Sea Clone Quality (no really, Im serious)

[Phiche Master]

I have seen alot of trash talked about the sea clown, and I wanted to champion their cause, since no one but scribe seems to. Keep in mine that I just ordered a Euro Reef CS8-2-RC, I do know quality. I decided to try a SeaClone100 out on one of my systems(50g) to see if I could use it on some of my clients tanks(not expecting anything more than an overly adequate airation device). To my surprise, approx, 3 hours after I hooked it up it started pushing foam. I expected at least a few days before I could make a decision as to its effectivness....as it turns out, 3 days in it was pumping daily cups of funky brown skimmate, thick viscous foam and it hasnt stopped since. I just turned the venturi adjuster 1.5 turns and its been perfect. The tank its on has an overflow, so the water level is pretty high....maybe a contributing factor in its effectivness. It is completely stock, right outta the box, and it has no micro bubbles or anything (though there were microbubbles in the first few days) ...one thing I did notice is when I dosed phyto in the tank the skimmer went nuts, and blew micro bubbles everywhere(dense), but after that I started dosing in the sump, and no more problem. Just I little thumbs up to the greatness of the sea clown

[drock59]

wow, wait till you get the ER

[Julio]

ER pull out a tremendous amount of gunk great skimmers.

[russ49merc]

I have one on my 60 and it works just fine. can't afford a better one

[JessB]

got one (the bigger 150 version) in mine for over a year...
cranks out slime everyday....

[drock59]

but not as much slime as a lot of better skimmers. Whatever you think works for you though.

[Phiche Master]

I got the ER, its on a bigger system....the seaclone is still on the same system(Im scared to jinx it) and is still making full daily cups of skimmate and thick viscous foam. I wish it had a bigger collection cup, cuz its a pain i the a$$ cleaning it everyday. Id install a drain, but once again, I am scared to jinx it. My ER is a bad MFer, I hooked it up to the return so every bit of return water gets lots of contact time, I love it. It makes tons of nastiness, but honestly at sumthing like 12% of the cost, the seaclone is(or at least this one)a very viable skimmer. I mean they cost $70 and do a good job, whereas those "berlin" airdriven ones cost $40 (retail) and are WORTHLESS. If you are starting out, and need a cheap skimmer , I vote for the sea clown!....my 2cents

[Phiche Master]

Jess, I notice youve been on a long time too and your posts are low. I have noticed it doesnt count my posts unless I start the thread. If I then post on the thread that I started, it will count, but when I post on other peoples threads it has never counted, not once. Does the same happen to you or have you noticed?

[drock59]

obviously doesnt happen to me. i have never heard of this if that helps.

[surfy]

The SC works for a while but after a few months you have to tinker with it all the time. As long as you clean the collection cup/neck every few days it should skim fairly well. Keep the filter sponge clean also. If you don't use it make sure to clean the intake often.

IMO they are an ok skimmer for a med-lightly stocked 50g or less and 'If' you are on a budget or just starting out.
Keeping the water level 'stedy' is the key because if it fluctuates the skimmer doesn't perform as well (like most skimmers).

I had a 100 on my 35g for 3yrs incase your wondering. I also did all the mods I could to help it skim better.
I had problems with the o rings leaking so I put some teflon around them and the leaks stopped.

Anyways if you can afford a larger, higher quality skimmer I would go with that instead.

[8BALL_99]

There ok.. I used one for a while and I got a cup every 3 days or so out of my 72gallon. That said since they cost 100 bucks your better off adding a lil money and getting an ASM or something like it. I paid 230 for my ASM it is twice the price but it does about 4 times the work..

Keeping the seaclones clean is the trick to them working.. I had to clean mine weekly. As long as I did that it never missed a beat.

[Phiche Master]

Sweet mantis 8ball!!!!

[Gerard Alba]

Its a waste of MONEY dont buy, you will end up buying a bigger skimmer in no time.

[JessB]

Phiche...
I just really don't post/reply much.....

[lukn2doit2]

I've been saving up for some time now for a decent skimmer, tanks been running for almost 6 months with no fish, just hermits and some live rock.

Christmas I got $75 of petsmart card, so a SC 100 was acquired, the 150 will not fit under my tank, but figured something was better than nothing for right now, and wow...

1/4 cup of really dry nasty crud every 24hrs - I did get another air valve and am getting a bit better results now that I can adjust it better.

I only have 25" clearance under my tank, so I am very limited in space for a "regular" skimmer. The reef devil will work, but I don't have $200+ just for a skimmer all at one time - so the SC will get me by and HELP skim till I get one that will be all that.

so, my 2cents is:
if you don't mind playing with the air flow to make up for build up and water changes and don't have alot of money to blow the SC is an easy one to go "pick up".

