Bermuda Aquatics BPS-5C Protein Skimmer

mkarston · #1 06/26/2007, 12:40 PM

Bermuda Aquatics BPS-5C Protein Skimmer

I have a 265 gal (total water volume) reef tank with a medium bio-load. I have been reading as many Skimmer threads on RC as I could find, and based on the bio-load, under-tank space, and plumbing options, it seems this BPS-5C skimmer fits my needs the best.

Does anyone have any opinions on this skimmer?
http://www.toofishy.com/product.php?productid=80333

How would you compare it to a decent needle-wheel such as these:
Euro-Reef RS250
http://www.aquacave.com/detail.aspx?ID=1325
Octopus NW-200
http://www.aquacave.com/detail.aspx?ID=496

The Bermuda Aquatics BPS-5C I would likely have enough room to put in or out of my sump. The needle-wheel foot prints seem to be bigger, and would need to be in the sump.

That being said, for in-sump use, I would like it to sit in my sump at about 14" of water and would have 30" height clearance. (and of course if I built a 4" shelf in my sump so it would only be in 10" of water, I would then only have 26" of clearance).

I'm trying to keep the cost under $500.
Thanks for any advice you may have.
Craig

powdertang05 · #2 06/26/2007, 02:26 PM

as for the berm check their webste believe they have reviews and video on it also check the searchs for them i know their has been 2 or three people that have reviewed and shown pics of them also check the venturi thread. as for the rs250 whats ive been hearing is that the gen x 6000 is very very loud and personally i looked into it for my tank and now im looking else where also keep in mind ive also found some other good options such as the tunze doc, ati bubble master, rps 5000, trggersystems 300, and many more.

mkarston · #3 06/26/2007, 06:13 PM

Bump.

Sarcophyton874 · #4 06/26/2007, 06:20 PM

Definitely a great skimmer. I have the old school 5C and it works great -- the new ones work even better. Since they have a silencer on the air intake tube, they are nearly silent.

Here's mine running with a Mag9.5 on a light stock 100G reef.

E-A-G-L-E-S · #5 06/26/2007, 06:21 PM

The 5C is a very good skimmer. I used a few B.A. skimmers before getting a custom built one.
Too bad you can't afford it as the 8C would keep that tank sparkling.
Run a Ocean Runner or Eheim if you can afford it. You want ~950gph to 1150gph - IMO

mkarston · #6 06/26/2007, 07:11 PM

thanks for the feedback guys.

Eagles, are you saying the 5C may not get the job done? or just that the 8C would be even better.

skwirl · #7 06/26/2007, 08:45 PM

if you want a needlewheel, then look at the das ex3, but from what i have read on the bermuda skimmers, the 5c would be fine on your system. its rated up to 500gal, and they are supposed to be one of the companies who's ratings are not grossly over optimistic.

mkarston · #8 07/13/2007, 12:38 PM

Bump.

Would the 5C handle 300gal with a medium-heavy bioload? Or would the 8C be more recommended?

Any other feedback from Bermuda Aquatics owners?

hulley · #9 07/13/2007, 06:05 PM

I have a 5C on my 180g and I love it. It does a great job, however if I had a 300g I believe I would buy the 8C.

hulley · #10 07/13/2007, 06:07 PM

Here is a pic

mkarston · #11 07/13/2007, 07:18 PM

Thanks hulley for the info. Yeah, I read your thread as well. :-)

Any other? 8C owners perhaps?

hulley · #12 07/13/2007, 07:21 PM

No problemo! Nice Sohal!

DarG · #13 07/13/2007, 07:30 PM

I have a 3C on a 90. Really like the skimmer as well.
The 8C is pricey but if the 3C is any indication, it would be worth it for the 300 gallon with your bio-load. I refuse to mess with needle wheels, pin wheels, seperate feed pumps, mesh mods and whatever else. It's got to be a beckett, downdraft, venturi or spray injection, I dont care how large of a pump I need. I dont want to mod a skimmer to make it better. The Bermuda skimmers just work well.

oct2274 · #14 07/13/2007, 07:40 PM

i really would like to see more owners post pics and experiences as well. I was looking at these for a while, but since there was really no info on them from users, I had just pretty much put them at the bottom of my wish list. If you have one of these skimmers, please give us as much info about their performance as possible. if you have other experiences with other skimmers please let us know if you think these skimmers are better, worse, or whatever. comparisons to more popular skimmers would be great!

