aqua c ev skimmers

[joeycadre]

are they any good?

[schneijt]

I'm running an EV-120 on my 75gal sps tank. It's very well built and functions decently. However, I do not believe the spray injection technology works quite as well as the needle wheel or pin wheel technology of others such as EuroReef or the ASM etc. It's a nice skimmer, but I'm actually planning to put another brand's skimmer next to it in my sump to see if there is a noticeable difference in skimming performance. My hunch is that a well-built pin wheel or needle wheel skimmer will give the EV-120 a run for its money. Time shall tell.

I certainly wouldn't call the EV series bad; they are very respectable skimmers. One nice feature is that my EV-120 is only 18" tall. Many other skimmers I looked at were too tall for my sump in the stand. Also getting into the sump and under the stand is a challenge, so again the pretty small size of the EV was a plus. I guess what I'm saying is that, for me, the EV is a good skimmer, but I'm going to test another skimmer against it to see if a skimmer using a different technology than spray injection can give me slightly better performance. I feel there are more DOC's to be removed from my system than the EV-120 is taking out, and I want to know if I'm right or not. If I'm right, I've got two skimmers running on the same tank and it benefits everything in the tank while proving that spray injection isn't the best way to make foam. If I'm wrong, I "wasted" a bit of money and I will have proved that spray injection is a leading contender for the best way to produce foam in a skimmer.

So, don't overlook them, but they may not be the best out there. I happen to like mine but want to test it against others to give you and other potential EV buyers a better answer. :-)

-Joe

[joeycadre]

ahhh. i'm about to set up a 90 gallon and i have a euroreef cs-80 right now. so i was wondering about what skimmer to use on the new tank. thanks for the input.

[Waxxiemann]

I'm running a 240 on my 90 and I totally agree w/ what schneijt said 100%.

[tptp279]

i like mine because it is quiet

[schneijt]

I'm a big fan of running 2 or more "medium-sized" (medium as in rated for exactly your tank size or a bit under, but certainly not considerably more than your total water volume) skimmers instead of one big one, so for your new 90g I'd keep the CS-80 and put another skimmer on there. That way you have redundancy if one should fail, and the two should "compete" against each other. That is, one will not produce much for a while but the other one will, and then vice versa when the one that's been running really well slows down a bit or is being cleaned etc.

I'm sure some others out there will disagree with me, but that's what I've found is the best solution. I'm of the "yes you can overskim a tank if you try hard enough" school. So, two "medium" skimmers are better than one "gigantic" skimmer in my opinion.

-Joe

[gcarroll]

The EV series is a wonderful skimmer. I would put them up against nearly any similar priced needlewheel market. The majority of people who seem to report mediocre performance all seem to be running the smallest recommended pump in an effort to conserve electricity. Unfortunately this practice produces merely average or less than average results.

[schneijt]

I am running the Mag 5 on my EV-120. AquaC does mention that some people have achieved better results with a larger pump (Mag 7), but that it may have to be dialed back with a valve if you use it. The Mag 5 is the recommended pump, though, and going larger than that is purely experimental for the user. I still am going to get a second skimmer instead of upgrading the pump. I'm interested to see how an Octopus, EuroReef etc. skimmer will perform in comparison to the EV. I love to fiddle with things and experiment, so it's in my nature to take a really good product and try it against another really good product. I'm not getting a second skimmer because I feel the EV-120 is a poor performer by any means; I simply want to experiment with skimmers now that I've got all my other big equipment out of the way.

-Joe

p.s. I will note that AquaC has INCREDIBLE customer service. When I first set up the EV I was having trouble with it running correctly. Steve at AquaC e-mailed back and forth several times per day for several weeks to help me figure out the problem and resolve it. They are among the best out there when it comes to delivering a great product and keeping the customer informed and happy.

[Yinger]

if you want to get the best performance out of your ev 120, i would recommend an eheim 1260 or a mag 7.

[Ti]

some like it, some don;t.

[phurst]

have an EV 180 in my 120. I'm driving it with a MAG-7. It produces a bit of skimmate, but I have a VERY light bioload, so there may not be all that much to remove. I'm always worried it's not working well though. The only real way to test it would be to remove it for a while and replace it with another skimmer and see what it pulls out. The EV series DO have a good reputation, and they ARE pretty quiet, so I'm not in any real rush to replace it. I'd be interested to see what it would do with a MAG 9 though. I did make one small modification to it. I pulled out the clear acrylic insert in the injection tube and cut about 1/2" off of it to increase the distance from the end of the injector to the hole the water shoots through, and that has deffinitely resulted in more bubbles.

[mbierzyc]

I am running mine with a mag7. I am having an issue now with very few bubbles. (air valve fully open). If I raise the water level, the water comes high in the chamber, with only a few bubbles above the water level. The skimmer used to work well, but this is my new issue.

Anyone have any recommendations? I opened up the pump and it looks fine.

Thanks,

Matt

[stugray]

mbierzyc,

Dont run with the valve wide open. I have found on mine ( 120 ) that there should be some restriction in the valve to get optimum foam.

Stu

[gcarroll]

Originally posted by mbierzyc
I am running mine with a mag7. I am having an issue now with very few bubbles. (air valve fully open). If I raise the water level, the water comes high in the chamber, with only a few bubbles above the water level. The skimmer used to work well, but this is my new issue.

Anyone have any recommendations? I opened up the pump and it looks fine.

Thanks,

Matt

How about a pic of it in action for a diagnosis!

[JRaquatics]

I highly recommend Aquac Skimmer. I have a 90gal with an aquac 120 powered by a mag 7. I originaly had it running with a mag5 and could only skim dry. With the mag7 driving the skimmer I have a choice of wet or dry skimming. I can tell you for the price and quality craftsmanship nothing, and I mean nothing compares in its price range. The Ev line is built very well, not cheap materials used here and like mention above ther customer service is great. As you can tell I am a very happy aqua c owner.

[UCanDoIt]

I used to own a AquaC EV-180 and thought it was good when I had it. I wouldn't go back to it. My observation is that AquaC is inconsistent, some good, some not, some performs well for awhile and then Cr@ps out, some performs forever. I've owned and used several AquaC skimmers, they are just OK for the money.

Is there anything wrong with your ER that you're considering a change?

[Waxxiemann]

Originally posted by gcarroll
The EV series is a wonderful skimmer. I would put them up against nearly any similar priced needlewheel market. The majority of people who seem to report mediocre performance all seem to be running the smallest recommended pump in an effort to conserve electricity. Unfortunately this practice produces merely average or less than average results.

I run the mag 18 on my 240 but I stand by what I said, don't get me wrong, this is a LOT of skimmer for my 90 but I've seen what a nice needle wheel can do.

[sjm817]

Originally posted by JRaquatics
I can tell you for the price and quality craftsmanship nothing, and I mean nothing compares in its price range.

An EV120 with a Mag5 is $340. A Euro-Reef RS135 and a Tunze DOC 9010 are about the same price. An Octopus NW200 is $210. I'd take them over the EV120. JMO.