Ultra Reef Akula Skimmer Review

reeftivo · Jul 15, 2022

mandarin417 said:
What do you think about Akula UKS-200 on a 155 gallon display tank, 150 gallon rubbermaid stock tank, RedSea Reefmat 1200, and a future 40 gallon or so refugium? Mostly soft corals and fish. I hear that if you have a Reefmat and refugium that you don't need as big of a skimmer on the tank.

the 200 would be fine. JBNY ran the old version on his 250+ display back in 16' and loved it. That was a while back and his system looked great. UR Italy rates the 200 from 100 to 240 gallons i believe, so IMO you'll be fine.

kinetic · Jul 15, 2022

OK this convinces me to try one.

I am planning a 126G medium stocked, but will have a trigger sys platinum sump with the fleece roller and an algae turf scrubber, so I think I'll stay on the smaller size with a UKS-160. Think that would do it

SunnyX · Jul 15, 2022

mandarin417 said:
What do you think about Akula UKS-200 on a 155 gallon display tank, 150 gallon rubbermaid stock tank, RedSea Reefmat 1200, and a future 40 gallon or so refugium? Mostly soft corals and fish. I hear that if you have a Reefmat and refugium that you don't need as big of a skimmer on the tank.

I run a UKS-200 on about 190gl total volume and it does a great job. Ive played around with a bunch of other skimmers and this one here is the best of the bunch. It’s whisper quiet and pulls out a ton of muck. The construction and build quality is second to none.

This is about 12 hours of skimmate. I can’t say enough good things about this skimmer and am very surprised that this brands use isn’t more widespread here in the states.

-Sonny

Njdevils1220 · Jul 15, 2022

I would think that size is perfect. They are so worth the cost.

AquariumSpecialty · Jul 18, 2022

I agree. The UKS-200 on that setup sounds like a great choice. As others have said, you will love this skimmer. We have 3 of them in use at our shop.

mandarin417 · Jul 18, 2022

I just ordered one!

reeftivo · Jul 18, 2022

nice

you'll be surprised when you see it. It's a very heavy skimmer with a nice BIG collection cup.
They mill the PVC from full blocks so it's a beefy skimmer.

kinetic · Jul 19, 2022

Does anyone have the cup/neck/lid sizing of the Ultra Reef 160? I'm thinking of getting one + an Avast Swabbie, but can't find the sizes needed to order the avast swabbie as well. I can always just order the skimmer first, or even just get it and send the lid to Avast to modify, but it would be great to get a size ahead of time. cc @AquariumSpecialty

kinetic · Jul 22, 2022

I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong, but I just setup an Ultra Reef Akula 160, and it's incredibly loud. I'm running it in RODI water at the 22cm water level in a bucket just to test.

I took it apart, rinsed it with RODI water (2x) and then tried running it again. Still really loud. I can hear it across the house. I even opened up the pump and checked the impeller, and it seems to be fine (though I'm no expert).

I ran my NYOS 120 in the same bucket, and it was dead silent. Granted, my NYOS 120 was running in my tank for years, but I just cleaned it out with citric acid/water mix.

I have a decibel meter, and this is what I was measuring:

Ambient: 38.1 dB (max)
Ultra Reef 160 on with cup/lid: 60.2 dB (max)
NYOS 120 on with cup/lid: 56.3 dB

The Ultra Reef is 4.1 dB louder according to the meter, though it sounds probably twice as loud. When I stop the air completely, it's still pretty loud (so I think it's the pump).

The NYOS 120 with the air stopped up is so quiet I'm not even sure it's running.

I was expecting near silence according to what people were saying.

I didn't run it in Saltwater or anything other than RODI, so I'm thinking I might return the Ultra Reef. Should I try to return and get a new one? Maybe contact Ultra Reef first and see if they can send me a replacement pump to see if that helps? Or is it actually just supposed to be this loud and everyone has a different definition of "silence"?

