SnooknRedz's 75 Gallon(SHUT DOWN)

I honestly don't know all the troubles. I have had mine for ~ 1 month now with no problems, it starts/restarts fine, is quiet, and works quite well as far as I can tell. I have heard some horror stories of people experiencing a variety of these problems I mentioned above. Plus I am fairly certain it is not going to last too long, since the warranty is only 6 months. Even SWC doesn't want to stand behind that pump very long. LOL

Even so, when the pump does die I'll replace it with something else and still have a killer skimmer for not a huge amount of cash.

 

Yup its definitely the sign to go SWC

I hope my Atman never craps out on me.

 

Oh, well that sucks. What kind of pump is a good skimmer pump then? i know not all skimmer and pumps will coincide with each other. Theyre made for use with a certain pump so over/under rated pumps will greatly affect the performance. (THIS IS MY UNDERSTANDING)

If i can find a skimmer that already has a quality, durable pump on it, i may over look this SWC then... but i mean replacing a pump isnt that bad, but still i want the best I can afford as well.

 

Im glad you see the sign too lol.

I hope for your sake it doesnt either! I feel like to avoid these problems, would it be best to leave it on 24/7. Instead of always restarting it, and rolling the dice if itll turn on or not, wont that help in that arena? Maybe dial the bubbles down as far as they go when feeding or cleaning the empty cup? but then again if im always messing with it like that, the level of bubbles can be altered, no?

 

Not really in the lower end price range. The Bubble Magus uses the same pump as the SWC cones, RO uses extremely cheap OTP pumps that are notorious for problems. However, some RO use the Bubble Blaster pumps that are pretty close to a Red Dragon for way less money and carry a hefty warranty (3 years) but IME the actual body of these skimmers was so poor that I wouldn't go that direction. I had my RO Body (Came with the BB pump) craze so badly within a month of owning it, that it was actually warrantied.

With everything in life, each person's experience is going to be different. I've seen friends run some of these pumps ~2 years with no problems, and other have stuff going wrong after 6 weeks. Anything mechanical has a propensity to break. I would just choose what will thrive in your system, that you are comfortable with, that has decent reviews and hope your one of the lucky ones who has little or no problems.

 

I know i would love to have something with a Bubble Blaster pump, i hear those things are nice! Thanks for the input on the RO as well, i see what you mean SWC seems to be a better body for sure.

I think i may go ahead and get the swc, and like you said if sh¡t happens then thats life, ill cry about it, get over it, put my man panties on and deal with it then... hopefully i wont have to but thats not for me to decide.

 

Heres the end product of my Google stetchup of this project's plumbing and lay-out. I'm one of those dudes that has to see it before I even attempt at making it. Well I feel that it goes along smoother that way
**NOTE the returns on the first picture will be connected via vinyl tubing. I will WYE it from the pump to the 2 returns.



Heres another way i thought about doing the returns, Im sure both will work, but which one would be best. Given that i do not care about either way, ill go with either or.

 

I prefer the "T" at the top, should reduce flow a bit. In most cases you'll want to slow down your return flow to maximize skimmer/fuge contact time in the sump.

In fact you may wish to add a loop section on your return as well as a coupler for easy flow adjustment and removal of return pump for cleaning.

 

Wow, you went all out on the plumbing. I didn't even do that. Nice job with sketchup.

I prefer the one with the two lines at a diagonal going up to the tank. That way it will not restrict the pump as much. If you want less flow, then just dial back the pump.

 

Yeah im def gonna have to put a valve on the pump to dial it back some if needed.