tmelhiser Posted April 16, 2010 Share Posted April 16, 2010 I've just finished dissecting the SWC Xtreme 160 Cone Skimmer, yet again. I need something über compact and powerful. And this seems to fit the bill. I think it's foot print will probably fit in my sump, but I'm holding out until I can get reports back on micro-bubble production. Since my sump's intake area is pretty confined, anything with any real value will end up needing to be placed in the return area with it's return water being pumped into the original intake area. This is ok since the intake area has bubble traps. What I am worried about are micro bubbles in the return area generated by the pump going into the skimmer or any other random bubble "leaks". Aside from the SWC Xtreme 160, are there any compact designs that will produce good results? -t Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrisfowler99 Posted April 16, 2010 Share Posted April 16, 2010 I've got the SWC 160 Cone as well. Loving it. I will say that there appears to be a slight micro-bubble leak out of the bottom of the skimmer. Not enough that it seems to effect the performance, but enough that, if I had the skimmer in the return section, I'd have a little bit of concern about. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tmelhiser Posted April 16, 2010 Author Share Posted April 16, 2010 ARG! Not the news I wanted to hear! I wanted the perfect skimmer! What's on the bottom? Is this where the pump lives? Could this be solved by a tighter clamp to an induction hose, a little more silicone, a sacrifice to the reefing gods (aka paying more money for the next model up?) -t Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrisfowler99 Posted April 16, 2010 Share Posted April 16, 2010 It's not at the pump. It's at the bottom where the sides meet the base. It might just need to be tightened. It's not leaking enough to be a concern for me, so I haven't dug any deeper. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tmelhiser Posted April 16, 2010 Author Share Posted April 16, 2010 Well, I'll be at the "event" this weekend and hopefully Marc will allow me to look at his Cone. (wow that is disgusting! Someone should spank me, Mama? Oh, hell, it's getting worse... ) Ok, the IRS pain reliever juice is kicking in.... Back to reality. I know that jiggering with a system that is working is a bad idea, so I am not going to ask you to go poking around there. I am hoping that I get a chance to peek at the 160 during the meeting and if I could see yours for compare and contrast, I might be able to rig something up. The way things are arranged now (my sump has lots of gadgets I built in) I can divert chamber flows. So if I divert flow from the return (move the pump to the intake for a day or so) I could actually put a bubble overflow and silicone it, in an area in the return, that would house and shield any bubbles from the skimmer (much thought needs to go into this after the IRS pain juice has done it's job, it's already sounding specious) -t Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robb in Austin Posted April 16, 2010 Share Posted April 16, 2010 I feel safe in saying this, so...here goes... Mark LOVES it when people look at his cone. He's very proud of it. Hmmmm, maybe I should put this in the trash talk thread. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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