Durso's 180 gallon in wall tank. - Page 11

original-reefland · #**251** 10/11/2006, 04:33 PM

It's here!!

EuroReef RC500 Skimmer Boxed

You can tell its a pretty big box next to the living room chairs. Box is 24x20x40. I'll get some more pictures up tonight.

maxxII · #**252** 10/11/2006, 04:58 PM

Too bad they didnt seal the package using duct tape.....cause then you'd know it was in good shape!

Looks good Rich. Hope this covers some issues for you.

Nick

original-reefland · #**253** 10/11/2006, 05:12 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by maxxII
Too bad they didnt seal the package using duct tape.....cause then you'd know it was in good shape!

Looks good Rich. Hope this covers some issues for you.

Nick

Thanks.

BTW - Rest of the pictures added.

RC500 Image Gallery

Dudester · #**254** 10/11/2006, 05:22 PM

I wanna see it with black foam in the cup!

original-reefland · #**255** 10/11/2006, 05:25 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Dudester
I wanna see it with black foam in the cup!

That's going to take a week or so I think. I'll see if I have everything ready this weekend. There is a small risk that I might have to move my water heater over a bit inorder to have enough room. It's going to be tight squueze if I don't.

original-reefland · #**256** 10/18/2006, 11:06 PM

I expect to work on the skimmer installation this weekend.

Tonight I visited a local reefer running a reef store out of his house. While he has limited stuff on display he's willing to special order items at considerable discount.

He had two nice Angel fish in his reef tank (SPS, Clams, LPS). The Angels appear to be planktivores and have a very good reputation as reef safe.

I ordered what I think are Swallowtail Angel (Not sure if its Japanese or Masked) and Watanabe's Angelfish based on my memory of them.

Hopefully they will arrive next week.

original-reefland · #**257** 10/24/2006, 02:21 PM

Euro-Reef finally answered my e-mail about the duct tape residue that was on the skimmer. Only took them 13 days. Sheesh.

On the plus side, I have removed the old skimmer. Working on dry fitting the plumbing parts. Not an easy hookup as the feed is on the wrong side for what I need. I have to do some adjusting.

Tank temperature has dropped from 81.5 to 79 since I unhooked the old skimmer.

original-reefland · #**258** 10/28/2006, 07:40 PM

We've got bubbles!

original-reefland · #**259** 10/28/2006, 07:44 PM

Life is not all skimmate and stank yet. Had one of the SP4 needle wheels jam. After draining the skimmer and removing the pump I found the shaft of the needle wheel damaged.

Here are some of the plastics shavings I removed from the pump housing:

After getting everything nice and smooth again the pump fired right back up. I sent EuroReef an e-mail about it.

NewSchool04 · #**260** 10/28/2006, 11:43 PM

OK, so are the bubbles rising?!

sjm817 · #**261** 10/29/2006, 05:56 AM

ER has new improved impellers that are supposed to improve performance. I'd get the upgrade while you are at it.

240-Reefer · #**262** 10/29/2006, 07:12 AM

I also have the RC500 and at 300 bucks a pop for the new pumps, NO THANKS. I am very happy w/ my $1500 skimmer the way it is. If ER plans on doing somthing for thoes of us that bought them with out the ehiem pumps, then Ill think about it.

Lookin Great Rich

sjm817 · #**263** 10/29/2006, 09:18 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by 240-Reefer
I also have the RC500 and at 300 bucks a pop for the new pumps, NO THANKS. I am very happy w/ my $1500 skimmer the way it is. If ER plans on doing somthing for thoes of us that bought them with out the ehiem pumps, then Ill think about it.

Lookin Great Rich

I didn't say new pumps. ER has new improved impellers for the existing SPx pumps.

240-Reefer · #**264** 10/29/2006, 09:44 AM

cool thanx. where can you get the new impellers and how much?

sjm817 · #**265** 10/29/2006, 09:56 AM

They are just becoming available. I'm not sure of cost or availability, but it should not be all that much. Call ER and see what they say.

original-reefland · #**266** 10/29/2006, 10:26 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by NewSchool04
OK, so are the bubbles rising?!

Yes, I have the water level pretty low in that picture. Giving the gate a 1/4 turn every few hours.

original-reefland · #**267** 10/29/2006, 10:28 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by sjm817
ER has new improved impellers that are supposed to improve performance. I'd get the upgrade while you are at it.

I saw that in the ER Club thread. I'll wait a while and see how the reviews are.

original-reefland · #**268** 11/01/2006, 11:16 AM

Once I got the skimmer water level dialed in. I empty and cleaned the cup. This is what was collected in 24 hours:

Remember that is a 12 inch diameter collection cup. That is significant volume in just 24 hours.

sjm817 · #**269** 11/01/2006, 11:52 AM

How does that compare with the previous skimmer?

original-reefland · #**270** 11/01/2006, 02:32 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by sjm817
How does that compare with the previous skimmer?

Hard to say, my initial feelings are:

* Louder than the dual becketts. While it lacks the ambiant hum of the Iwaki MD70RLT pump I now have what sounds like I'm making pop-corn. You can hear the air in the needle wheel being chopped up. I've slightly closed the air valves to reduce this and make the air bubbles smaller. However the pop sounds can still be heard on the other side of the wall.

* While I hated the 20+ thumb screws on my old skimmer, I really have a hard time getting this collection cup off. It is too big to get a grip on and your fingers just slide on the smooth acrylic. I used all the supplied lubricant and it doesn't help much. As you can see I've added some rubberbands around the skimmer neck to see if this helps next time I need to take it off. (A rubberband on a pickle jar opens it right up.. hope it works here).

