Deltec MCE600 Review

Flint&Eric · #1 09/18/2007, 03:45 PM

I purchased this skimmer from a local reefer and got a heck of a deal on it. It's in great condition and started skimming right from the start.

initial reaction....

upon starting it up, i was surpised at the amount of air... 400LPH in a HOB skimmer is very impressive. even better is that it's very quiet. i played around with the air valve, and found leaving it wide open best and the most quiet. after talking with some other reefers using this model, it seems the airvalve isnt really needed. micro bubbles went away after the first day without the dispersion plate and i like the fact that i can also run my heater inside and hidden. so far it seems to skim about 1/2 a cup of dark skimmate a day, this is out of a 20g SPS nano!

upgrades...

deltec sells a media chamber kit for this skimmer. i havent tried running carbon, but it is something too look into to get full usage out of this skimmer.

the turbulence could be reduced, but it still skims very well. within two minutes there was a nice head of foam pushing into the collection cup. a bubble plate simmilar to the bk mini would be very cool in terms of a gadget feature, but i am not sure how much it would help performance. a fun future project nonetheless.

my complaints....

the triangle wedge collection cup is my least liked feature of this skimmer. I would prefer a round cup, but when looking at it on the tank it does blend in better as the overall shape is very square and angular.... it does collect skimmate well, but i cant imagine as well as a round cup. people complain about the size of the cup, but i dont ever see this as a problem as every skimmer i have owned gets emptied and cleaned out daily.

taking apart the skimmer is a bit of PITA. The pump is internal which is great, but means you have to manually drain the skimmer to get it off for cleaning. imo it's worth it though to only have one tube and no pump sitting inside the tank.

those are my only complaints about the skimmer, cleaning and not a round cup, but in the end the benefits of having a triangle cup (better looking overall) and internal pump (more lph and no pump in tank) out weigh my complaints.

overall...

i would definitely purchase this skimmer again, and am kicking myself i didnt earlier. at $459 it is not cheap, but imo it's the most important filtration and the best HOB skimmer you can buy. I have no doubt in my mind that this can hang with nearly equal priced in sump skimmers.

PSam · #2 09/18/2007, 03:51 PM

How far does it hang out of the tank, from say, the rim to back of skimmer?

luke33 · #3 09/18/2007, 03:53 PM

You have any pics of the skimmate? Thats good amounts per day for a small tank. It just scares me very far away they want that much for one. You could buy two octo 200's for that.

Flint&Eric · #4 09/18/2007, 04:06 PM

the intake on mine is shortened, so it doesnt the intake tube doesnt stick so far into the tank.

i'd say it hangs off about 3.5 inches, i'd give ~5 for clearance and ease when taking it off for cleaning. you're welcome to stop by and check it out.

i dont have any skimmate shots...but here is 2mins after install

and top down shot of the tank it's on.

eric

GSMguy · #5 09/18/2007, 04:12 PM

good review, imo no HOB compares.

your going to be able to feed that tank quite heavily

PSam · #6 09/18/2007, 04:14 PM

looks better than that shot of the Rouge skimmate lol

I may opt for the mce300, don't feel like dropping 5 on a skimmer right now. though i have been scouring the used forum hourly lately... cross fingers...

Flint&Eric · #7 09/18/2007, 04:28 PM

Quote:

looks better than that shot of the Rouge skimmate lol

hehe i am not sure why or how people can suggest the rogue. there's no track history, the lph #'s based on the pictures look like a lie, and no one has reviews of it. i was seriously considering it until i had the epiphany above

not to say they are bad skimmers, but at this point it has yet to be seen.

look in the deltec forum, there are a few used ones for sale. i jumped on this one. I'd hold off and go for the 600 instead of the 300, jmo.

GSM guy, you're right feedings have already increased to 4 times a day. They were previously once a day.... Rods Food and Hikari Marine-S. My chromis are going to get quite large

DarG · #8 09/18/2007, 05:22 PM

Based on my experience with a Bermuda 3C I would definitely have a Rogue on my list of possibilities if I needed a HOB skimmer.
Personally, I dont need to see skimmate pictures or know the LPM air intake of the skimmer to know that it will work. The venturi design and the way the water and air is injected in the larger skimmers is the same in the Rogue and I know it would be a good skimmer. I dont like the bio-balls for dealing with microbubbles and that might be my reason for looking elsewhere, but the Bermuda skimmers work and they work well. I'm breaking in a dual recirc Octopus right now and while I'm sure it will end up being a more effective skimmer than my Bermuda 3C, comparing the two right now, the Bermuda has nothing to be embarrassed about. The 3C had been really kicking butt the last few weeks and really made it hard for me to make the decision to try the Octopus. And that Bermuda 3C is much smaller and rated for a smaller tank than the new Octopus.

The Bermudas are getting dismissed way too easily lately. It's not that there arent better skimmers available but the Bermudas do work well, period.

GSMguy · #9 09/18/2007, 05:28 PM

flint if you put a rio 1100 or a mag 3 in your tank to run the rouge you would have a heat problem

Flint&Eric · #10 09/18/2007, 06:54 PM

comparing the rogue to their other skimmers is apples to oranges. in order to get lots of air with a venturi, you need a powerful pump....and despite it's large size the mag3 is not a powerful pump. not to mention the placement of the venturi... pumping up and over the tank is only hurting bubble size and the demise of most HOB's....but lets keep this on the deltec.

Quote:

flint if you put a rio 1100 or a mag 3 in your tank to run the rouge you would have a heat problem

that i wouldnt, but thank you for your concern. heat issues aside, i cant see the deltec being touched by any other HOB besides schurans hangon multifilters.

