24 hour skimming?

I am thinking of switching from Aquac EV120 with MAG 5 to MSX 160 with PPW on my light bioload 75G mix ( 4 fishes: 3 clown, 1 blenny). This is not due to performance consideration, my EV120 produce greatly in my tank . I have been reading a lot in MSX club thread, from the post of MSX owners (for example picture of amount of skimmate produced in how many days) and my experience with EV120, I don't expect MSX 160 to produce much more than my EV120.

The reasons for the switch is that I have to time off my EV120 at night for 8 hours due to the noise of MAG 5 and water splash sound from exit gate. My tanks sit in living room, the loud lever is OK in day but very annoying at night. I would expect MSX 160 performs quieter with PPW with on par performance with EV120.

So how critical is 24 hour skimming? I have worry on DOC built-up (and conversion to NO3/PO3) in 8 hours at night, even I know that my EV120 will catch up in the morning.

Do you think this switch worth wise for the sake of 24 hour skimming?

 

noise sux i would switch

 

it's worth freeing you from the hassle of timers or manual turn offs/ons or dealing with noise.

I'd do it

But not for 24 hour skimming reasons.

 

On my EV I just used a sponge to break the water fall. It was rather noise free. When I went to a different sump, I even made a tray out of egg crate and zip tied it around the gate valve.

You can try to put the pump on a spoge to limit the hum.

I went from a EV 120 to a better skimmer. Honestly though, I don't think I was pushing the 120. I had much more fish than you. So you won't see much an improvement now just because the 120 is doing plenty. Down the road you might see a difference.

I have what is considered a silent skimmer, yet it still makes noise. It still draws air and there is still a hum from the pump. Although less than the mag 7 running my 120.

I guess my point is that I wanted an upgrade. You will get one too. Turning your 120 off at night, is not hurting because of the low load. It has plenty of time to do it's job. Just be careful of one person's opinion of "quiet". I t might very well be very quiet, and you might ver well still hear it at night. The MSX 160 would perform better than the EV-120. Much less adjusting.

 

I'm not totally familiar with the AquaC EV model but I have the Remora model and I put some cloth over the section where the intake is and it DRASTICALLY cut down on the noise. Perhaps that could work for you. This isn't very descriptive but really all you do is cover the top of the section containing the intake and spray injector.

 

Thank you guys! I will do the improvement.

Powerman, do you mean even bubble king is not silent enough? Oh man if so I really need to reconsider because I can not imagine msx can run quieter than bubble king.

 

You can still hear the air draw. It is more that the EV and it has a silencer, but it isn't "silent". But it draws a lot more than the EV

The BK minis are hard mounted on the inside of the skimmer body. It has rubber feet it sits on and I have no doubt those quiet the pump. But much of the hum is still transmitted through. It is quiet. My Mag 5 for my chiller is the noisiest thing in the sump.

Mind you though, I have all my stuff in a closet that I don't sleep next too. I think the way the MSX is configured it will be quieter than mine. You still might hear the air draw, but it isn't obnoxious. I feel confident saying it will be much quieter than the setup you have now.

I know you are over at RC too. PM MOJO for his opinion. He has had much more hands on with a bunch of skimmers and has tested the MSX 160 out. He has been very helpful with me.

 

If the only reason for switching is noise, I wouldn't. With the bioload you have (practically none), you could turn the skimmer off for a week and it wouldn't hurt the tank. The nitrates and phosphates aren't really being dealt with by the skimmer itself other than possibly removing some before it breaks down but with the bioload you have, that isn't really an issue if you have Rock in place to handle the actual nitrogen cycle.

As for noise, you will always have a whistling sound from an air inlet if the air is being drawn in at any real rate through it. You can make a simple DIY air silencer if yours doesn't have a silencer on it. 2 dollars or so and thats mainly for the two caps. Fill it with cotton balls, and hook it up:

Red: PVC Caps
Blue: PVC Pipe
Black: In and Out Airline
Not pictured: Cotton in the silencer.


Drill a hole in each cap the size of your airline. There is no need to glue it and gluing it together will make it impossible to service it if it gets water in it. I have seen them made with pill/prescription bottles as well, I just liked this one since I had all the stuff to make them with.

The ones I made are 1" but it doesn't really matter what size they are but the larger the better. The idea is to create a space where the air is changing directions and cut down on the noise. Its the same principle that is used in automobile mufflers to quiet them down.

 

Nice design, Hikk! I believe strongly that simplicity is always better.

 

Thanks but I got the idea from RC so it isn't my own, its just a very good design is all