ATI Powercone 250 I-Series Protein Skimmer

I purchased a new piece of equipment for my tank. I added an ATI Powercone 250 I-Series protein skimmer. I know it is oversized for my tank but it will be perfect for my next upgrade. It is rated for up to 500 gallons and is currently pulling 3,485 lph of air! It comes with a digital air flow meter and a DC pump which allows me to adjust the water flow rate at the pump. I really like the grid wheel design on the impeller vs. a needle wheel impeller. It is very energy efficient as well, ATI has the pump rated for for 35 watts but at full speed mine only draws 28 watts according to my Kill-A-Watt meter. The pump is dead silent, I couldn't even tell it was on. I read online many Powercone users did not like the way the skimmer cup was designed but personally I love it because it allows for easy removal. My old Vertex skimmer cup was hard to remove and I would sometimes spill the waste back into the tank. The only drawback to this skimmer is its massive size. I had to removed my refugium in order to make room for this skimmer. I also had to assemble it inside the sump. So far I am very pleased with my purchase and I cannot wait to see what the skimmate looks like once the skimmer is broken in after two weeks of use.

Dinoflagellates

I have recently been battling dinoflagellates in my 120. I am running 500mL of Two Little Fishes NPX Biopellets but I am not dosing a bacteria product. I reduced my photo-period to 5 hours for the metal halides and 7 hours for the T5's. My skimmer has overflowed three times in the past two weeks which dumped nutrients back into the display. I am currently testing the new Vertex Generation 3 skimmer pump on my skimmer instead of the Bubble Blaster 3000, so far the skimmate production is much more stable and is almost twice as much! Surprising for a $70 Vertex pump vs. a $205 Bubble Blaster pump. I covered the tank and turned the lights off for three days and once the lights came back on any algae and dinoflagellates on the rocks were gone! Now, four days later they are slowly coming back. I am now topping my tank off with kalkwasser to bump the pH up and I am giving H2O2 a try. I am going to dose 0.5mL of hydrogen peroxide per 10 gallons of tank water the first two days then bump up the dose to 1mL per 10 gallons. I am hoping this will knock out the dino's within a week. Just to make sure my top off water wasn't adding nutrients to my tank I decided to test it. My tap water has a TDS of 238ppm while my RO water is coming out at 2ppm and my DI is 0ppm. I tested the tank water and the PO4 is 0.05ppm (Hanna checker) but I there is a thread  on Reef2Reef about how even the Hanna checker values are flawed. My fresh RO water tested at 0.04ppm! I would have thought that the RO/DI unit would take out phosphates but I guess not.

New skimmer

I received the new skimmer today, it's huge! I'm giving it a 24 hour vinegar bath.

Ordered the Vertex IN-180

I placed my order for a new generation II Vertex IN-180 protein skimmer. I read many good reviews for this skimmer and it comes with a 1 year manufacturer warranty. It should be here some time next week!

New Wrasse

The McCosker's came today, it is doing well so far. Hopefully it doesn't jump out with the temporary netting I have. I raised the water level inside the skimmer and opened the air valve more. I hope this will produce more skimmate, so far so good!

Vertex – Royal Exlcusiv Alpha 200 Cone Skimmers Now Shipping

Foot print : 25 x 37 cm (9.8” x 14.5”) – Can be trimmed by 1″ on the long dimension.
Bottom plate : 25 cm (9.82”)
Height : 58cm (22.8”) ( Aprox. 1cm/ 0.4” needed for cup removal )
Foam-pipe/Neck : 134 mm (5.27”)
Cup height: 16 cm (6.3”)
Body: Seamless Cone made out of PETG Ozone-safe
Flange : fixed with 8 x Titanium screws Grade 2
Pump : Mini Red Dragon 1500
Energy consumption: 25 / 30 Watt
Pump-holder : 10 mm PVC CNC-milled
Pump-head : massive 100 mm PVC, CNC turned with extra large volute
Pump Connection : fixed with 3 Titanium screws Grade 2
Air-intake : 1,200 lph, Super nozzle : 1,400 lph @ 8″ sump level
Capacity: 75 to 300 gallons
Price: $749.99
Premium Aquatics has a pre-oder special on all the Royal Exclusiv Alpha skimmers.



