I purchased this promising skimmer to replace my AquaC 120 powered by a mag7 for my 90gal/30sump mixed reef.
The skimmer was packaged very well for shipping. It arrived in perfect condition. Thanks reefnut. It was a great purchasing experience.
After looking it over, I must say that it is a solid built skimmer. I like the way the cone is within the body of the skimmer, and the body holds the collection cup. There is no need to worry about a week neck here. It assembled easily, without even looking at the instructions it came with. Although I think AE USA would benefit from a more detailed set of instructions like the Tunze skimmer these seem to be a clone of.
The size was not a complete wow factor, but it is fairly large for the space in my sump. I ran it in fresh water and vinigar overnight to remove any oils.
I then threw in a little skimate from my tank into the rubermaid. To my suprise it started to foam instantly.
I think it pulled out every drop of skimate I placed in the rubermaid.
So far the only problems I see with the skimmer is the neck size is too small to get my hands in there to clean. The air lines are silicone and are easily kinked. I am going to replace it with 3/8 water line. The silencers are a nice touch because they are need.
The riser adjustment pipe that controls the water level inside the skimmer could be better. I would prefer a gate valve on it for easy tuning.
The pumps are still questionable. The pump run quite and smooth. I left a thermometer in the rubermaid overnight and the temp did not increase while the pump was running. I just think that the skimmer can still handle more air, I just hope I can mod the pump to suck more air in.
A few measurements. The total height of the classic 135 is 21 inches tall and the body is just under 6 inches. Without the cup it is 18 inches tall. The neck is 2.75 inches ID. Not bad for this size skimmer. I would guestimate that the footprint to around the same as their AE USA website 12in x 9in. You need atleast 3 inches to remove the cup.
All and all I love the way these are built, just think the pump could be better. Is it worth the amount that they are selling for ... absolutly the acrylic work is worth the $ by itself.
A week later.....
I am still happy with my purchase. It pulls out more skimmate than my aquac 120 with less energy. I now reduced the time per week of cleaning the grass from every other day to once a week.
I still feel these pumps can perform better with a new venturi and mesh mod. The other more expensive yet simple mod is to place a euro reef impeller from a sedra 3500 and a new venturi.
This skimmer works well out of the box and is by far the best deal out there for a quality built skimmer that performs.
Linear Mode
