AquaEuro USA AE Skimmers

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Sherman

Sherman

Has Met Willis
Joined
Oct 27, 2005
Messages
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Location
Central CA
AquaEuroUSA has recently put out some interesting skimmers. They're eerily inexpensive, and they're getting extremely positive reviews. However, I recognize it's also possible that they're so new, not many people have had the opportunity to break them yet.

They're being compared to Tunze and Deltec, and said to be made by the people who make the Octopus, yet even more inexpensive. I know I've read SkimmerWhisperer to be less than excited about the Octopus lineup. Does anyone have any feedback on this skimmer, including SkimmerWhisperer?

http://www.reefnut.com/reefshop/product_info.php?cPath=47&products_id=116
http://www.aquaeurousa.com/proteinskimmers.html
 
these are great skimmers for the cash!
better pumps than the halia pumps used on the octopus skimmers,
the pumps on these are basically gen-x, and thew venturi is better than the one on the octopus as well.
i like these also because i suspect the euroreef needle wheel impellars will slip right in, although i havent had an opportunity to do so yet.
they are great for mesh modding as well.
for modifying, the only restrictive factor on the 400 in sump(biggest model) is the 4" neck, as far as injecting more air than the stock out of the box configuration.
here's a lengthy thread about peoples experience with them
http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=1070192
 
I had also seen that thread. Have you seen any word of anyone doing a recirc mod yet? Personally, I'd prefer the Recirc265 over the Classic400, but 30" of height is hard to come by inside of a stand, so I may be looking at the 400. But I *REALLY* want a recirculating skimmer. Being from the land of Electrical_Company_Oppression, and paying $.36/KwH, I'm also extremely interested in less power usage, and the 400 has a LOT of pumps.
 
Sherman - if you do get one, I'll be very interested to learn your experiences with it. I've been keeping my eye on these too. they are big suckers. I had also considered the 265 recirc too, but based on initial cost, seemed like you got more bang for your buck w/ the 400. I understand long term this may not be the case w/ electricity usage though.

I though I read the mesh mods didn't do a whole lot b/c of the venturis weren't condusive to this. Mark seemed to think they were ok though so I bet I misinterpreted.
 
I recall reading that the mesh mod increased air quantities from ~560lph to 800+lph. For $5 in mesh material, that seems well worth it to me. :)
 
that venturi could easily be changed out.
i'd say it would probably be worth every penny to upgrade to a euroreef venturi,
even if it didnt just slip right on, nothing a dremel or some glue couldnt fix:)
you can get that venturi for about $15

but the stock AE venturi is still better than the stock octopus venturi.
 
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I just got the 135 recirculating model yesterday. The pump has a slight leak (inside, not from the threds) so Ryan from reefnut.com is sending me a new one via overnight. Now that I'll have two impellers, I'll let it break in with the normal NW and then switch the other one to a mesh and see how well it does. Mark, do you have a dwyer that I can borrow to get some air numbers? That way I can see if the mesh and/or messing with the venturi will actually improve anything. I have some high hopes for this skimmer as it is replacing my Octo reciruculating 110 that I sold a few days ago (which I was getting great skimmate from with the mesh mod).
 
I'll post in here with my experience. I would also be curious to see if a ER venturi/impeller could easily be modded onto the AE and if that would be better than stock. I should be able to play around with it for a bit since will now have two pumps/imellers to mod around. The build quality, other than my bum pump, seems to to be great though.
 
bummer on the pump, but cool that reefnut is overnighting you one.
where was it leaking from?
im sure an ER impellar would be better, and scince they fit in gen-x, im pretty sure they will in these too.
you can bring it down to BR and we'll find out :)
and worst case scenario it might take a bit of dremeling or glue but im sure the ER venturi could be connected to the pump too

sorry rick, my dog re-designed my dwyer air meter....
 
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No problem on the dwyer meter, I'll probably just order one up as I start to mod this guy. I will bring down the new pump this weekend so we can play around with impellers and see what will fit.

