Reef Discussion

Adam_w · May 10, 2017

Made a post about this recently, was just about to order then i double checked dimension and the space I have available is 510mm gap to get it through.

Website says the skimmer is 500mm high so it'll be very tight, just wondering how much room you need to remove the skimmer cup? Cant seem to find much online, emailed through to fish street and he said something about it being horizontal to remove the skimmer cup?

I know a few of you have them so can you chime in?

https://www.fish-street.com/coral_box_d500_dc_skimmer_au_delivery

Sam Parker · May 10, 2017

yeah that's gonna be tight! Might be able to remove lid then cup?

Adam_w · May 10, 2017

Yea... there is a bit more room inside the actual compartment but bit tricky to navigate and measure with the bloody tank in the way!

From the videos on fish street it looks like the skimmer cup just sits in a rubber gasket so should only need like a few cm to remove?

Very different design to my current HOB skimmer plus fish street has a sale at the moment so i might chance it.

Ben Daley · May 10, 2017

I have a D700 and have 40mm clearance above the skimmer. Just measured and 20mm looks like the absolute minimum to get the cup off.
The lip on the inside of the lid is quite deep - it's easier to remove the whole cup than just the lid - eg. I couldn't take the lid out first if there was less clearance.
Sorry - it's the wrong model, but hopefully helpful to gauge the proportions?

Adam_w · May 10, 2017

Will measure the inside section tonight - I think 20mm to remove the cup completely should give me enough room.

Lucky i checked this out I almost ordered the D700 the other day but got a parking ticket I had to pay instead :( so now hopefully can order the D500 tonight.

macca_75 · May 11, 2017

Don't do it - if it's that tight that it becomes a hassle you are less likely to clean it as often.

And less maintenance = less success long term.

Adam_w · May 11, 2017

Measured the section where the actual cup will sit and its 54cm so i should have a verrry tiny bit of wiggle room.

I have to remove the sump to get it in through a small gap anyway, unless when it comes apart I can assemble inside. Once the sump is out I can take out the wood it's sitting on and just have it on the frame of the stand which would give me another cm or 2.

I think I'm just addicted to tinkering and spending money on the tank so maybe I'll hold off a bit longer now and see how I go once i get this new fish

I'll look for some other skimmers that might work as an upgrade in the mean time but LFS skimmers all seem to be in the $500-$600 range

somethingfishy76 · May 11, 2017

Ben Daley said:
I have a D700 and have 40mm clearance above the skimmer. Just measured and 20mm looks like the absolute minimum to get the cup off.
The lip on the inside of the lid is quite deep - it's easier to remove the whole cup than just the lid - eg. I couldn't take the lid out first if there was less clearance.
Sorry - it's the wrong model, but hopefully helpful to gauge the proportions?

im not home so I cant check, I too have the D700. Can anything be shaven off the base of the cup? The neck? sound like he needs 10 or so mm

Adam_w · May 11, 2017

I'm going for the D500 I think instead should be fine and save me 3cm in height but if you can see if any shaving can be done - I'm 99% sure it'll be fine and I'm just being pedantic

Looking online to see what other options might be available but everything seems to be above the 50cm mark for what I need (I had no idea skimmers were this freaking tall)

Currently have the Reef Octopus BH 1000 which fills up about 2-3cm over a few days of gunk so it's actually doing a fair bit and not even sure if I should bother with the whole upgrade

somethingfishy76 · May 11, 2017

I had the D500 also at one stage... Great skimmer too.

Ben Daley · May 11, 2017

Adam_w said:
I'm going for the D500 I think instead should be fine and save me 3cm in height but if you can see if any shaving can be done - I'm 99% sure it'll be fine and I'm just being pedantic

Looking online to see what other options might be available but everything seems to be above the 50cm mark for what I need (I had no idea skimmers were this freaking tall)

Currently have the Reef Octopus BH 1000 which fills up about 2-3cm over a few days of gunk so it's actually doing a fair bit and not even sure if I should bother with the whole upgrade

There's plenty of room to shave off 10mm.
As for shorter skimmers, perhaps one with the pump outside the main body?

ReeferRob · May 14, 2017

20mm is what it takes for the cup to clear the bottom of the skimmer minimum.I use DC700s on most of my tanks except for the 2x2 cube which has a space issue like your tank and I have the DC300 shoehorned in there.

somethingfishy76 · May 14, 2017

ReeferRob said:
20mm is what it takes for the cup to clear the bottom of the skimmer minimum.I use DC700s on most of my tanks except for the 2x2 cube which has a space issue like your tank and I have the DC300 shoehorned in there.

Isn't it strange how the D300 gets shipped with a centrifugal impellor and not a pin wheel...? I had one of them too. Ordered a pin wheel as an upgradable part and installed it. Much better.

ReeferRob · May 20, 2017

somethingfishy76 said:
Isn't it strange how the D300 gets shipped with a centrifugal impellor and not a pin wheel...? I had one of them too. Ordered a pin wheel as an upgradable part and installed it. Much better.

Both of mine came with pinwheel impellers. I'd ask Eric if they goofed at the factory with that one. Even my spare pumps I bought when they went on sale had pinwheel impellers.

somethingfishy76 · May 20, 2017

Ah must have been an earlier model that didn't have it. I bought it second hand and sold it on when I decided not to go ahead with a second tank. The guy I sold it too found this out and asked me if I changed the impellor.

Susan Bates · Jun 12, 2017

Hi I have a 500, I just measured it and it is 51cm high, hope that helps

Adam_w · Jul 3, 2017

Sorry to go back to this but my D500 is still being a pain in the ass.

I've resized the baffle after it so that the water level sits right in the middle of the "optimum level" marking on the skimmer. Still goes nuts at anything over 3 lights on the pump cant work it out, exit is fully open.

Seems to sit at half way up the skimmer cup for the first hour or so then starts overflowing like crazy at anything higher than 3 lights. if i leave it a bit for the neck of the cup to build up a bit of grime I can almost max out the pump and it won't overflow.

Pretty painful, I've still got my HOB skimmer running up top until I can get this figured out, anyone have a good idea?

somethingfishy76 · Jul 3, 2017

Is your gate open enough to maintain the level in the neck? I don't run my D700 that fast 3-4 lights only. I get a better skim and its more than enough. Only reason mine would ever go nuts is when I change to a new sock that not been washed yet. Maybe see if you need the skimmer to go faster first. Make sure there isn't anything you dose or present in the water that's causing excessive foaming.

ReeferRob · Jul 3, 2017

Do you have the sump water level adjusted to the line on the adjustment rod? I run all of my CoralBox skimmers wide open and on 3-4 lights. The only issue I have is one of the controllers defaults to full speed if we have a power outage and the damn thing overflows.

somethingfishy76 · Jul 3, 2017

ReeferRob said:
Do you have the sump water level adjusted to the line on the adjustment rod? I run all of my CoralBox skimmers wide open and on 3-4 lights. The only issue I have is one of the controllers defaults to full speed if we have a power outage and the damn thing overflows.

Same here...wide open gate and 3-4 lights