First I will show you the old skimmer in sump, so you can see the space I'm dealing with, also you can see what a week’s worth of skimate looks like coming from the Euroreef RS100 .... Dark, Dark greenish black sludge, I also run the euro on the dry side so I usually empty the skimmer cup 1-2 times per week
Now on to the new guy...
Ok we'll start with packaging.....
Skimmer arrived very well packed in heavy cardboard box surrounded by closed cell foam...
Inside contents including FREE T-shirt!
Next we'll look at the collection cup, nice and heavy acrylic, every bit as thick as the Euroreef cup.
Instead of a twist lock design to remove the cup this one is a simple press fit with a o-ring in a recessed groove to provide a good seal. Works very well and extremely easy to remove. Also provides a good solid seal.
Looks like a nice sized opening inside for easy cleaning as well, my hands are smaller so the opening size is good for me but someone with larger hands may like the opening size on the regular extreme 160 skimmer (non-cone shaped), which is a bit larger. Overall the cup size is very close to the Euroreef RS100, which hasn't been an issue for me and I don't foresee this one to be either...
Here is a good look at the bottom of the valve that adjusts water level, there is a knob on top that you turn that simply rotate the wedged pvc in the riser tube, the best part is that it come off by simply unscrewing the top so it can easily be cleaned, and makes adjusting water level a snap!
This is knob to make the adjustments
The bottom piece that simply slides into pump opening again with a nice o-ring to provide a good seal...
And the wedge assembly removed...
This is how the pump is mounded to the base plate. Easily removed for cleaning with heavy duty plastic screws...
A quick picture to show everything taken apart so you can see how easy cleaning will be....
And a nice close up the impeller. Mesh wheel mod (produces crazy amount of bubbles) all sealed up and a ceramic shaft as well. Very similar to all decent skimmer pumps!
Everything assembled again except the skimmer cup, notice that the discharge port is nice and low on the column, this allows for the water to exit the skimmer under the water level which helps keep things quite. As a matter of fact that's the first thing I noticed after firing things up is how quite the skimmer runs, and well the crazy amounts of bubbles......
Complete and ready for the sump...
Relocated, and mission accomplished - very easy to get into sump, so removing for cleaning will be very easy as well
As with all skimmers this will take a few days to break in but so far things look great, it's very quiet, seems to create massive amounts of bubbles and build quality is excellent. I will post more pictures in the days to come and update from time to time as the weeks go on, but my initial impression is very positive.
One other things that I want to mention is that I had a little trouble getting this when I was expecting it, but it was more to do with a few small mix ups and then the courier services.
Even though Jayson (owner of SWC) was on vacation in Bali, he made sure his staff took care of things for me and had things fixed right at no cost to me very quickly. So far they have been a really good company to deal with.
Anyone looking for a great skimmer, without breaking the bank really should check out the offerings they have, I don't think you'll be disappointed!
TJ