Life Reef skimmers

F

FuDz Cwerner

Membership Expired
Does anyone in the club have any experience running a Life Reef skimmer? If so what is your opinion on it, and please describe the tank and bioload that you ran it on.
 
I had one in 2004. It wasn't a great experience, and every mod I wanted to do wasn't an option. So when I replaced it, I was happy.
 
Thanks Marc! My Reef Octopus works great, but it is a pretty major pain to remove from my sump for cleaning and maintenance because of its size. The life reef skimmers claim to be just as effective as needle wheel skimmers, but a lot easier to maintain. But you dont find many people who use them since they are older technology, or maybe because of bad experiences like yours.
 
I couldn't use a waste collector, which was a big deal to me. There were like 4 other ideas I wanted to employ, and the guy told me no to every one of them. I can't even remember what those ideas were since it was over 10 years ago. The one thing I did like about it was that the venturi drew air from the collection cup. So you never smelled skimmate. That was great, but it wasn't enough to keep me using it.

How often are you trying to take your skimmer out for cleaning? I do it about two times a year, and the pumps about three times a year.
 
I pull it out 2x a year for a deep cleaning, but its a tight fit because my sump compartment is barely big enough and I only have a 30" stand. Its a pretty tight fit and I end up getting water everywhere, but at the end of the day its not that big of a deal if the new skimmer doesnt perform as well. The life reefs have a much smaller footprint than my Reef Octopus, but I probably just need to look into getting a bigger sump.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top