Reeflo/Sequence Skimmer Club

[JRaquatics]

Originally posted by trueperc
Well I also wanted to say I am gladly part of the club. I just got my 250 from Mike at Reefspecialty. First off want to give a big thumbs up to him, amazing customer service, compared to a couple of other places I was looking at buying this skimmer from. I will be setting it up this weekend, but I had to unpack it to see this skimmer and even though I knew it was a big skimmer, I was still blown away at the size, this skimmer is a beast and very well built, my wife could not believe the size and she is now scared that I am going to stink up the basement with what this is going to pull out.

Now I know this is one long thread and I have been following it, but with out having to go through it all again, can some of the people give a set up help list of what some of us new people should do or look out for. Thanks.

Congrats on your new skimmer. You will be more than pleased. One nice thing about purchasing the skimmer from RS, Mike will walk you through the whole setup. This way it will be set up correctly the first time around. Once your ready to set it up give him a call, he will walk your through it step by step. You will need extra teflon tape, silicone grease (which I believe he supplies with his skimmers), PVC cleaner, PVC Glue, feed pump, ball valve for the feed line and what ever plumbing you will need to plumb it to your setup.

[jmckdvm]

I'm hoping someone can answer at least this one question (from my previous post):

The model 200 I received does not have screws to hold the neck/collection cup piece....it just slides into a recessed O-ring. Is this an older model, or is this the way they all are?

Thanks.

[JRaquatics]

The way all the 200s are.

[superwizbang]

JR,

What water level should the (stock) 250 run at with the venturi open? I believe I read at the level of the screws on the neck? Mine is still breaking in after 24hrs and I don't want to flood the basement.

Thanks!

[Deepsea2005]

Can someone tell me what are the advantage of the new needle wheel instead of the original wheel; and the new pump instead of the original pump?

Thank you,

Khanh,

[JRaquatics]

Originally posted by superwizbang
JR,

What water level should the (stock) 250 run at with the venturi open? I believe I read at the level of the screws on the neck? Mine is still breaking in after 24hrs and I don't want to flood the basement.

Thanks!

Keep the wedge valve fully open for 3-4 weeks till it fully breaks. After the break in period just set the water to the black disk were the cup and body meet and adjust accordingly to your preference of wet or dry skimmate. But definitely allow the skimmer time to break in before making adjustments.

[JRaquatics]

Originally posted by Deepsea2005
Can someone tell me what are the advantage of the new needle wheel instead of the original wheel; and the new pump instead of the original pump?

Thank you,

Khanh,

The Reef Specialty upgrade wheel pulls almost double the air as the original reeflo wheel and also is a truer more balanced wheel. The Upgrade wheel requires the upgrade cup to handle the extra air. The difference in the original (AO smith) and the newer version of the dart (Baldor motor) is night and day. The Baldor is more reliable, smoother and cooler running, way quieter and overall better performance IMO. I can't wait to swap out my AO smith Dart for a Baldor Dart.

[Deepsea2005]

Thank you JRaquatics.

Khanh

[in_flight]

i just ordered a 200 because of this thread and it comes with the new baldor motor


i'm sure it will more than handle my new 240g

[swilliamson]

I'm looking for some people who are feeding the Orca directly from their display overflow to share their experience.

I'm considering the Orca 200 based on all of the phenominal reviews I've read in this thread and other places and I'm convinced I'll be happy with it. I'm looking at direct feeding because I live in a rental and cannot alter the building's electrical so I have to watch every amp. (The system shares a single 15-amp breaker with my home office, a bathroom, the dining room and half the living room.) I'm trying to avoid the extra 45 watts for a mag 5 as a feed pump.

What are your experiences with sediment/detritus/etc. settling in the bottom of the skimmer when direct feeding and how fun is it to clean down there? Does the diffuser plate come out? Any tips would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks guys,

~ Seth

[JRaquatics]

I don't feed my skimmer from the display but I thought I would give a few reasons why I choose not to:

- fluctuation in feed flow, one day it will be high then low so constant adjustments must be made to compensate.

- Air from the OF stacks entering the skimmer, extreme amounts cavitate the pump leading to poor performance.

- Dialing in can be cumbersome.

- excess sediment buildup in the skimmer

I utilize my return pump to feed my skimmer and results in easy control, steady flow, no extra pump (heat/watts) and work out great. I understand the idea of skimming the rawest of water but I think I am better off with a constant feed from a pump. If you do decide to utilize a separate pump I would look into the Maxi-jet Utility Pumps over the mag.

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/produc...9&pcatid=18989

[danthemanj]

I have 2 overflows out of my tank. One goes directly into my sump while the other goes into my skimmer. I use an elbow on my bulkheads inside my tank for each overflow so that air doesn't get into the line along with the water. I have had no problems with my water level fluctuating. I haven't had any issues with sediment either (I've had the skimmer running like this for about 6 months now). I have 'T' and a ball valve inline to the water feed into my skimmer from my overflow with another ball valve on the 'T'. I use this when I want to clean out my skimmer so that the water gets re-directed to the sump instead of the skimmer.

[JRaquatics]

danthemanj got any current shots of the skimmer and plumbing?