DarG · #15 07/13/2007, 08:47 PM

My 3C does a better job as in more skimmate of the same or darker/nastier character and more consistent skimming than the Reef Devil Deluxe that I owned previous to the Bermuda. No comparison to the Top Fathom 200 I had for years and years before the reef devil. Top Fathom isnt even close to the Reef Devil let alone the Bermuda. I have a fairly light bio-load right now and I do tend to skim a bit wet. However, the Bermuda is pretty easy to set for wet or dry skimmate with water level adjustments alone. I love the fact that you dont have to fool with any air adjustments. I'll try and get some pictures, skimmer is in an inconvienent place right now and I am in the process of moving it.

hulley · #16 07/14/2007, 06:52 AM

My last skimmer was an ASM G2 with a few mods done to it, I had it on my 90g and then my 180g until the 5C showed up. Obviously the G2 is too small for a 180g, you would think that it would pull out a bunch of skimmate anyways, wrong! The 5C started kicking its butt right away! As it should for the money I paid! I'm done with NW skimmers. I will never again own a NW skimmer, This Bermuda made a beliver out of me. once you find the sweet spot (which can take a few days) I've not had to touch it since and this thing is on auto pilot and works great. My tank is clean, the skimmer is quiet and its easy to clean. I've not heard one negative comment from a bermuda owner. I highly reccomend it. If I had to DO IT all over again, I'd buy the exact same skimmer.

Gdevine · #17 07/19/2007, 11:49 AM

I have the 3C running on 65g with a mag950. This set-up is rated for a 200g. I can only say that i couldn't be more pleased with this skimmer on many fronts. It's powerful, probably runs the entire tanks water volume on an hourly basis, is quiet and most importantly generates the most disgusting skimmate that I've ever seen. I clean the cup an overflow twice a week and run moderately dry. Yes, it does take a few days to get these dialed in, but once they are, no more worries except for cleaning.

A very good product indeed.

masterswimmer · #18 07/19/2007, 11:58 AM

I run the 3C, 5C, 8C and the old style Archipelago HOT.

I love all the skimmers. They have been performing flawlessly and the customer service from Bermuda is great.

swimmer

mkarston · #19 07/29/2007, 11:52 AM

OK, so I went to my LFS yesterday, and the owner had a 6month old 8C sitting on the counter that he just took off his tank. Needless to say for $300, I jumped on it.

So this morning I hooked it up, and I'm running it in sump (the return is 3" above the water level), with a Rio HF26 (until I have a filter room where I can spread my equipment out and plump it with an external pump)

Well, it has overflowed twice already and caused a mess. I can't seem to get it tuned in. I've only owned needlewheel skimmers in the past, so I am not too familiar with Venturi / Brekkett skimmers.

It will be seemingly running fine, with the top of the bubble column 2" from the top of the neck, and then all of a sudden, its just erupts and water and bubbles start flowing over the neck into the collection cup like crazy.

One thing I am not sure about is that the lid to the collection cup, has a little thumb screw on it (I assume it is just a knob to grip the lid to take it off with). Well, when I unscrew that thumb screw air is being sucked in the hole like crazy (this is how I had it when it was overflowing). With it screwed in, there is no other vent hole, and the lid is actually being forced up by the air entering the collection cup. Whats this all about???

Please give me some advice. And here is a pictures of it in action.

hulley · #20 07/29/2007, 12:10 PM

If you have the drain line hooked up, then the thumb screw will need to be plugged in. Leave the water level at its lowest for a little while (an hour) an then make very small adjustments at a time, leaving about 30-45 mins inbetween adjustments for the skimmer to settle. they are very sensitive but when you find the sweet spot you wont have to touch it ever again! I wish mine had the gate valve, It is so much more accurate than the slide tube.

mkarston · #21 07/29/2007, 12:16 PM

OK, I will let it sit the way it is now (with the thumb screw in) for a while and see how it does. Is it also sensitive (as I heard other complain about with other skimmer), to food, chemical changes in the water, etc...? Or are they pretty consistent once they are dialed in?

hulley · #22 07/29/2007, 12:17 PM

Sorry, I just looked a little closer to your pics, you have the drain line hooked up to the 5gal bucket! leave the plug in the the top. Click on the sponsor links and look for the Bermuda link and there will be detailed pics and written instructions on the website for the skimmer. I ended up having to drill a 1/4 hole in the end of the air silencer because the little holes kept getting plugged with debris and blocking air and slowing production of my skimmer! maybe my cabinet has alot of dust and crap in it! But that solved my problem and didnt cause and more noise! So I'm happy!

hulley · #23 07/29/2007, 12:18 PM

Yes, very consistant! I would buy another no question about it.

DarG · #24 07/29/2007, 02:13 PM

I agree, very consistent skimmers once dialed in. Mine wasnt much of a PITA during break in. I have the 3C though. But alot of skimmers do overskim seemingly without cause for a few days until they break in. Mine didn't do it too much and was very stable after only a couple of days. I havent had to make any adjustments since initial set up. And the adjustments I did make were at the gate valve on the output of the pump. The pump is a bit oversized so it is throttled down and the slip joint on the skimmer is all the way down.

Point is Mkarston, give it a few days and I think you will see it begin to settle down and you will be able to dial it in just right.
It's been the most set-and-forget skimmer I have had.

mkarston · #25 07/29/2007, 02:28 PM

ok, so no overflowing since I plugged the top hole, but is just not getting a foaming top forming as my other skimmers did. I will take your advice and give it a couple days, but as I said, it isn't a new skimmer, it was purchased used and it ran for the last 6 months.