I am very impressed by the Royal Exclusiv Alpha 250's that customers on Reef Central have received. I would love to get the Royal Exclusiv Alpha 200 for my 120 gallon reef.


Cone inside diameter :
Bottom 10.2″ (260mm)
Top 6.2″ (160mm)
Neck: 5.8″ (150mm)
Flange : 11.79″ (300 mm)
Foot Print: 11.79″ x 16.5″ (300 x 420mm) including pump
Height: 23.58″ (600mm)
Conecolumn height : 12.58″ (320mm)
Bottom plate and Lid: 0.4″ (10 mm) White PVC plate
Outletpipe : 2″ (50mm) red
Inlet : 1.25″ (32mm) removable
Silencer :. 2.5″ (63 mm)Resonator
Connection from Pump to Skimmer : 1.2″ (30mm) Siliconehose
Air hose: 0.4″ (10mm) ID Silicone hose
Pump : Custom made Mini Red dragon 1500
Screws : Titanium
Airintake : 1,500 lph to 1,800 lph
Water Intake: 3,000 lph
Rated for: 130 to 450 gallons
Fully disassembled for cleaning
Price $999.95

Super Reef Octopus Skimmers Get Bubble Blaster Pump

The Super Reef Octopus skimmers will be powered by the All Marine Bubble Blaster pump which will provide 85 scfh or 2,400lph of air intake at 50 watts. This pump will be used on all the Super Reef Octopus skimmers, and will get an internal placement for a reduced footprint design. External designs are also being made, the largest an 8,000 model sporting three bubble blaster pumps for 7,200lph of air intake. No word on how much these skimmers will cost yet.





Here is a video of the skimmer in action.

120 Gallon Tank Equipment

Tanks

120 Gallon Perfecto Glass Aquarium (48”x24”x24”) with internal overflow

30 Gallon Sump with Refugium (36”x12”x16”)

Water Movement Equipment

One Danner Mag Drive 12 (1,200 GPH, 110 watts)

One Danner Mag Drive 5 (500 GPH, 45 watts)

Loc-Line return hose (0.75”)

Two Hydor Koralia 4 powerheads (1,200 GPH, 12 watts)

Lighting Equipment

Two Lumenarc III mini Stealth Pendants (14.5”x14.5”x7”)

Two 250 watt 14K Phoenix DE Metal Halide Bulbs

Two 250 watt Lumatek Electronic Ballasts

One TEK II retrofit T-5 48” lighting 2x54watt (2 bulbs total)

One UVL Super Actinic 54 watt T-5 Bulb

One ATI Blue Plus 54 watt T-5 Bulb

Refugium lighting

One PAR38 Reflector 16 Watt / 5100K

Water Quality Equipment

6 Stage Melev’s/Bulk Reef Supply Reverse Osmosis (100 GPD)

AquaC EV-120 Protein Skimmer (rated for up to 120 gallons)

One Rena Cal 300 watt Heater (14”)

Additives

Reef Crystals Salt Mix

E.S.V. Calcium Hydroxide (Kalkwasser)

Bulk Reef Supply Calcium Chloride

Baking Soda (Alkalinity Buffer)

Mag Pellet (Magnesium Chloride)

CVS Epsom Salt (Magnesium Sulfate)

Seachem Strontium Chloride

Potassium Chloride

Tropic Marin Pro Coral Iodine

Bulk Reef Supply ROX 0.8Activated Carbon

Test Kits

Portable Refractometer

API Test Kit (pH/Alkalinity/Ammonia/Nitrite/Nitrate)

ELOS Phosphate Test Kit

Salifert (Calcium/Magnesium/Strontium) Test Kit

ZEOvit Korallen-Zucht Potassium Test Kit