Bubble King Skimmer Reviews

[S.D]

We are in the process of looking at purchasing a Bubble King Mini 160 skimmer shortly but before we do, we were hoping to hear some reviews on it.

There does not seem to be many reviews available on the net so far (Or that we have been able to find) if you have one or know someone that has one, would you share your thoughts on how it’s working…are there any problems you’ve experienced?

One of the problems that we did come across on another forum was that 3 individuals who purchased a Bubble King could not get it to foam properly (maybe this was due to water levels or improper set up)….has this happened to you or anything else?

All feedback would be appreciated.

Sarina

[marie]

I've only had my BK a few weeks but I love it.
http://canreef.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=41813


and here is about 48 pages of bubbleking babble :lol:
http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1350938&perpage=25&pagenumber=1



Oh there is also a sponser forum on reefcentral for the bubble king. I found it helpful to read all the posts to find out what kind of complaints people were having
http://reefcentral.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?s=&forumid=497

[mr_alberta]

I run a bubble king mini 180 and so far I love it. By far the smallest footprint and quietest skimmer I have owned. It was more quiet than the EuroReef I had years ago and by far more quiet than that Octopus Skimmer I had.

The water level is a bit fussy. They have a recommended max. water level line written on the skimmer, but I find that I need to run my water level above that to get a decent amount of skimmate. Otherwise the foam is super dry and most of it cakes onto the wide neck. Aside from that though, the skimmer runs like a champ and is super easy to clean.

[S.D]

Thank you both for this information and reviews....we really appreciate it!

After conducting more research, we're a bit concerned with one aspect of the Bubble King and I was hoping to get your opinion.

We would be using this skimmer on a four foot tank....this tank is being used to farm ricordea floridas and will only have one fish in it (so not a huge amount of waste being produced). Right now we're farming our ricordeas in a 25 gallon tank with a Schuran skimmer and they're really flurishing but we have out grown the 25 gallon and going to a much bigger application.

One of the reviews we recently read about this skimmer is that the Bubble King is so efficient it removes most of the nutrients/elements from the water (hence, taking it away from corals that require it). With the application we are using the tank for, we require a bit of a higher nutrient level. Forgive me for my ignorance (:redface:) but do you believe the removal of nutrients by a really efficient skimmer is a legitamate concern?

Do you think this type of skimmer would be overkill for our application?

We currently own 4 other skimmers 3 new and 1 lightly used skimmers ( 2 x Euro Reefs (New), 1 x H&S (New) and another Schuran (Lightly used)...we're reef junkies what can I say LOL!!! :lol:) and I am wondering if we should try one of them instead of the Bubble King?

We very much want the Bubble King and are ready to purchase it but we're worried it may remove to much of the nutrient levels....feed back would be much appreciated.

Thank you,
Sarina

[Phanman]

to me it seems abit of overkill if all your growing is ricordias and have one fish. You could always go the route of ATB conical shaped skimmers or even the MSX which is alot cheaper but still effective.

Just a thought...

[christyf5]

I agree, LPS and softies do much better with extra nutrients in the water. You want some skimming but not the massive skimming from a BK. I say this not having one of my own (yet desperately wanting one :razz:). I think a BK would be better suited to a tank well stocked with "nutrient" producing fish.

IMO I'd try one of those other skimmers for awhile before sinking big bucks into something you don't need. Oh wait....we're reefers. LOL. We do that all the time!! :wink:

[S.D]

Hi John,

Thank you for your reply, it is much appreciated.

I should correct myself, we'll end up with three small fish and a clean up crew (most of the rock will be located in the sump, however there will be a few pieces for the fish to hide out in but other than that the tank is just being used to farm the ricordeas....we will also have snails and a few small blue legged hermit crabs) so I guess in that case there will be more waste then originally anticipated, having said that...still not to much because of the lack of fish.

It's interesting that you should mention the conical shaped skimmers because we were also looking at the Korallen-Zucht Revolution Skimmer just this morning and it has the conical technology as well.

Thank you for your suggestions and input...the ATB conical shaped skimmer looks very interesting to us...we will research it out.

Sarina

[seanoman]

I have a BK 300 external and absolutely love it. I believe it is the same one that Jason Mck runs on his tank and it has great results.

[S.D]

Hi Christy,

Thank you for your reply, we appreciate it very much!

We very much like the BK but were very concerned about it taking a lot of the nutrients out of the water. It seems to be an awesome unit but maybe not for our application. Our ricordeas are just flourishing and splitting very nicely on their own and we wouldn't want that to be hampered in anyway.

Yes indeed, being reefers we all sink a pile of money into the marvelous hobby don't we?!?!?! It's more costly then purchasing nice jewellery!!! LOL!! :lol:

Sarina

[S.D]

Hi Seanoman,

Thank you for your review on your BK....they are quite amazing skimmers I understand, it's good to hear that you are having great results!

Do you have many fish in your aquarium or more corals than fish?

Sarina

[VFX]

Just a some quick questions...

If your rics are flourishing & splitting nicely in your current set up, would it be wise to change things?

What is your set up at the moment?

What skimmer are you currently running?

What else are you doing for nutrient export?

Why did you decide to change skimmers?

Are you having problems with your current set up with nutrient build up?

Not trying to grill you! :)

.

[S.D]

Hi VFX,

No worries, I’m not feeling grilled at all with your questions.

- The big tank isn’t up yet and we’re planning ahead because we will be having even a greater amount of ricordeas to farm with the way our ricordeas are flourishing presently.

- We currently have a Schuran running in the 25 gallon and it is working fine, we purchased the other Schuran at a good price for a back up.

- We purchased a Euro Reef RS80 for the bigger tank and then found an RC80 for an even better price and purchased that thinking that we may use that as the primary skimmer and use the RS80 as a back up.

- Then we purchased an H&S 110-F2000 without a pump for next to nothing and we’ll be purchasing a pump for it shortly. We were considering using this as a primary pump until we started looking into the Bubble King skimmers and now the Korallen-Zucht.

- Once we decide which skimmer to go for, most of the other ones will be sold.

- We will be using two Phosphate reactors, one for Rowa phos and the other for carbon occasionally for the big tank and this is what we are doing with the 25 gallon presently.

- We are not having any problems with a nutrient build up with our 25 gallon, the ricordeas a doing terrific and are thriving big time, the cleanup crew we have do a terrific job if there is any food left over from feeding…we’re just running out of room with all of the ricordeas and need a larger tank.

Sarina

[Jason McK]

Yes I have the BK 300 External. Amazing skimmer very well built.

But I agree with most when they say Rics will do much better in dirty water.

The best LPS tank I've ever seen was Willow's (AKA John) and he didn't have a skimmer at all.

J

[S.D]

Hi Jason,

Thank you for your review and thoughts.

Yes, ricordeas as well as zoas grow very well in "dirty" water and this was our main concern with going with the BK.

Glad to hear you're having good success with your Bubble King...very nice unit indeed.

Sarina