Flint&Eric · #11 09/18/2007, 06:55 PM

comparing the rogue to their other skimmers is apples to oranges. in order to get lots of air with a venturi, you need a powerful pump....and despite it's large size the mag3 is not a powerful pump; not to mention the placement of the venturi... pumping up and over the tank is only hurting bubble size and the demise of most HOB's....but lets keep this on the deltec.

Quote:

flint if you put a rio 1100 or a mag 3 in your tank to run the rouge you would have a heat problem

that i wouldnt, but thank you for your concern. heat issues aside, i cant see the deltec being touched by any other HOB besides possibly schurans hangon multifilters.

DarG · #12 09/18/2007, 07:12 PM

It's not apples to oranges. The injection technique is the same. The chamber size is smaller and GPH throughput is lower which is compensation for pump size. Pumps can be sized accordingly for head height. And, I wouldnt use a mag 3 anyway. I would use a better pressure rated pump.

... and I didnt bring up the Bermuda in this thread.

luke33 · #13 09/18/2007, 07:35 PM

Well, the kicker to me is the bermuda's are called venturi skimmers but they are unlike any venturi skimmer out there. They didn't know what to call them so they went with clog free venturi skimmers. But its different than any venturi out there. But its yet to be seen if its going to be good or not. I think it will be personally. But dang......teh mc600 is near 500 bux...thats just tough. I did see one on ebay for 265 buy it now yesterday.

kodyboy · #14 09/18/2007, 08:00 PM

the mce works OK, but for $500 is way too costly. If they sold it for $250 then it would be worth it (and pretty close to the price of a remora pro....not that is funny)

Flint&Eric · #15 09/18/2007, 08:26 PM

Quote:

It's not apples to oranges. The injection technique is the same. The chamber size is smaller and GPH throughput is lower which is compensation for pump size. Pumps can be sized accordingly for head height. And, I wouldnt use a mag 3 anyway. I would use a better pressure rated pump.

they do use the same injection technology, but it's like using a becket for a HOB....just not logical for a small scale particularly when the pump is sitting inside the tank. as gph lowers, air input lowers by even more...

Quote:

the mce works OK, but for $500 is way too costly.

i'd argue that it works very well, much more than ok

i also applaud them from a business perspective at pricing their skimmers effectively. clearly people are willing to buy it, myself included, and clearly people continue to buy their products "high prices" and all.

bottom line even with the price, per dollar performance is great and I am very happy with my purchase. if you have the money i highly suggest them for HOB applications.

fwiw, i just got home from work and the collection cup is full from over feeding lately

uhuru · #16 09/18/2007, 08:46 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Flint&Eric
GSM guy, you're right feedings have already increased to 4 times a day. They were previously once a day.... Rods Food and Hikari Marine-S. My chromis are going to get quite large

Wow, 4x's a day... that's awesome. Keep us updated on whether this works out in the long run.

PSam · #17 09/18/2007, 08:51 PM

you have a tape measure handy eric? if so do you mind measuring the body depth? doug taking a while to respond. manual online says 3.25", is that about right?

sjm817 · #18 09/18/2007, 08:59 PM

I'm glad yours is working well.
I put one on a friends 42BF and it was horrible. It had constant overflowing issues. The only way we could get it to sort of work was to put the cup up very high, so it was just barely in the body and keep the air wide open. This way it would kind of build of skimate in the body of the cup. If the cup was put any lower, it would randomly overflow all over the floor. The little overflow tube doesn't work. I've seen other posts of people having the same issue.

I guess chalk it up to YMMV.

fisheebill · #19 09/18/2007, 09:07 PM

PSam I just measured mine, and it seems about right.

fisheebill · #20 09/18/2007, 09:10 PM

Nice review BTW.

kodyboy · #21 09/18/2007, 09:15 PM

flint&eric, nice looking tank by the way

Flint&Eric · #22 09/18/2007, 09:45 PM

thanks kody.

fishbill seems right about 3.25, mine measured at 3.3

uhuru, with two clowns and 2 chromis it doesnt amount to that much food. any left overs my cleaner shrimp and nasarius snail grabs.

sjm, sorry to hear that. (ymmv?) perhaps a salinity or clogged venturi issue? that's a bummer though as I really am pleased with this skimmer. it's up their with the best in my book. the foam head on mine does not fluctuate at all, and only collapses when feeding certain foods from the oils etc.

by the end of the week i should have a small Centropyge multifasciata

in my hands so that will further test this skimmer.

PSam · #23 09/18/2007, 09:52 PM

Whew, little to no wiggle room for me... thanks for measuring guys.

Love those angels, really gorgeous.

sjm817 · #24 09/18/2007, 09:57 PM

Dont know what it was. The skimmer was new. Tank was nothing special really, a 42BF FOWLR with 4 fish and LR. Salinity was 1.023. No additives, dechlorinators or anything were used. I even did a big (70%) water change to try and get it to work. No luck. I took it apart a couple of times. Nothing wrong, no clogs or anything. You could not run it as the directions stated with the air @ 2:00. The cup would overflow instantly no matter where it was. Wide open with the cup just in the body enough so it didn't fall out was the best it could do. It it was lower, it would run fine for hrs, then just overflow all over the place for no reason at all. Very frustrating especially since they bought it on my recommendation. It was embarrassing for me.

Flint&Eric · #25 09/18/2007, 10:09 PM

i notice that if the air valve is at 2:00, the cup must be very high, but that sounds like there were some other issues, perhaps something with the NW who knows?. i am running it wide open and that seems to be how most do.

here is a picture of tonights cup after ~28hrs of skimming. just cleaned it out and it was very very gross. the odor in the house was bad. i set the skimming much drier this time to see how it does. with daily cup fulls the salinity can really change with only 20g of water.