Aquatraders PS-75 Skimmer

[Rcpilot]

I need a skimmer for my 29g frag tank and I can't decide which one to get. It's come down to either the Aquatraders PS 75 (Odyssea) or the Eshopps PSK-75

Here's the Aquatraders/Odyssea PS 75:
http://shop.aquatraders.com/Odyssea-PS75-Protein-Skimmer-p/43012.htm

And the Eshopps PSK-75:
https://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=3578+4392+20033&pcatid=20033

Both of these are in-sump skimmers. I will be using them inside the 20L sump. I have the room for either one. Both have mixed reviews on the internet. For every 5 or 6 people that love either of the 2 skimmers - there's always one unhappy customer. If I had to pick - I'd say there are MORE reviews of the Eshopps - and I think that's a direct correlation to the fact that Eshopps is sold by 2 Docs - a trusted name in the industry - and they probably get more exposure via name recognition. But percentage wise - both have about a 75% - 80% happy customer rating.

Foster Smith is probably going to be much easier to deal with if I need service, so that makes the Eshopps look great. But it's also approaching three times the price of the Aquatraders.

The Aquatraders is $47 shipped to my front door.

The Eshopps is $126 shipped to my door.

I know I'll end up modding either one. I have no problem modding a skimmer to make it work better. That doesn't scare me.

Any opinions?

 

[Altohombre]

Buy the aquatraders. If you don't like it sell it to someone for $25 and you barely lose out

 

[dcantucson]

+1 Alto

 

[Rcpilot]

That's a great idea!! :mrgreen:

 

[Rcpilot]

Pulled the trigger on the Aquatraders skimmer. Probably be here next week.

 

[dcantucson]

Cool. We will diffidently want a review. :)

 

[Rcpilot]

pfffftt

I'm not taking any pictures or anything. I'm gonna plug it in and if it doesn't skim heavy brown sludge within 20 minutes I'll be all over the internet telling everybody how bad this product sucks and how smart I am.

:compute:

 

[dcantucson]

Damn Rc you don't mess around do you? :shock:

 

[Rcpilot]

I was just foolin' around. :mrgreen:

If I don't like it, I'll probably keep the pump and sell the skimmer on ebay or craigslist for $20, like Alto suggested.

I'll do a review on it if people want to know what I think. I will try to be unbiased. I WANT this skimmer to work though. I need a skimmer REALLY bad and I'm pretty tight on money right now. I have no problem modding it if I think there is a way to improve it. In the end, if it does turn out to be a POS I'll probably put way more effort into making it work - simply because of the $$ involved. My fingers are crossed - tightly :mrgreen:

It seams to me a lot of the people who didn't like this skimmer were using it as a HOB skimmer. Many of the people who used it in a sump loved it. I can only conclude the reason why the folks that used it HOB style were having problems because of tank water level fluctuations. In the sump, it will always be in the same depth of water. That would make any skimmer much more consistent from day to day. You should be able to dial it in and then leave it alone. Of course you'll always need to clean it and maintain it, but the initial dialing in shouldn't have to be fussed with a whole lot after the first few weeks.

We shall see. The order has shipped. It's supposed to arrive Monday 12-14-09.

 

[bjohanson1234]

In the sump, it will always be in the same depth of water. That would make any skimmer much more consistent from day to day. You should be able to dial it in and then leave it alone.

You would think. I had a SeaClone set up as HOB but my tank has a sump so it was still in the same level of water. Never produced a consistent amount of foam. But atleast yours was half the price of my POS:grumble:

 

[Rcpilot]

The big brown truck arrived today.

The bad news first:
It barely fits in the skimmer compartment I built into my sump. I actually cracked one of my sump baffles. I'll have to take the sump apart and glue in a new baffle. I wanted to redo some of the plumbing down there anyway, so it's a good enough excuse to do the baffle at the same time. I won't get to it until after the holidays.

The good news:
For now, I'll say my first impressions of the skimmer are pretty good. I've never had a sump skimmer like this, so I have nothing to compare it too. I do like the fact that it's quite adjustable. I can adjust it to skim wet or dry by twisting an outlet valve on the top of the exhaust tube. It's not skimming yet but it's only been in the tank about an hour.

:Cheers:

 

[scu95821]

I ordered one of these soley based on your avatar having a plane in it. So it had better work.

I am building my sump also so I guess I'll wait until it gets here before I do anything permanent.

 

[Rcpilot]

Got my fingers crossed! :mrgreen:

I like your avitar too, but I can't afford a real one. :grumble: My friend has been drooling over a Skybolt biplane kit for a few years. He finally pulled the trigger on the plans and empanage kit for an RV-7. I fly bigger models. That Pitts is 33% scale. The Extra 300L is 31% scale. I've got a 40% Emeraude kit here, but still searching for a motor. It needs 100cc engine.

I hope this thing works too. I REALLY hope it works. I'm kinda bummed it doesn't fit in my sump. But it's my own fault for slapping a sump together without knowing up-front how much room I needed for the skimmer. It's going to be a pain to rebuild my sump, but that's what needs to happen. The drain line from the tank is in the wrong spot. It takes up 1/4 the space for the skimmer. The drain line from the fuge to the sump is in the way and it dumps bubbles into the sump. I've got some major plumbing and sump rebuilding in my future.

