ATB Conical Shape Skimmer Club

[uhuru]

Victor, is this where the water level should be?



Here's some other pictures I took before/right after setup:

this is next to a BK mini 160 - you can see how compact the "small" still is:


no microbubbles:


same thickness in acrylic is the BK, but the BK has more finished edges:

[ATB USA]

Uhuru
I would give it a few hours first. I think I still see the bubbles sticking to the acrylic. when the skimmer first starts I usually adjust it so that the bubbles are just over the neck flange.

[hiepatitis]

Welcome me to the club. Victor actually stopped by my place and hand delivered this Small Cone. As mentioned before, outstanding customer service. Fast replies and even called to check up on me after I got it running.

First assembled


In my sump


I am pretty pleased with the performance. The skimmer took about a day or two to break in. This is what it pulled out in about a day. Keep in mind I only have five fish and and I only feed once a day if even.


The bubbles are very fine and there is very little turbulence which allows for chunks of crap to float up making a nice foam.




This is what the Eheim 1250 was pulling in at first. After breaking in the air draw has increased from 420lph to over 500lph. Victor is going to get me the meshwheel because I'm not concerned about microbubbles and I want to see this thing with the 720lph. The pump is super quiet.


This is with the standpipe fully open. That's fluffy ain't it.

[uhuru]

Hiep how deep do you have it submerged in your sump?

[hiepatitis]

I have it in 7" of water in my sump. The last pic there it was sitting in my prop tank while I was working on the sump which is about 9" of water.

[Lunchbucket]

Dang just found this thread.

I WANT ONE!!

Look very very nice!

Lunchbucket

[uhuru]

Well so much for waiting until this weekend - I went ahead and switched out the needlewheel for the meshwheel. So far no microbubbles. I'm going to leave it running with the output wide open over night.

[neyugn0w01]

Got a chance to meet Victor this past Saturday. He's knows his stuff and the skimmer are looking good base on these new pics.

[xinumaster]

Meshwheel or needlewheel no microbubbles on the exhaust on mine. By the way, I love how easy it is to swap between mesh to needle wheel and vis versa. And thanks to Victor for including both mesh and needlewheel in the package.

By the way, I got home from work and found the cup full, so I drained the cup. Sorry, I forgot to take a picture, But no worry I expect to see a full cup again tomorrow.

[ATB USA]

Perry
I am sorry but I did not get a chance to test the large skimmer. Am I correct you are using the meshwheel on the large and no microbubbles. If this is true then its pulling 2280L/hr of air.

[GSMguy]

Pictures Perry Please




of the Nog i mean, is it black like hahns?

[xinumaster]

Victor
First night I used the needlewheel then yesterday I tried to used the meshwheel. Both didn't show microbubbles. At first I thought there were bubbles coming out of the exit pipe, but found out that the bubbles actually were coming from my main tank drain pipes.

GSM
The skimmate was brown and wet, so last night I opened the exhaust pipe gate to make the skimmate darker. I'll take some pictures tonight when I get home.

[Canarygirl]

last night I opened the exhaust pipe gate to make the skimmate darker

Huh? Do you mean the verticle pipe that the sound deadening chamber is attached to? That's the only pipe I thought was adjustable, and if I want to make the skimmate darker I need to close this further...if I open it wider the skimmate gets wetter.

[DT's_Reef]

Originally posted by Canarygirl
Huh? Do you mean the verticle pipe that the sound deadening chamber is attached to? That's the only pipe I thought was adjustable, and if I want to make the skimmate darker I need to close this further...if I open it wider the skimmate gets wetter.

If you restrict the flow from the "exhaust pipe" it should increase the height of the water column and result in a wetter, lighter skimmate. If you "open it up" (turn the adjustment pipe counter clockwise), it should increase the exhaust flow and lower the water column inside the skimmer, resulting in a darker, more dry skimmate.

[JRaquatics]

Originally posted by uhuru
Victor, is this where the water level should be?



Here's some other pictures I took before/right after setup:

this is next to a BK mini 160 - you can see how compact the "small" still is:


no microbubbles:


same thickness in acrylic is the BK, but the BK has more finished edges:

Man it must be nice to be able to have/own two of the most sought after skimmer. Which one do you like better at this point?

Keep us posted.

[Canarygirl]

If you restrict the flow from the "exhaust pipe" it should increase the height of the water column and result in a wetter, lighter skimmate. If you "open it up" (turn the adjustment pipe counter clockwise), it should increase the exhaust flow and lower the water column inside the skimmer, resulting in a darker, more dry skimmate.

Of course....going to get more coffee now...

[uhuru]

JRaquatics - both skimmers are beasts I can tell you that. The meshwheel on the eheim 1250 is the way to go instead of the needlewheel IMO. I looked at the skimmer this morning and it is still breaking in, still has big bubbles stuck to the body, no foam head yet. But, wow, you can't even see the water line anymore, the whole cone is just filled with tiny condensed bubbles, way more than even the BK - and still no microbubbles!

[uhuru]

Keeping the thread alive! LOL. Just got home and it looks like its starting to break in...

[GSMguy]

Reef chili or coral frenzy always get my skimmers foaming...

[GSMguy]

Reef chili or coral frenzy always get my skimmers foaming...

[Lunchbucket]

Yeah must be crazy to have two of the most sought after skimmers ever

Lunchbucket

[xinumaster]

Okay, this is what the cup look like when I got home today, this is about 12hrs.

[gcarroll]

Not bad, I would be happy with that. I myself, don't mind skimming wet.