epleeds June 9, 2016 June 9, 2016 I have the ATB and love it. But that bubble King is sexy as H-E-double hockey sticks
epleeds June 9, 2016 June 9, 2016 For the price. You might as well go for the 250. It's not that much more.
ridetheducati June 9, 2016 Author June 9, 2016 For the price. You might as well go for the 250. It's not that much more. I do not have enough DOCs to keep the 250 viable.
monkiboy June 9, 2016 June 9, 2016 (edited) DOC's?dissolved organic carbon/DOC (dissolved) + particulate organic carbon/POC (organisms/particles in water column) = total organic carbon (TOC) Edited June 9, 2016 by monkiboy
epleeds June 9, 2016 June 9, 2016 (edited) I thought it was fish poop Thank you Edited June 9, 2016 by epleeds
ridetheducati June 9, 2016 Author June 9, 2016 I thought it was fish poop Thank you It includes that waste as well.
DCReefer1964 June 9, 2016 June 9, 2016 Your current skimmer should be more than enough. There is no proof that the design of the BK make it far superior over the others. That said I do love how well built and pretty they are. That is a lot of $$$$$ . If you get it used at a good price no brainer , but if that pump fails $$$$$$$ .
ridetheducati June 10, 2016 Author June 10, 2016 The current skimmer is working well and removing all the nasties. I just want, sorry need a new toy. A replacement pump for the ATB is approximately $350.
epleeds June 10, 2016 June 10, 2016 The current skimmer is working well and removing all the nasties. I just want, sorry need a new toy. A replacement pump for the ATB is approximately $350. Tell me about it. I just had to replace my skimmer pump. But on the other hand, it was at least 8 years old. But there is a new guy running ATB-USA out of Richmond that is awsome
gws3 June 10, 2016 June 10, 2016 Tony I believe I have the same skimmer as you on the 300, SRO XP5000 internal. I run a ATB Large Cone on the other system (predecessor to the 1260, almost identical except it has one bubble plate vs two). No experience with the bubbleking. Between the ATB and the SRO the SRO has slightly better build quality IMO. Fit and finish is excellent on both, but the SRO materials are slightly thicker on the skimmer body. As for pumps, however, the airstar is of better quality than the bubble blaster. As far as performance the two skimmers are a bit different, mostly due to the pumps. I believe the ATB Large Cone has an Airstar 1500 or 2000, I can't really tell to be honest. The pump has less output than the bubbleblaster, and the skimmer body is slightly bigger than the XP5000. This results in a very stable skimmer, but I actually think the SRO out performs it. The bubble blaster 5000 really has strong output, I feel it's a bit oversized at times for the XP5000. Typically only when I do something to cause it to overflow (like adding medication or aquamend when I frag corals). Once it overflows it's hard to get it to calm down. But when the tank is running well and water quality is stable it performs very well. Another thing to note is that I am a fan of neck cleaners. The SRO one is the best... since it has two wipers. I have a swabbie on the ATB but it's a bit harder to keep the single wiper straight and contacting the whole neck surface. Anyway, I think the "upgrade" to the ATB or bubbleking would be a waste of money. $1500 buys a lot of other cool toys for your reef. Another reefbrite, skimmer neck cleaner, maybe a hydrowizard?
ridetheducati June 10, 2016 Author June 10, 2016 Appreciate the input Graham. I have the SRO 5000 with all the bells and whistles. I agree with your assessment of the BB5K, it is an excellent pump that maybe slightly too strong for the skimmer body. That is a key reason why I installed the neck extender, more dwell time. I am considering setting up ten more QT tanks in order to get more fish through the process. My fish bio-load is extremely low; I need about 20 more fish.
s2nhle June 10, 2016 June 10, 2016 I have bk double cone and so far it is my favorite. The build quality is much better than the SRO, vertext, skimz and other brands that I have owned..
GraffitiSpotCorals June 10, 2016 June 10, 2016 I am using a bk 300 with the two red dragon pumps. The small pump went bad so I am going to put a cheaper pump on it. It is a beautiful skimmer for sure and well made. I like the bubble plate and cone inside, it really handles a lot of bubbles and flow through it. I wonder how much better/nicer the controllable pump is though. For the price, I am not sure how much better the bubbleking performs compared to other skimmers. I am running a 4' 12" wide euro reef with three large ehiems and 3 Mazzei injectors which pulls twice as much as the bk. But the bk is still doing its job well and skimming constantly. I definatly have enough in the water to have both running very well, which is somewhat of a surprise for my water volume. I haven't used or seen an atb skimmer so I couldn't chime in on that.
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