But here is my experience so far with this skimmer. I gave the skimmer a soft-soap bath to first clear out all of the oils. I then hooked up in in my sink to check for leaks when I started to see a drip coming from the back of the pump. I pulled the rear cover off and saw it dripping from the seam in the picture. It's directly on the other side of the 1/2" threads for the output.
Pump.jpg


So far I was pretty bummed but still determined to get it working. I thought some teflon tape would do the trick to seal that little crack up and loaded the threads and tightened it on. All was going well (the leak was stopped) until the fitting came in half leaving the threads twisted off inside of the pump. I thought all was lost so I called Ryan from reefnut (awesome guy BTW) who agreed to overnight me a new pump and fitting. I couldn't just sit here and stare at an empty skimmer so I headed to HD and Lowes to see if I can replace the SC80 fitting to get it up and running. They were out of 3/4" threaded unions but I did locate a threaded 1/2" pipe. I got a 1" drill bit and bored out the old piece and used PVC cement to install a new one.
Fitting.jpg


I didn't give it much of a chance to work. I let the parts dry overnight and tried everything again this morning only to still have a leak in the pump and out of the fitting that I made. This time I got creative with the black PVC cement and loaded that section of the pump and resealed the fitting I made. To my surprise, I ran it for 4 hours in my sink (I was at work, I couldn't risk it on my tank) and came home to a leak-free skimmer. I have it up and running on my tank right now and I still don't have any leaks. I'm glad he is still sending me a new pump/fitting as I don't trust this but at least I can get it to break in. I'll post up some more pictures in a few.
 
Here are a few pics of the bubble production with the stock venturi and impeller. I must say this has impressed me the most so far. This blows my Octo recirc 110 out of the water in terms of bubble size and count. The chamber is soo full it looks like boiling milk or something, I can't believe how small they are. Here are a few pics in relation to a sewing needle, judge for yourself.

AE_bubbles.jpg


cropped:
AE_bubbles2.jpg
 
Here she is, up and running:
IMG_6097-Edit.jpg


Here pics of the venturi and the needle wheel. Will you be at BR or Friday? I can swing down my extra parts (pump, impeller, venturi) and see what you come up with in terms of mods.
IMG_6090-Edit.jpg


IMG_6093-Edit.jpg
 
Nice. What camera and lens are you using for those shots? Oh wait.. wrong forum. :)

I'm looking forward to seeing how much of a difference the mesh mod will make.
 
I ordered my air meter today so hopefully I'll get some air numbers soon. Many people say the mesh mod doesn't do much, if anything, since the venturi seems to be the limiting factor. I'm going to wait until I get the meter before I mod up the venturi/impeller to see if any of the mods actually do any good. Oh, I used my 30D and 60mm F/2.8 macro :) I put the needle wheel and venturi into my lightbox to snap a few pics, nothing special.
 
Blazer88 said:
I ordered my air meter today so hopefully I'll get some air numbers soon. Many people say the mesh mod doesn't do much, if anything, since the venturi seems to be the limiting factor. I'm going to wait until I get the meter before I mod up the venturi/impeller to see if any of the mods actually do any good. Oh, I used my 30D and 60mm F/2.8 macro :) I put the needle wheel and venturi into my lightbox to snap a few pics, nothing special.
Click to expand...

Yeah.. that's what I was trying to hint at earlier. Keep us updated Rick. I'm really curious to find out what you discover. :)
 
The skimmer in you pictures looks just like my octopus skimmer. I really love this skimmer! Great price! I've had mine running for about a year and the pump is starting to get pretty loud and I was wondering if ya'll had any suggestions on a replacement (stock,sedra,:confused:) Also, I was wondering what the mesh mod is that you speak of?
 
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acrodesiac said:
The skimmer in you pictures looks just like my octopus skimmer. I really love this skimmer! Great price! I've had mine running for about a year and the pump is starting to get pretty loud and I was wondering if ya'll had any suggestions on a replacement (stock,sedra,:confused:) Also, I was wondering what the mesh mod is that you speak of?
Click to expand...

sedra or aquabee needle wheel pumps would be best. which model octopus do you have?
 
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