* Overall the acrylic is thinner and feels fragile. I really feel if I tug to hard I'll break something. My neighbor (240-Reefer) siliconed his EuroReef to the stand to stop it from moving after he cracked the skimmer body trying to twist the collection cup off. (The body twisted but the plumbing didn't, cracked the skimmer at the bulkhead). Construction wise, I can not look at it and feel it was worth every penny. I really feel it is way over priced.

* Supplied Ball valve is totally useless. For the very high price of this skimmer I'm speachless that Euroreef tells you to purchase a gate-valve seperately from the resellers.

*Support form Euroreef is mixed so far. To early to say anything negative other than they are very slow to respond by e-mail. It took 13 days to get a response on what is safe to remove the duct tape residue I had on it from shipping. On the flip side, they were very responsive to a question on I had on a missing serial number on the SP4 pump. I have not tried calling them directly yet (they do have a toll-free number now). Euro Reef closed down the forum here on RC so community support is harder to find.

* I haven't emptied the collection cup yet to see the actual volume. It appears to produce more skimmate over a given amount of time. I can't tell yet if it is as concentrated. My old skimmer produced skimmate that would curl your noise hairs and make me gag while cleaning it. So far I'm only getting a strong "earthy" smell... unpleasant but nothing that to gag over.

* Bubble production is clearly better. I'm getting a much smaller bubble and I think a greater volume of them. Hard to tell as the other skimmer was much taller but narrower. This is much wider and has longer contact time (slower GPH turn over and recirculation pumps).

If I paid $600 to $800 for this I would be saying this is an amazing skimmer and would be highly recommending it. But the fact that it costs twice that much and feel I might break it every time I touch it.... I don't have the warm fuzzy feelings about it.

Construction wise, it looks pretty. But it gets a thumbs down so far. From what I hear about the new beta model of this skimmer they have addressed many of my issues. I assume these are standard concerns with the skimmer. Nice to see them release an updated model... but that doesn't help me.

As long as I don't break it, performance is the only thing that matters. It's to early to tell, but so far things look good. I'm worried that I won't keep it clean enough if I'm always having issues getting the collection cup off. I'm not selling off my old skimmer yet.

My immediate needs were: 1) to find a skimmer with equal or better performance, 2) reduce operating costs (electrical costs) and 3) not add heat to the tank. Based on these alone the EuroReef RC500 is doing a good job... as long as I don't break it.... just don't break it...

melev · #**271** 11/01/2006, 07:22 PM

Rich, I would grab it by the cup itself instead of the neck. I thought your rubberbands were some type of water level markings as you dialed it in.

Ball valve? In the picture up high, I saw a gate valve.

Your skimmer is different from mine. Where is the sound coming from specifically?

original-reefland · #**272** 11/01/2006, 07:33 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by melev
Rich, I would grab it by the cup itself instead of the neck. I thought your rubberbands were some type of water level markings as you dialed it in.

My hands just slide on the acrylic when I do that.

Quote:

Ball valve? In the picture up high, I saw a gate valve.

Yeah, that is what I added.

Quote:

Your skimmer is different from mine. Where is the sound coming from specifically?

Sounds like its coming from the recirculation pumps directly which are not submerged like yours is.

melev · #**273** 11/01/2006, 09:22 PM

When I was checking out that skimmer at MACNA, I didn't have a hard time grabbing the cup and twisting it off the body at all. I don't know why yours would seem so snug. Are you afraid holding it by the cup will break the neck off? I wouldn't worry as it is under warranty.

I really love the gate valve mod, and went with that as soon as I could. I do agree it should just come with the skimmer from the very beginning, but I'm just a hobbyist.

Do the pumps resonate the body of the skimmer? Is it louder as the skimmer fills up vs when it is just running normally? Those pumps are Eheim, not Sedra, correct?

sjm817 · #**274** 11/01/2006, 09:36 PM

His skimmer has SP4s which are Gen-X 4100s.

It looks like the ER site was updated today The specs have been updated. The CS skimmers are gone. In sump are now just (understandably) RS series.

The Eheim models are now listed and the SPx pump specs reflect the new impeller improvements. For instance, SP4 went from 900->1080 LPH. SP5 got an improvement from 960-> 1200 LPH.

The RC500 now has 3 x Eheims on it.

What is odd is the RC250 which had a 1200 LPH SP5 now has a 900 LPH SPE5 (Eheim).

I have an RS250 and have the new impeller to upgrade it on the way. It will be interesting to see the results.

original-reefland · #**275** 11/01/2006, 10:02 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by melev
When I was checking out that skimmer at MACNA, I didn't have a hard time grabbing the cup and twisting it off the body at all. I don't know why yours would seem so snug. Are you afraid holding it by the cup will break the neck off? I wouldn't worry as it is under warranty.

I wonder if you were using the new style on the beta skimmers which I hear are very easy to get off now.

I cleaned out the collection cup a few minutes ago and it did come right off this time. Skimmate had a nice nasty smell but not enough to stink up the entire basement.

Quote:

Do the pumps resonate the body of the skimmer? Is it louder as the skimmer fills up vs when it is just running normally? Those pumps are Eheim, not Sedra, correct?

It's dual GEN-X 4100. They seem to be getting quieter or I'm getting used to it. It's just the sound of air being chopped up in the pump. I'm sitting about 25 feet from the tank (other side of wall) with TV on and I still hear air being chopped up in the pumps. A static or chattering sound.