[danthemanj]

will post over the weekend

[drstupid]

i do this, works great. i've have things rigged so i can easily convert to run it off my return pump, and have experimented both ways. the overflow provides a consistent flow for me, no bubble surges or anything. i was able to get more flow through it with the pump feed, but it didn't skim as well. i prefer a drier skim, thick foam with nasty skimmate, and the overflow is about the right pace for that.

in any case, i have experimented both ways, will probably continue to do so, but much prefer the overflow feed right now.

i can point you to pictures if you'd like to see the setup.

Originally posted by swilliamson
I'm looking for some people who are feeding the Orca directly from their display overflow to share their experience.

I'm considering the Orca 200 based on all of the phenominal reviews I've read in this thread and other places and I'm convinced I'll be happy with it. I'm looking at direct feeding because I live in a rental and cannot alter the building's electrical so I have to watch every amp. (The system shares a single 15-amp breaker with my home office, a bathroom, the dining room and half the living room.) I'm trying to avoid the extra 45 watts for a mag 5 as a feed pump.

What are your experiences with sediment/detritus/etc. settling in the bottom of the skimmer when direct feeding and how fun is it to clean down there? Does the diffuser plate come out? Any tips would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks guys,

~ Seth

[swilliamson]

Thanks for the feedback.

So what's it like to try to clean the bottom of the skimmer body?

Back in January there was some question about ozone-safe. Is there any official word now from Sequence re warranty? (I like your mod for ozone Jeremy. Well done.)

drstupid - Sure, I'd love to check out some pictures.

Jeremy - I'm not really influenced that much by the rawest water ideas. If anything, the increased maintenance steers me away from that route. Keeping my circuit breaker from being overloaded is the only reason I'm trying to lower the watts. Sure 25-45 watts isn't a lot but every bit helps.

I thought I read somewhere that you didn't have the flow you wanted through the dart and weitch to a submersible. I musta been thinking of someone else. I'm planning a dart or snapper for mine. If it works then I'm happy feeding the Orca off the return. I'm no good at head pressure calcs once things split and diameters change. That stuff is a bit off topic. Can I PM you and discuss plumbing or if anyone is good at head calcs, please pm me.

Just brainstorming here... I would think that venting would help a lot with surging. One thing I learned from experience is that a valve right by the skimmer will cause surges almost every time. The water needs several inches of pipe to smooth out again. One way I've seen in the past but never tried myself is to have a Y or T in the drain and a valve at the end of the line over the sump. You then control flow to the skimmer by restricting the flow to the sump end, forcing more water to flow into the skimmer. Here's a quick sketch I did. A couple of notes: Add unions as needed and make the vent higher than skimmer water level and the Y in the plumbing and you shouldn't have flow out the vent. Thoughts?



Thanks again,

Seth

[drstupid]

i would reverse your sump and skimmer in that diagram possibly use a T instead of a Y and add the aspirating vent right before feeding the skimmer later, if you find that you need it. just having the T off to the sump above the feed to the skimmer will let the excess water divert and let a lot of the bubbles free up, especially if you reduce from say 1.5 inch drain to 1 inch below it

this is how my drain does the split and reduction to 1 inch spaflex, tank is on the floor above this and the skimmer is another 4 feet below the Y. it works for me, i leave the valve wide open. there are some other pics of my setup in this gallery.

From Orca

[roktsintst]

OK, i just got my new reeflo gold motor to replace my way to noisy A.O. Smith Dart. the new pump came with a new needle wheel so i just left it on there. the new pump is SILENT and i love it! But with the settings the same as i had it before, the foam is much lower. is this because of the new needle wheel? i expected more foam being as it pushes more water, not less?

[JRaquatics]

You will experience a new break in period with the new volute and pin wheel. For every new wheel I tried out it took about a week to break in.

[roktsintst]

Thanks JR. The foam head looks much better this morning...

[in_flight]

has anyone tried the upgraded neck and collection cup for the 200? what was the difference in performance?

[JRaquatics]

Originally posted by in_flight
has anyone tried the upgraded neck and collection cup for the 200? what was the difference in performance?

Works Great. Allows greater control of wet and dry skimmate and the ability to handle more air.

[BreadmanMike]

Originally posted by JRaquatics
The Reef Specialty upgrade wheel pulls almost double the air as the original reeflo wheel and also is a truer more balanced wheel.

Anyone have any pics of their skimmer in action with this new NW?

Jeremy~
Have you seen with your own eyes or have a pic of the actual numbers this pulls with an air meter?

[JRaquatics]

Originally posted by BreadmanMike
Anyone have any pics of their skimmer in action with this new NW?

Jeremy~
Have you seen with your own eyes or have a pic of the actual numbers this pulls with an air meter?

I don't have any pics of a 250 with the RS upgrade wheel or of a meter shot. I can get one this weekend if you like. I have seen these on the 250s though and they double the air in the skimmer. The wheels are well made and you can tell a big difference in quality between the stock pin wheel and the Reef Specialty one.

[BreadmanMike]

See if you can get a shot of the skimmer body. I'd like to see the bubbles.