[Phiche Master]

Cool, thanks jess....I figured I was the only one.....that is so crazy...o well. Im not concerned about it

[lukn2doit2]

Phiche Master, i had or still have a problem with the bubbles back into the sump - i keep adjusting it for the best bubble level in the cup/riser but i still end up getting to many bubbles. so I put a filter sock on the output of the SC to trap the bubbles. this makes my mantis shrimp much happier in his new dongeon.

so to be fare, i would be very ill right now if it was dumping all those bubbles back in the tank and i was constantly trying to adjust it to fix that...

yours cleared up in a few days you said?

[PUGroyale]

I get a kick out of all the abuse SeaClone's get My tank was a Christmas gift a year ago... My wife knew nothing about sumps, overflows, skimmers, etc... [nor did I for that matter] So... long story short... Had to go with Hang-on-Tank skimmer. That leaves you only a few products to choose from. In my infinite newbie wisdom... ... I selected the SC100 for my 46g. Clearly there are much better skimmers on the market [mostly sump models though ] But my SeaClone works well and continues to perform nicely. Undoubtedly my next tank will involve much more forethought and will include a substantial skimmer upgrade... Until then, I'll be sticking with "the best $60.00 skimmer on the planet"

[TiledZ]

i have a Red sea Prizm so i understand you. I love my prizm he remove a full cup in 4 day but look at the prizm the cup is huge! I dont have money to buy a better one, anyway if i had some money i will buy someting else like some more frag and keep it. he does a great job

[PUGroyale]

Originally posted by TiledZ
i have a Red sea Prizm so i understand you. I love my prizm he remove a full cup in 4 day but look at the prizm the cup is huge! I dont have money to buy a better one, anyway if i had some money i will buy someting else like some more frag and keep it. he does a great job

Please don't include other "crappy" skimmers in the crappy SeaClone thread... thanks [just kidding ]

[Phiche Master]

Lukn, I think I had sum microbubbles in the first 10 mins or so...but after that the microbubbles were caused (like 3 days later)by me dosing phytoplankton right in front of the skimmer intake(basically). I didnt know what was going on, just all of a sudden dense bubbles totallyfilled the tank. I messed with the adjuster (thinking "I knew this was gunna happen") to no avail....I couldnt get it set to where it was getting enough bubbles to skim, but not enough to be retured to the tank. I then thought about wha I had done differently than the previous days of successful operation......and deduced that the phyto must be the cause. Phyto commonly makes skimmers of all kinds go nuts. Now I just dose that tank in the sump vs in the top. Do you dose with phyto or other oily supplements? Cuz if so that prolly th problem....O I am assuming you have a 2nd generation SC(newer one).....I never tested the previous generation, but from what I understand it needs major help to be effective.

I think I remember seeing an upgrade for the collection cup in the paperwork that came with it....hope I didnt throw it away, prolly did....,but I remember thinking "wow, arent they optimistic". Lemme know if any of you guys still have the paperwork with the upgrade cu info.

[Phiche Master]

O Lukn...I set the adjuster valve(stock) on 1.5 turns and it has worked great since day one. I did have to clean out the airline once, but other than that, I dunno what to tell you. Ive read of peeps using sponges in the return to blocked bubbles...also, you are using your on your sump? you can make baffles to catch the bubbles mb? Also. as previously mentioned, the changing water level may decrease effectivness.

[lukn2doit2]

Thanks Phiche,
Its in the sump and the water level changes quite a bit, right now with the heater running the house im loosing about a gallon every few days... This is one heck of an expensive humidifier!
In a month or so the heat will be off and the humidity will level out in the house and maybe I can go back to adding little bits of water and keep the level the same in the sump.

The sump has baffles and they do well to stop the bubbles, but the mantis shrimp is in the wrong side, so oh well... the filter sock is doing good right now.

Can't wait till I can save up a few hundred dollars and put me in a skimmer that mounts outside the sump, under the tank... Maybe christmas will be here before I know it!! LOL

[larry610]

I am brand new at this with a 40 gal tank. I purchased a SC because that is all that was being offered by the store. I know I should have done some reading before. Anyway, I have done all the modifications and still having some problems with tiny bubbles getting into the tank. Also, no foam yet. Is that because my tank is only a week old?

[lukn2doit2]

hey larry610,
your tank is a week old and what do you have in it for "load"???
if you don't have anything alive or dead to load it for the cycle to start you will proab get lil or no foam - once you start getting some foam you can adjust the air to get the bubbles out of the output.
there are quite a few resources on reefcentral for starting up...