Is lifereef really the best skimmer?

Water Dog · Apr 30, 2020

No epoxy in the water column?

t5Nitro · Apr 30, 2020

Nope. I did shut it off for the morning and restarted it, still with the valve fully opened, and now it's tumbling water in the body a good 2 to 3 inches below the neck. I'm not sure what it was, but it looks like I can go ahead and tune it back in.

kryolla · Jul 5, 2020

whats everyone sump water level for svs2-24? thanks

t5Nitro · Jul 5, 2020

kryolla said:
whats everyone sump water level for svs2-24? thanks

Mine is at about 9 or 10in. I think this is kind of the max that LR recommended.

francesco.mancini · Jul 5, 2020

mine is 8.5 cover the outlet of the gate valve but the actual valve is over water. I’m using an sicce adv 7 about 1800 gph perfect setup imo

lagatbezan · Nov 27, 2020

Looking to get a svs3-30 and was looking to use a dc pump and been looking at the varios8 or a sicce syncra sdc9 pump. A lot of review mention the sicce pumps are noisy specially their dc ones where as the varios 8 is silent. Any one have any experience with either of these pump or any recommendations?

Badilac · Nov 30, 2020

I run the SDC9.0 on my 36" and I have no issues with noise. I also run a SDC9.0 on my chiller with no noise issues.

RobertP · Dec 1, 2020

My Sicce syncra 5 is an AC pump but it is super quiet so not sure who would have said they were loud. I cannot tell it is on until I see water pushing up in my LR skimmer.
My return pump is a Reeflow dart and while it is not loud it is the loudest thing in the sump room.

ChrisQ0904 · Dec 1, 2020

lagatbezan said:
Looking to get a svs3-30 and was looking to use a dc pump and been looking at the varios8 or a sicce syncra sdc9 pump. A lot of review mention the sicce pumps are noisy specially their dc ones where as the varios 8 is silent. Any one have any experience with either of these pump or any recommendations?

Never ran a various on the skimmer but have used a smaller one for a return pump and it was very quiet

dmy535 · Dec 1, 2020

I have a varios on my skimmer. Can’t hear a thing!

lagatbezan · Dec 6, 2020

Badilac said:
I run the SDC9.0 on my 36" and I have no issues with noise. I also run a SDC9.0 on my chiller with no noise issues.

Do you know if the sicce sdc pump retain their memory in case of a power loss? Like when the power comes back on, do they automatically resume backup or do you have to press some buttons on the display to restart them back up?

lagatbezan · Dec 6, 2020

dmy535 said:
I have a varios on my skimmer. Can’t hear a thing!

which varios pump are you using and which size skimmer?

dmy535 · Dec 6, 2020

lagatbezan said:
which varios pump are you using and which size skimmer?

RO regal internal 150 with varios 2

Badilac · Dec 7, 2020

lagatbezan said:
Do you know if the sicce sdc pump retain their memory in case of a power loss? Like when the power comes back on, do they automatically resume backup or do you have to press some buttons on the display to restart them back up?

Yes they retain memory. I have zero issues with my 2 SDC9.0's

RobertP · Dec 7, 2020

I have to ask why would you turn down the skimmer pump? LR skimmers are setup to run on full power on the pump and then you close or open the valve to adjust. It is my understanding that you want to push as much air into the water as possible. In this case you would not need to worry about whether your pump is on high or lower.

Badilac · Dec 8, 2020

RobertP said:
I have to ask why would you turn down the skimmer pump? LR skimmers are setup to run on full power on the pump and then you close or open the valve to adjust. It is my understanding that you want to push as much air into the water as possible. In this case you would not need to worry about whether your pump is on high or lower.

Why would I run my SDC9.0 at 90watts and turn it way down via the gate valve when I can run it at 60watts and not have to turn it down as much. I dont need the extra heat in my tank or to waste the electricity. The SDC9.0 is already much larger than the Magdrive 18 he sells with the 36" so no need to run it wide open.

Mark_4880 · Dec 8, 2020

Does anyone have a LR skimmer they are getting rid of? Looking for the expandable 24"

I'm getting ready to setup a new tank and kind of want to replace the old AquaC ev-180.

This is 1 week of skimmate of a 90gal

piranhaman00 · Jan 20, 2021

Jcm412 said:
My biggest concern with lifereef is the big high pressure pumps they recommend. They are energy hogs. Will DC pumps or even a reeflo pump work on the Lifereef skimmers? If they do will they perform as well?

I wanted to bump this comment. Thinking about a life reef skimmer but I did not realize you need to run a 100 watt+ AC pump to make it work right.

Do you have to run an AC pump? Can I run a DC pump with comparable head? My DC Jebao does 1000gph at 1/3 the watts as the pump sold with the skimmer.

Badilac · Jan 20, 2021

piranhaman00 said:
I wanted to bump this comment. Thinking about a life reef skimmer but I did not realize you need to run a 100 watt+ AC pump to make it work right.

Do you have to run an AC pump? Can I run a DC pump with comparable head? My DC Jebao does 1000gph at 1/3 the watts as the pump sold with the skimmer.

You can run any pump AC or DC. I run a DC SDC9.0 on my 36" LR skimmer.

piranhaman00 · Jan 20, 2021

Badilac said:
You can run any pump AC or DC. I run a DC SDC9.0 on my 36" LR skimmer.

Yes but how strong does it have to be for the 23" version? I dont want to run a pump that pulls 100 watts. If I put a pump that does 1000gph (30 watts) will it even work?