Please post your thoughts on the skimmer as well. If this thing turns out to be a turd, we could work together to get it dialed in.

Couple things I already discovered:
The outlet adjustment thumb screw isn't really a screw at all. It's not moving in and out when you turn it. It's probably a plug with a slot cut in one side. It's only active for a 90* turn. All the adjustment is within 90* of the sweet spot. There's no point turning it in circles to dial it in - just find the spot where it fills the cup and then dial it back until the bubbles just show in the venturi.

I not using it as a HOB skimmer, so the clear U-shaped tube was not necessary. I plugged my pump directly into the threaded fittings on the skimmer body. It hooked right up. I attached the triangle mount and put the suction cups on. But when I put it in the sump, the pump was too far under the water to pull in any air. This was with the pump body suctioned to the floor of the sump. As you can see from the pics I posted, I had to move the pump up and attach it to the side wall. Now it sucks in plenty of air because the intake is barely 1" under the water. You can loosen the threaded fittings and turn the pump to any position you desire. Rotate it around or spin it up and down. Makes it pretty adjustable, just gotta be careful and not crack the fittings or the body.

 

[Altohombre]

how is the sound on it compared to others you may have heard.

 

[Rcpilot]

Can't hear it - but my tank is loud anyway.

 

[scu95821]

Got my fingers crossed! :mrgreen:

I like your avitar too, but I can't afford a real one. :grumble: My friend has been drooling over a Skybolt biplane kit for a few years. He finally pulled the trigger on the plans and empanage kit for an RV-7. I fly bigger models. That Pitts is 33% scale. The Extra 300L is 31% scale. I've got a 40% Emeraude kit here, but still searching for a motor. It needs 100cc engine.

I hope this thing works too. I REALLY hope it works. I'm kinda bummed it doesn't fit in my sump. But it's my own fault for slapping a sump together without knowing up-front how much room I needed for the skimmer. It's going to be a pain to rebuild my sump, but that's what needs to happen. The drain line from the tank is in the wrong spot. It takes up 1/4 the space for the skimmer. The drain line from the fuge to the sump is in the way and it dumps bubbles into the sump. I've got some major plumbing and sump rebuilding in my future.

Please post your thoughts on the skimmer as well. If this thing turns out to be a turd, we could work together to get it dialed in.

Couple things I already discovered:
The outlet adjustment thumb screw isn't really a screw at all. It's not moving in and out when you turn it. It's probably a plug with a slot cut in one side. It's only active for a 90* turn. All the adjustment is within 90* of the sweet spot. There's no point turning it in circles to dial it in - just find the spot where it fills the cup and then dial it back until the bubbles just show in the venturi.

I not using it as a HOB skimmer, so the clear U-shaped tube was not necessary. I plugged my pump directly into the threaded fittings on the skimmer body. It hooked right up. I attached the triangle mount and put the suction cups on. But when I put it in the sump, the pump was too far under the water to pull in any air. This was with the pump body suctioned to the floor of the sump. As you can see from the pics I posted, I had to move the pump up and attach it to the side wall. Now it sucks in plenty of air because the intake is barely 1" under the water. You can loosen the threaded fittings and turn the pump to any position you desire. Rotate it around or spin it up and down. Makes it pretty adjustable, just gotta be careful and not crack the fittings or the body.

Its not too hard to afford a plane you just have to cut back on non essential things like food, clothes, electricity but its all worth it. Most people are surprised at how much it doesnt cost to own a plane. If you can get into a partnership it probably costs as much as one of your RC planes.


I'm going to use the skimmer as a HOS (hang on the side) until I get the sump running.

I didnt measure the gap between the wall and tank until after I filled it with rocks and water whoops. Not enough to hang much of anything on the back.

 

[dcantucson]

Looks good Rc.
I like the fact that you can put the pump in various positions instead of just on the bottom.

 

[Rcpilot]

About 1 day and 3hrs since I put the skimmer in. Cup is full of water. I adjusted it kinda wet so the bubbles would go all the way up the tube and get a slime coat over all of it. I expected it to be full of water. Just trying to break it in.

I emptied the cup and topped off for the night. Adjusted the foam a little lower in the funnel.

Question for you experienced in-sump skimmer users:
Mine is like most others. It has a funnel that goes up into the cup. The foam in the body of the skimmer works it's way up into the funnel.

I can adjust how high up the foam comes into the funnel by turning my output knob about 1/8 inch either way.

How high do you usually adjust the bubbles in the funnel?
Should I only see gooey foam in the entire funnel? In this case, the white foam from the skimmer body would be just outside the cup and right at the very top of the main skimmer body. But not yet into the funnel.
Or should I be seeing white foam at the bottom portion of the funnel and gooey foam only in the straighter top part of the funnel?

:Cheers:

 

[scu95821]

Holy cow. I ordered mine Sunday night and got it today. No instructions in sight. I can figure out how to build as in sump having a little trouble with hang on.

I'll just wait until I get my sump done.

 

[Rcpilot]

If you want to use it in-sump - simply use the U-tube and connect it to the body of the skimmer as shown on the box. Use the included bracket on the outlet side and hang it on the tank. The outlet and the pump will both be inside the tank and the body will be outside.

I'm glad mine is in the sump - if it was hanging out I'd have made a mess 2 times already. I've filled the cup to overflowing with water twice. :shock: