Is it enough??? - AQUAC EV-120 PROTEIN SKIMMER

SUMP/Skimmer Questions !!!










AQUAC EV120 W/ JG, RIO 2100
AQUAC EV-120 PROTEIN SKIMMER W/ JG
RIO+ 2100 POWERHEAD UL


I purchased the package deal above at marine depot. The skimmer in the used 135g tank setup i just baught last week dosn't seem to be doing very much. The girl who sold it to me said she can't figure out why she can't get good water quality. I'm hopeing this would be the quick fix. The one in there now is a Red Sea Berlin tripple pass with a Rio 2500. I thought the RIO should be pushing more water though it than it is? I know it's hard to tell from the photo but the pressure coming out of the skimmer is very week. It looks like there are enough bubbles though. I cleaned the skimmer after i got it home because it was caked heavily inside and smelled horible. This is my first big skimmer so i'm learning bit by bit. I wish i had not cleaned it, or as much as i did now that i've read more. Yesterday i cleaned the rio pump. It kept stopping so i finally figured out the little white rod going through the magnet had corosion on it. I cleaned it and it hasn't stoped since. It's been 4 days and i was hoping today would be the big day with skimate in the cup but all i had was a few bubbles coming over the edge. I figured if i do get the Berlin working right a second skimmer for a tank this size couldn't hurt right? Tonight i read several posts on here abut the 120 skimmer i just purchased. It seems like when this skimmer comes on on here it's being recomended for a 90g or less? Is this skimmer going to be enough for my 135g if the berlin ends up being shot? One guy on here said he purchased a rio 2500 for his AquaC 120 and it was just enough for a 90 gallon but he wanted to upgrade to a 180. Should i send the 120 back and get a 180 insead?

 

Cup picture

Not sure why it didn't put the last photo in above .. You can see what 4 days of skimming has rendered in this photo. The bubbles are all that exist.

 

Wouldnt hurt to upgrade to the larger size. And i too have an aquac and they take a few days to break in and dial in. But once set they work great.
With the air valve all the way closed, your water level should be right around the begining of the riser with no bubbles. Then crack the air valve just a little, and let it run for a couple of days. And open a little more until you get the skim-mate you want. Hope this helps

 

I don't know much about your skimmer. You would need to do some research. Going by what you said, this is what Marine Depot had to say about it

Red Sea Berlin X2 Venturi Protein Skimmer

Reading other stuff, seems the draw backs are finicky and high maintenance. While it lists it for tanks up to 250g, the max water through put is only 150g per hour.

Pic 3 of 5 shows quite a bit of skimmate in the cup.

Anyway, I would find out what I had to do to get it to perform the best. If I could not get it to perform to my satisfaction, I would replace it. I don't see why you would want to run 2.

As for your other question, a EV-120 is too small for a 135g. I have a 90g reef with moderate bio load and I just replaced my EV-120 with a higher capacity skimmer. Mind you I did not have a problem with water quality, I just wanted room for trouble. I was going to go with a EV-180, but did something else instead.

If you can't get the one you have to work well, then do your home work and get a skimmer that is going to be good for the long haul and a healthy tank.

 

price

I didn't realize this but the 180 is only $50 more than the 120 and it comes with a mag 7

 

The 180 is what i run on my 75gal.
No complaints, and picked it up used with the pump off ebay for $175.00

 

With the EVs and other injector type skimmers, what is recommended is minimum. You can put bigger pumps on. I ran a Mag 7 on my 120. You can run a 9 on the 180.

When looking at skimmers, most go bigger than recommended. Some really love to over do it, but having a little extra capacity is always a good thing. We usually overstock, and skimmers are not always going to run 100%, 100% of the time.

 

I checked Ebay, nothing but resellers on there now that i could find. I'm looking at the EV 240 instead unless someone says different. It comes with a mag 12. All the guys on youtube that have popin skim on video have a mag 12 as the drive to use.

 

Dont hold me to this but i thought i read on here somewhere that the older 200 was better than the 240.

 

I'm trying to balance everything out too .. i'm running everything on one 15 amp breaker and i have a chiller coming. I PM'd with Reefsparky, he said with what i had i should be fine but now that i'm going to add a bigger skimmer with a bigger drive i feel like i may be cutting it close.