I received this skimmer yesterday, assembled it, and today replaced my Lifereef SVS 24 in sump skimmer with it.
So, here’s the background about what is going on. Several years ago I couldn’t get the venturi unblocked on the Lifereef skimmer. The skimmer periodically gets calcium deposits in the venturi and these have to be cleared. For years I would just shoot RO/DI water into the blocked venturi under pressure using a 10cc syringe. However, it got blocked to a point I could no longer clear it sufficiently. Instead of doing what I should have done, ie. run it in a vinegar bath for a day, I drilled a small hole in the venturi to unclog it, messing it up. Following that, I went without a skimmer for many years, just using a refugium growing macroalgae.
Recently I was having trouble stabilizing a new 30-gallon saltwater tank and a little CPR
Then I decided to put a skimmer back on the 75gallon reef tank. I contacted Jeff at Lifereef to see if I could get a new
So, after getting the venturi and modified cup I tested it out. I was having difficulty getting the skimmer tuned in, and it wasn’t working well. I was also concerned about 73 watts that my Rio 3100 pump required, compared with the listed 8 watts of the Bubble Magus Curve 7. Later, I put a Kill-o-watt meter on the Rio 3100 and it measured only 39 watts of power used.
Eventually, I had to build a 2-inch stand for the Lifereef skimmer because I couldn’t get the water height adjusted right in it. That resolved the water level issue, but it just didn’t seem to be skimming well.
I said to myself, “screw it”, and ordered the Bubble Magus. The very next day after I ordered the Bubble Magus, the Lifereef skimmer got dialed in well and was skimming properly. Figures.
So, I am now trying the Bubble Magus to see how it compares to the Lifereef skimmer. The instructions are the typical mangled English you get with many Chinese products. I mean, how much could it cost the company to pay someone to do that properly? Anyway, I assembled it and put it in the tank. The whole setup is much lighter and has a much smaller footprint. It is also noticeably quieter. It is not that the Lifereef skimmer was loud, but in my TV room, a drop of 5 or 10 dB is significant. The power draw measured by the Kilowatt meter was 21 watts. The 8-watt listing is at 240 volts, and it is supposed to be 18 watts at 120 volts. Some websites just list it as 8 watts, so this is misleading for both reasons. Still, it is about 1/2 the power requirement of the Rio 3100. Also, the skimmer stopped making bubbles after 1 hour. I traced this to gravel entering the pump. I removed as much gravel from the sump as I could, cleaned the pump, and the pump started making bubbles again. They really should include a strainer on the pump intake. Some microbubbles are appearing in the aquarium. After 12 hours it is not yet skimming, but skimmers can take a few days to break in, so I’ll wait and see. It seems to be generating sufficient bubbles to skim properly, once broken in.
I will update this later after the skimmer breaks in.
Update 11/29/2017 (after using it for about 6 months):
The skimmer has been working flawlessly. After the 2 modifications which were made early on, there have been no failures due to gravel entering the pump and the venturi has not clogged from a calcium build up. I just empty the cup when full and occasionally clean the cup.
Update 2/1/2019 (after using it 21 months)
See Comments:
Mod #1
Mod #2
Update 2/1/2019
2 Comments
asolof · May 27, 2017 at 8:05 pm
2 Mods
#1. To prevent repeated clogging of the needle wheel impeller with small gravel pieces, macroalgae, worms, etc. I placed a foam block over the pumps intake as a pre-filter.
#2. From experience with previous skimmers and from reading reviews of this skimmer on the internet, I found this skimmer is also prone to deposit buildups in the venturi’s air intake. To prevent that, I used Jeff Turchec’s method (Lifereef) of connecting the venturi air intake to the skimmer cup. To do that I used a piece of regular airline tubing; connecting one end to the air tube that normally plugs into the skimmers muffler, and the other end was inserted a few mm into one of the holes in the lid of the collection cup. This works by allowing condensation of humid air in the airline tubing (see photo), allowing an intermittent trickle of fresh water into the venturi, dissolving the salts before they can build up.
asolof · May 24, 2017 at 9:37 pm
So it took about 12 hours for the skimmer to start skimming. I had some microbubbles in the tank, but traced the problem to the tank’s return hose too close to the return pump’s intake. Had another episode of getting gravel in the skimmer pump, necessitating opening the pump to clean it. It happens when the return pump hose is moved, stirring up the small amount of gravel in the sump.