Deltec Skimmers Any Good?

[Forsaken77]

So Marine Depot has started to carry the Deltec skimmer brand and is the US's primary distributor now. Deltec also used to use modified Eheim pumps but now makes their own.

I still need a bigger skimmer for my 180 build and was curious how they work. They carry the SC and SCA model skimmers from Deltec. The version I was looking at is the 1455 (I think) and has a manual neck cleaner built into the top. I don't know if the cleaner gets in the way of the bubbles or how these skimmers performed.

So anybody that has, or had, a Deltec skimmer please let me know what you think. I was originally planning on a big cone skimmer.

 

[Maacc]

I love the deltec. I have a 1660 on my 180 but I have a large sump (almost 50 gallons). I also have an mce 400 on my jbj that blew the aquamaxx out of the water.

 

[ebushrow]

Great skimmer with a big $ to go with it....you could go with Nyos or Royal Exclusive for almost the same $.... Adam at Battle Corals carries them and loves them....he could give you a good set of reasons they are awesome

 

[David Cher]

i would recommend for nyos instead of Deltec. kinda of dated design , not saying no good in performance but design is also important

 

[Forsaken77]

I love the deltec. I have a 1660 on my 180 but I have a large sump (almost 50 gallons). I also have an mce 400 on my jbj that blew the aquamaxx out of the water.

That's funny because it would be replacing an AquaMaxx skimmer, The Cone-S Q2.

I don't even know if the lines they carry are new or old. Do you have the 1660 with the manual neck cleaner? How do you find the shorter body? Does it impact the efficiency because it's shorter?

They also state in the description that the pumps are pressurized and somehow it prevents the skimmer from reprocessing the same water, so only unskimmed water passes through the unit. Sounds like marketing crap.

I have a 40 gallon sump, but now you have me considering the 1660 (350-400 gallon tank) with neck cleaner because it literally outputs double the amount of air as the 1455 (200-250 gallon tank).

 

[Forsaken77]

i would recommend for nyos instead of Deltec. kinda of dated design , not saying no good in performance but design is also important

Dated design? LOOK at the skimmers here. They look exactly like an Aquamaxx, Reef Octopus Regal hybrid type of skimmer.

Like I said, I was originally considering a large cone or wine bottle skimmer. But this "supposedly" new line uses pressurized pumps and is extremely energy efficient.

 

[Forsaken77]

Great skimmer with a big $ to go with it....you could go with Nyos or Royal Exclusive for almost the same $.... Adam at Battle Corals carries them and loves them....he could give you a good set of reasons they are awesome

It's around $500. I looked at the Nyos 160 last year and read a bunch of reviews saying it wasn't worth it. The cup is a pain to remove and other things people had problems with. Maybe they addressed these issues by now. But even MD, before they carried Deltec, advised against Nyos 160 on the phone. They said the slight performance increase, if any at all, isn't worth the extra money.

But again, things may have changed since last year.

 

[Maritimer]

I have the 1455. Got it from Adam at Battlecorals around Black Friday, but only dropped it into my sump a couple of months ago. It's in a 40 gallon sump under a 220 gallon display.

Took a little while to settle in, kept blowing its own lid off, but it runs strong and steady now. Pretty new tank, with a couple dozen coral frags, a couple dozen CUC and no fish so far, but the skimmer still pulls some nasty out of the water.

The manual neck cleaner is a thin, rotating blade with a squeegee on it. You spin it, it wipes gunk off the inside of the neck, and you don't have to pull the cup quite as often. (I find that I want to pull mine about once a week.)

~Bruce

 

[madweazl]

Copy/pasted of my review on MD. I've owned the skimmer about 10 months now. Bottom line, I wouldnt change if you paid me so long as availability remains good because getting that impeller was a major pain!

