Icecap K1 nano skimmer

SavAqua20 · Aug 14, 2018

I purchased this skimmer for my innovative marine Nuvo 20. I had seen some people who said it worked great for them and fit nicely in the back chamber. I ordered the skimmer a couple months ago and patiently waited for it to come in the mail. The skimmer finally arrived in late July. The package arrived and it looked like a well built skimmer for a nano. I had one small issue which was easily corrected with a small amount of super glue. The bracket that’s connected to the adjuster knob must have separated during shipping. I set up the skimmer and found no bubbles at all. I checked the level of the water to make sure I was at an appropriate depth (6-9”). I had no luck so I checked the air tubing and silencer connected to the pump. Air was able to freely go in with no obstructions. I then checked the pump itself and was unable to open it up as the manufacture had glued the housing that covers the impeller to the pump. I messed with the skimmer a little more and still nothing. I called it a night and contacted coralvue. I explained my issues and the sent me a replacement pump thinking that was the issue. Last week I got the new pump in and hooked it right up. Still I had a skimmer that wouldn’t produce bubbles. I was frustrated and annoyed that I could not get what seemed to be a pretty easy plug and play skimmer to work. I took the skimmer out as the pump was loud and humming very loudly. I searched and searched for answers online as well as with coralvue. Today I decided I would play around again with the skimmer. I got it out and decided to take it completely apart. This is where I noticed a major issue right off the bat. Inside the skimmer the center chamber looked to have the holes cut out. Upon closer inspection the holes were never drilled in the center restricting the flow of water and air. I grabbed my drill and drilled every hole out. I then hooked my skimmer up and it’s working like a charm. I hope this story may help someone if they ever run into this issue.

Kyl · Aug 14, 2018

QC doesn't seem to be a strong suit on the skimmer side of things, recently anyway. My K2-160 arrived with the collection cup neck un-glued/bonded, and my K2-50 was missing pieces of the venturi cap. Both ultimately rectified, but still, out of the box and non-functional like yours. Glad to see you managed to figure out the issue, love all of mine (K2-50/120/160).

JBKReef · Oct 15, 2018

Now that it has been up and running for a couple months how would you rate the skimmer? I'm hunting for one for my Lagoon 25 and I like the form factor here.

SavAqua20 · Oct 15, 2018

I like it. It has performed great for me.

jrill · Oct 15, 2018

Works great for me.

old salt reefer · Sep 2, 2020

Found one of those little orange "plugs" you show in your 4th picture, wondered what I broke installing skimmer. Now I know what it is and that I didn't brake anything.