My 90g + 20g sump mixed reef

[mikerobart]

Hey Bob little confused I've got only one down pipe and one return and the skimmer is not plumbed in at all just sitting in sump. Always leave my valve on the down pipe wide open.

[mikerobart]

New skimmer should arrive today! 

I'll be sure to do a little review for you guys... need to drain and clean my system before it's getting installed in the new sump but I may run it in a tote with sw and maybe whatevers in my current skimmer cup just for kicks. I believe I have read no vinegar bath needed for this guy.

[CA1]

Hi,

Is that skimmer a SWC 120 or SWC 160? I am looking foward to your review, I am looking at ordering the SWC 160 for my new tank upgrade.

[mikerobart]

The SWC 160 cone. I'll keep you in mind and try not to be too lazy with review and getting it up and running !

Have an SWC extreme 200 now and issues are I think it may be oversized for my bioload, and takes too much space for sump I want to run. I think I will be able to get more consistent production from the 160 cone from what I have read, and have seen lots of happy customers on other forums.

[CA1]

I have read alot of good reviews on it on other forums also.

[Bob P]

K, I've got two down pipes. You have one.
Is it a ball valve in your downpipe? I have seen
a hermit crab block one setup that way so the down
flow fell way behind the return pump that fried when it
went dry.

[Bob P]

By skimmer pipe, I am referring to the downpipe that "skims" the surface of your tank.

[mikerobart]

I understand you now. My down pipe does have a true union ball valve just under the tank before the flexible hose that delivers the water the rest of the way into the sump. The ball valve is always wide open ( I have not needed to close it but included just in case I had some need to.)

I have never had any snails make it over into the corner overflow area that I have noticed although I agree it's a possibility. the "teeth" or gate that skims the surface normally extends a good half inch to inch above the usual water level, so the snail would have to want to completely exit the water, cross to the other side, then find it's way to the bottom of the overflow box, and back up the standpipe and into it ( it's a durso type standpipe design that came with the reef ready tank.)

So far so good. I'm made more confident by the fact that even if totally plugged my return section would run dry before the display overfilled onto the floor. I'd rather have a burnt pump than a flood but this system is not enough peace of mind for some people. 

[mikerobart]

So I got home from work to find my skimmer waiting for me at the door.  I couldn't stay long so I only had time to take it out of the box, give it a quick look over and snap a few pics. Bonus is the t-shirt that swc includes... maybe should have asked if it came in small... it's gigantic on me. Other than the giant t-shirt... everything looks to be in order.

Build quality seems very solid. Pretty hefty skimmer, thick acrylic... build like a tank as far as I can see. Nice o-ring seal around the skimmer cup. I like that it can be completely disassembled. Also nice, although not a big deal of course, is that it comes completely assembled. Don't even have to twist a few pvc tubes together... it arrives completely built and boxed pretty nicely in a tall box with Styrofoam walls. Other than that though there is not much packing material inside so the skimmer can bounce around a bit but as everything is tight together cannot see how it would be able to cause any damage. Everything looks clean, polished and solid.

The skimmer looks a little smaller than I expected, especially the collection cup, but I am comparing to the beast extreme 200 that I am used too. I think the fact that the body is easily only 1/3 or less the volume of an extreme 200, and will have over 1/2 the air pull... the bubble density will be much higher inside the body and this is what I am hoping for and have seen in pics/ vids of the skimmer.

I'll add more details as I get it running and taken apart etc. Just wanted to throw something up for anyone who is interested. At this point I feel I got a pretty decent skimmer for the buck. Speaking of bucks, I paid only gst from SWC in Manitoba, and shipping was $28.97 (expedited, Canada post..ordered Friday morning arrived today, Tuesday morning). Anyone who orders from these guys be sure to check the exchange rate and make sure they have updated the website with a current rate if it gets you a better price. Total was $326.38 to the door. More to come later but pics for now:

[groan]

nice! i notice you are only using 2 baffles for your bubble trap.
i'd like to know how that works foryou. i use 3 but since the last stage leaves the water flow coming out over the top i'm afraid that the water just flows over top to the out-side and the buylk of the water just circulates underneath in that middle section.
at least for yours it flows out the bottom and is forced up to exit to the next area.
hmmm...

[mikerobart]

That's what I was thinking when I went with just the two baffles. At least the water has to go all the way down and back up and I'm not too worried about microbubbles from this skimmer. Also, will likely be using a filter sock on the overflow pipe so bubbles even less a worry. I'm thinking I may change the sump to specifically accomodate a filter sock. Right now the fit would not be great. If I widen the skimmer chamber I could run the sock behind it, or I could have a separate sock chamber. Still deciding that one. 

[Hookup]

I really like the holes on the bubble plate... shows that some good thought was given... the SMC in the cup-cover is sexy as well... looks like a really sexy fit into your sump.

[mikerobart]

Yeah the bubble plate is well done. Man this skimmer body is insanely milked out... Incredibly small bubbles... Running in my cooking tub I just took the rock out of. Already has a nasty frothy foam head after just a few minutes. I'll let it run all night and see what we can get in the cup. So far I'm very impressed. This is a beautiful thing. Very quiet as well.

[mikerobart]

Well the skimmer pulled what little it could from the relatively clean water I was cooking some rock in... but I still wanted to dump some skimmate in and see what it could do... Of course this is not regular operation since a bunch of skimmate was actually dumped into the rubbermaid with it.. but it pulled the stuff back out FAST. Because there was so much it went into overdrive and the skim is pretty wet even though the water level was set very low in the skimmer.

[groan]

Thanks, I may just have to remove my last panel...

[mikerobart]

I guess it skims. The real test will be when it's set up on an actual tank and I won't be able to do that for a little while yet.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qjT-dg083RQ