Stuck in the middle - 50g tank, which Deltec skimmer?

[Rippin]

ok, hopefully a simple question :)

It's a toss up between the Deltec MCE300 or the MCE600. The size of my tank kind of falls between the 2 (seeing how manufacturers over-rate their skimmers).
The tank is empty now, but I'm planning on softies, a few small fish (maybe 5) and the typical custodians - so the bio-load will be relatively small.

It has to be a HOB skimmer that has the pump outside, as I don't want it to eat space inside the aquarium. It also has to be quiet. Now, I'm guessing that in-aquarium pumps will be quieter because the water and glass will baffle the sound, but I can't stand a whole bunch of hardware in the tank - especially as this HOB will be on the side of the tank, not the back.

So which one would you recommend?

[marie]

If all your planning on is soft corals then the smaller one should be fine. If it were me though I would spend the extra $50 and go for the bigger one you could always feed more to compensate :lol:

[Rippin]

I think there will be more than a $50 difference between the MCE300 and MCE600, based on what stores in the UK are selling them for. But I'm not too concerned about the price. I'm just wondering if the MCE600 would be overkill for the size of my tank. Also, the bigger the skimmer, the bigger the pump, which means that it will be louder, and I'm trying to keep the noises to a minimum.:lol:

[TRIX]

If you can make the bigger one work I would go with that. Down the road when you decide to do an upgrade you'll be glad you got the better in the first place.

[Chad]

I use the MCE600 on my 50gal. Its not overkill in my opinion.

[Buddyboy]

Something else to consider. The MCE300 is a brand new skimmer in the Deltec line and the bugs haven't been worked out of it yet. I have been following this thread about another reefers experiences:

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=963923

Seems to be a mixed bag? On the plus side, it should be considerably cheaper than the MCE600 when they are available.

Or, you could also just splurge for the MCE600 if you have the $$$! :)

[Funky_Fish14]

I'd definetly go for the larger unit, because of all the reasons mentioned above. Upgrades in the future, etc... Or, say you have a mishap in the tank, something dies overnight. The larger skimmer will pull more out than the smaller, ofcourse. And you cant really overskim, just set it to skimmate that is more dry.

Which reminds me... I STILL havent set-up my deltec yet, cause I havent set-up the new system :rolleyes:

Chris

[Rippin]

Thanks for all of the replies and suggestions.

I decided to go with the MCE600 unit. Purchased and installed it today. Pretty much plug and play. I'm very happy with the noise level (or lack of). The pump is quite quiet. I can hear the air intake over the pump:lol: Much better (in terms or noise level) compared to the Prizm Pro.

Two things that I could nit-pick about.
1. The power cord is way too short! Forget about a drip loop. It needs to be double in length.
2. The collection cup should be transparent on both sides. I have the skimmer mounted to the side of my tank and it's difficult to see what's collecting in the cup and how high to adjust to create the proper skimmate consistency.

[Chad]

yeah, I have the same complaints. Plus add to the clear intake which gums up nicely with coraline etc.

The collection cup and be turned around as well if you need to see the clear side.

But I am happy with its performance over all.. Beware it will FLOOD when you do water changes!!!!!!!!! Raise the collection cup after water changes for a good hour or so.

[Rippin]

yeah, I have the same complaints. Plus add to the clear intake which gums up nicely with coraline etc.

The collection cup and be turned around as well if you need to see the clear side.

But I am happy with its performance over all.. Beware it will FLOOD when you do water changes!!!!!!!!! Raise the collection cup after water changes for a good hour or so.

Yes, I could turn around the collection cup, but then the overflow pipe would not have a nice hole to fit in :wink:

Also, how would this unit flood? The overflow pipe would prevent the level of the water from escaping the top lid.

[Chad]

Really? Cuz mine has a hole on both sides. So you can turn it around.. If it doesn't it has to be a mistake. Its designed to go both ways.

Trust me.. that overflow pipe is worthless unless its just overflowing some skimate.. When the surface tension changes it overflows easily.

[Rippin]

I was referring to the cover that has the small hole that the return pipe goes into. The cover is only on one side, but, yes there is an open area on the opposite side for the return pipe to fall in to.

I have the skimmer on a new tank right now (nothing in it but saltwater) and the bubble action rose overnight to spill water in the collection cup. The collection cup was at its lowest position and the airflow was at the 2 o'clock mark. The overflow pipe did it's job and returned the excess water back into the skimmer. So it worked for me. But I'll still keep an eye out, thanks.

[Chad]

Ok, well just watch it.. cuz it will over flow :) Under "normal" conditions it will overflow nicely. But when something enters the tank that alters the surface tension, for example, those slime coat products. It will overflow like crazy.

It is talked about on RC in a few of the MCE600 threads.

Here is a link where Deltec even talks about it. though they don't mention that the overflow tube provided cannot handle it sometimes.

http://www.deltecaquariumsolutions.com/UseofaDeltecSkimmeronaNewAquariumSetup.htm

Its not a HUGE issue.. but I have come out to my tank a few times to see my floor covered in water from my MCE600 going wacko! Though now that I know about it I raise the collection cup after a water change. This happens with Kent salt for me. Not sure about the other salts out there.

[Rippin]

Well, I've had it set-up for a few days now and made a few modifications to hopefully improve operation and reduce the noise even further. Note: This unit is already quiet, but I am always looking for ways to reduce noise. The fan on my Coralife lighting unit is louder than the skimmer :smile:

The intake pipe was way too long, vertically. I wanted to bring the strainer closer to the surface. Unfortunately, it wasn't as easy as it seemed. The rigid tube that connects to the PVC elbow bend is glued in, so that ruled out a simple shortening cut, and then slipping it back in to the elbow bend. Also the diameter of the tube and the size of the elbow is metric. I searched high and low trying to find a 20mm PVC connector sleeve or another elbow, but could not get one. It seems the imperial measurement PVC fittings are more common in Vancouver.:sad:
I eventually found a rigid, clear tube that was slightly larger than the provided tube and used that as a connector sleeve.
You can also see the amount of micro-bubbles this new unit is outputting in the picture.
http://members.shaw.ca/nemod/aquarium/skimmer_mod02.jpg


As mentioned, the unit is pretty quiet, but you could still hear the hissing air valve. Because it is fairly high pitched, it could get annoying. Again, the OEM tubing is not a typical size and type that I could find at an aquarium store. The tubing reminded me of medical tubing, so off to the medical supply store to see if I could find a suitable match - and found something that would do quite nicely. I could not get it in the colour black, but the medium weight is (hopefully) good enough to prevent tubing pinching due to bends. These rubber tubings come in various wall thickness - thin, medium, thick, extra thick. If I went with the thicker walled tubing it might have been more difficult to stretch it over the air intake valve. I purchased about 4 feet of it and fed the tubing behind the aquarium and under the table.
The air hissing sound has been reduced considerably.
http://members.shaw.ca/nemod/aquarium/skimmer_mod01.jpg


And finally here is a pic, just for reference, of the skimmer cup. Note: There is absolutely nothing in the tank right now except for the aragonite substrate.
http://members.shaw.ca/nemod/aquarium/skimmer_clean.jpg

[Chad]

Glad to see your enjoying it. You can get metric piping at Terasen waterworks in Richmond.

[Rippin]

Thanks for the lead. Next time I'm in Richmond I'll check it out.