About a week after ending my search for a new skimmer last year, I stumbled across the Deltec SC1350N (predecessor to this model). Compared to other skimmers on the market these days, the Deltec is simple in appearance; there aren't any eye catching curves, flashy fittings, or intricate bubble plates. It is a simple yet elegant, single diameter (six inches) tube of acrylic accented by white components. Assembly and disassembly of the entire unit is an entirely toolless process utilizing a single thumb screw on the back of the unit. Loosening the thumbscrew a few turns provides enough space to remove the entire skimmer body from the motor plate. To remove the skimmer body you also need to remove the volute which simply pulls off the motor block like the majority of skimmers on the market. The pump then simply slides out of the mounting plate. The diffuser is removed by turning it approximately 45° and pulling it off the pump. This provides access to remove the impeller (typical pinwheel design). The skimmer cup is removed from the body with a small twist (roughly 15°) and pops right off with no effort.

Recommended water depth for the skimmer is roughly 6 - 9 7/8"; I have it sitting at 7 3/4" right now with the gate almost completely shut to get an acceptable water level in the skimmer so I'd be surprised if it worked well in 6". I have only spent about five minutes tuning the Deltec while I spent days tuning the Bubble Magus Curve 5 it replaced to get the consistency I was after which I find to be a huge improvement.

After using the skimmer for about nine months now, I absolutely love it but needed to replace to impeller which was proving to be more difficult than originally thought due to availability in the US. After a little more than a month and a half (ordered May 9th and arrived June 24th from a different distributor), the unit was finally back up and running like it should (skimmer still worked with the old impeller but required frequent adjustment).

Likes
Ease of maintenance (super simple to assemble and disassemble).
Easy to tune
Simple, sleek appearance
Consistent performance

Dislikes
Availability (hopefully a thing of the past now that Marine Depot is on board)
Cost
Noisiest piece of equipment in the setup (skimmer off 34db and on 44db)
Slight pain cleaning the cup (narrow gap between the neck and outside wall of cup makes it difficult to get bigger fingers down there to clean)

PS. Just switched my Jebao PP8 over to Vortech MP40s and they're much louder than the skimmer now.

 

[Blue Spot Octopus]

Another skimmer to consider is a Vertex Omega 180 it is a very balanced skimmer.

 

[chefjpaul]

Another skimmer to consider is a Vertex Omega 180 it is a very balanced skimmer.

Thats what I'm running now.
Great skimmer

 

[Abhishek]

Deltec any good ?? If you need example - I changed from BK 160 to Deltec sc1351 and couldn't be happier .
This is what you get in a 80 gallon system with 7 fishes fed 3 times in 2 days .
And my nitrates are co stand at 5 and phosphates around 0.06



Think there shouldn't be any more doubt .
Oh did I mention I have ditched my gfo and carbon reactors .

Adam @Battlecorals runs the largest Deltec for his 7000 gallons only sps system .need not say more .


Regards,
Abhishek

 

[Silver14SS]

I have a SCA1351 and have been pleased with it. Quiet, powerful, very compact.

 

[Velcro]

LOL at people talking about "dated designs." Laughing all the way to the skimmate with my lifereef.

 

[Abhishek]

LOL at people talking about "dated designs." Laughing all the way to the skimmate with my lifereef.

If I had the real estate for a svs 24 life reef ,I would in a heart beat . But with people in my situation where you have limited space constraint and need performance , you can't beat a Deltec

Regards,
Abhishek

 

[Velcro]

If I had the real estate for a svs 24 life reef ,I would in a heart beat . But with people in my situation where you have limited space constraint and need performance , you can't beat a Deltec

Regards,
Abhishek

I've often considered going to a deltec to try it since adam has always been dead on with his recommendations (I switched to photon v2s), but this lifereef just works. The lighting decision was an easier one for me because I like the look more with these LEDs vs t5 plus no bulbs, heat, etc.

 

[Abhishek]

The only reason I would switch to a lifereef as it's Venturi driven and safer for phytos .i dose a lot of phytos everyday and hate to switch off my Deltec for 2 hours but still it pulls of phyto .
I wouldn't switch because lifereef can pull more doc than Deltec as I don't want my skimmer to strip my water off all nutrients .

Regards,
Abhishek

 

[peder]

They use Jebao pumps now on the scc serie, just to know!

 

[ksed]

They use Jebao pumps now on the scc serie, just to know!

Peder,
I think almost everyone is using Jebao or similar. Lol

 

[Maritimer]

From what I'd read in the past, Deltec was using Jebao in their DC controllable units, but the AC units were "Aqua-Bee" pumps.

That may have changed.

~Bruce