Is it enough??? - AQUAC EV-120 PROTEIN SKIMMER

Mag 12 will not pull that much more than a 7. 15 amps will supply a tank, but you also need to know what else is being powered on that circuit.

If power use is a problem, needle wheel skimmers are very good, low power consumption, and tons of makers make them at all price points.

 

It's done

It's done, i taged the 240 with the mag 12 ... If anyone has any feedback on this rig i'd really appreciate it.

 

Thanks Power man, i taged the 240 before i read your post. The onlything on this breaker currently is the tank with 2 mag 12 powerheads, a Tunze universal top off system and lighting which includes one T5 strip, 2 MH 250w and 4 65w blues, the soon to arrive chiller is a jbj titanium 1/4hp 120v which Sparky says will use 1.355 volts max if i remember correctly. The breaker also holds half my kitchen outlets so there may be a coffee maker and a toaster oven here and there but that's all. My primary concern right now it getting the water clean. The skim cup was full to the top when i picked up the tank. The girl didn't seem to know what a skimmer was so i don't think she every dumped it.

 

When you say "pull much more than a 7 does that mean .7 amps or 7 amps? If that's the case i won't be able to run the second mag 12 that's coming with the EV 240 skimmer

 

Found it!

Flow Rate: 1200 GPH maximum flow with a 15` shut-off
Power Consumption: 110 Watts, 115V/60Hz, 1.5 Amps


The above is what Mariedepot.com had on the stats for the Mag 12.
It seems most of the thing i thought would draw a lot of power are ending up to be around 1.5 amps. The 250 MH bulbs are the same per bulb i believe from what i've been reading. I feel a lot better this knowing that.

This would be my brakedown if what i have found is right:

chiller 1.7 amps,
1 T5 35000k - 1
2 250mh bulb 3 amps,
4 64w blue florescent 1 amps,
5 maxi jet 1200 powerheads - 4 amps,
2 mag 12 pumps - 3


If the above is correct then i should still have around 4 or 5 amps left for my toaster oven and my bullet blender.

 

That's 14 amps on a 15 amp circuit. The chiller will cycle on and off. Starting current is higher than running. water pumps are assuming max flow. You need to make sure other stuff in the kitchen isn't on it. If you keep popping the breaker, you will need to do something.

You are doing it right. Look at the manufacturer data or the name plate on the device and add it up.

I have nothing against AquaC. I had one with no complaints. EVs are solid skimmers. You can do worse. However, they use a higher power pump to run them, and work better with a bigger one. If you are going to go that route, I would suggest you look at Precision Marine Bullet skimmers. They use Becket injectors. You can run a 1 on a Mag 12. A Bullet 2 would be plenty and need a Mag 18.

Needle wheels are as good, but use less power if that is an issue. Don't forget also that new 135 is going to add a lot to your power bill. Euro Reefs, Octopus Extremes, even Precision makes them. ASM G2s and G3 are very popular. Mine only uses 39 watts for it's pump. Like I said, do your home work and get what will work the best for your set up and needs.

 

That 240 will do you just fine. But only if you stock moderately. If you want to stock to capacity, I would run the 120 as well......if you have room in the sump. Also, you may have to buy a Mag 18 for that badboy. A Mag12 will probably work, but just be prepared. The Mag 12 isn't a waste of money.....so don't worry about that. You can figure out how to use it to increase flow in your DT if anything else. And there is a pretty good breaking in period for this kind of skimmer. My ETSS took about a month to really do anything good.....and another month to do anything great. So be patient there. If you clean your skimmers, there is another break-in period you have to deal with. I don't plan on ever cleaning out my skimmer.

 

I'm put the tank in my consultation/waiting room and talked with my accountant. I should be able to write the tank and everything to do with it off on taxes. No one ever questions my powerbill with taxes because of all the computers and lighting gear i have to run 24/7. It would be nice to know how much this will cost. I won't be able to do $200 more a month on electric, it's already up to $250. I just called the power company. They said they charge 10 cents per killowatt, I'm not sure if that tells me anything though. If I wanted to determin how much it costs to run the tank per day or week is there a formula? Or is it a matter of looking at a powerbill after a month and compareing it to a bill from before i got the tank?

 

Your bill may go up maybe $30 a month if you run everything hard and have MH lighting. When I changed both my tanks' lights to MH, added more powerheads, and added chillers to both tanks, my bill went up $32 a month. I pay about $90 a month total on my bill, with all my tanks running and my dad that lives with me running his power hungry PC all day.

 

Ya, what tigermike said. You are getting commercial rates. My bill went up about $25 bucks when I added it. You simply take the voltage and amps to get watts, then expand that out for days and month. At .10 a killowatt hour, you talking $20, $30 tops.