clown trio. I'm sure the skimmer will also be able to handle any other upgrades I may decide in the future. After having seen Eve's beautiful tank today, I know I'm gonna own a monster tank one day in the future. Can't wait.
jamesbuf November 26, 2008 Author November 26, 2008 What's that hose that runs down to the gate valve which is attached to the PVC that got tons of other valves? Is is the feed into the skimmer? What's all those other valves on the PVC for? You got lots more toys coming online? Yes, the clear tubing is the feed line to the Orca. I'm gonna replace with with black tubing eventually. No more toys coming online just yet. My Kalk reactor has been keeping up with my Ca needs just fine, for now anyways, so no need for a Ca reactor just yet. One will probably be used to feed my BRS media reactor, one for a denitrator, and one as the feed for the 60gal in my bedroom. A few extras there for future needs. Maybe a remote DSB. Who knows. All I know is that I won't need individual maxijets to feed equipment anymore!!!
Almon November 26, 2008 November 26, 2008 BTW, it looks like your skimmate drains into that PVC pipe but it looks like the pipe goes through the table, underneath and dumps into the refugium? Wacky!! Wait... The SKIMMATE from the Skimmer CUP drains into the refugium? That can't be right. You skim the heck out of the water, just to put the crap back? No, that can't be right.
jamesbuf November 26, 2008 Author November 26, 2008 Wait... The SKIMMATE from the Skimmer CUP drains into the refugium? That can't be right. You skim the heck out of the water, just to put the crap back? No, that can't be right. Nope. The drain from the skimmer cup will eventually drain into a 5gal bucket or something. I only have it setup that way right now until the skimmer finishes it's break-in period. I was told that the skimmer can go wacky and overflow the cup during this period, so its best to just allow it to drain into the tank if there is an unfortunate overflow. It hasn't produced anything yet. Gotta get the oils and residue off the new acrylic. This is my first brand new skimmer since I got my old ASM. That thing took almost a week to produce anything, I'm hoping the wait for this one isn't as long. I probably shouldn't have sold my Deltec just yet. I'm running my fuge 24/7 until the skimmer starts producing something. I'm sure once it does though, it'll clean the water pretty quickly.
davelin315 November 26, 2008 November 26, 2008 This isn't by any chance the one that Justin was selling before, is it?
jamesbuf November 26, 2008 Author November 26, 2008 This isn't by any chance the one that Justin was selling before, is it? Bingo. I definitely owe him one.
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