Tiki_Reef · Jul 22, 2022

kinetic said:
I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong, but I just setup an Ultra Reef Akula 160, and it's incredibly loud. I'm running it in RODI water at the 22cm water level in a bucket just to test.

I took it apart, rinsed it with RODI water (2x) and then tried running it again. Still really loud. I can hear it across the house. I even opened up the pump and checked the impeller, and it seems to be fine (though I'm no expert).

I ran my NYOS 120 in the same bucket, and it was dead silent. Granted, my NYOS 120 was running in my tank for years, but I just cleaned it out with citric acid/water mix.

I have a decibel meter, and this is what I was measuring:

Ambient: 38.1 dB (max)

Ultra Reef 160 on with cup/lid: 60.2 dB (max)

NYOS 120 on with cup/lid: 56.3 dB

The Ultra Reef is 4.1 dB louder according to the meter, though it sounds probably twice as loud. When I stop the air completely, it's still pretty loud (so I think it's the pump).

The NYOS 120 with the air stopped up is so quiet I'm not even sure it's running.

I was expecting near silence according to what people were saying.

I didn't run it in Saltwater or anything other than RODI, so I'm thinking I might return the Ultra Reef. Should I try to return and get a new one? Maybe contact Ultra Reef first and see if they can send me a replacement pump to see if that helps? Or is it actually just supposed to be this loud and everyone has a different definition of "silence"?

Had the same issue ordered my 160 from BRS returned it bought a Deltec 600i and it is truly dead silent barely know it is running the DC pump that comes with the Deltec is sooo quiet.

Chris k · Jul 22, 2022

Tiki_Reef said:
Had the same issue ordered from my 160 from BRS returned it bought a Deltec 600i and it is truly dead silent barely know it is running the DC pump that comes with the Deltec is sooo quiet.

That's interesting, I am currently trying to decide between the deltec and ultra reef, besides the noise how did the ultra reef compare to the deltec

mandarin417 · Jul 22, 2022

What is the difference between a Sicce PSK1200 and a PSK1200+? I would like to keep a spare pump on hand for my Ultra Reef skimmer but see any + models for sale.

Tiki_Reef · Jul 22, 2022

Chris k said:
That's interesting, I am currently trying to decide between the deltec and ultra reef, besides the noise how did the ultra reef compare to the deltec

I personally think the Deltec performs better maintenance is easier just three heavy duty thumbscrews and it's disassembled, having a DC pump is a plus because you can fine tune it from there as well and the overflow protection system actually works well, all in all just a workhorse and quiet.

ksed · Jul 22, 2022

Deltec dc pump much quieter than Ultrareef

mandarin417 · Jul 23, 2022

Just started up my Ultra Reef Akula 200 and it's dead silent.

Mattiejay6 · Jul 23, 2022

I recently converted over to the 180 from Nyos 160 which was working great but I felt I had to tinker with it a lot. The new UNS is very quiet for me and I don’t hear it at all. It does suck wayyyyyy more air than the Nyos did and I’m producing twice as much skimate compared to the Nyos! break in took longer than expected, but here is 2 days on a 100g system.

kinetic · Aug 8, 2022

Anyone have an automatic neck cleaner on their Ultra Reef 160?

Avast Swabbie doesn't fit (retrofit won't work either they said). Not sure if the Reef Octos would work. I reached out to Aquadriver but haven't gotten a response yet

AquariumSpecialty · Aug 17, 2022

kinetic said:
Anyone have an automatic neck cleaner on their Ultra Reef 160?

Avast Swabbie doesn't fit (retrofit won't work either they said). Not sure if the Reef Octos would work. I reached out to Aquadriver but haven't gotten a response yet

Did you ever hear back from Aqua Driver? If you are still interested then give us a call and we will try to help you. I spoke to someone about a week or so ago and he was interested in a self cleaning head for his skimmer. Perhaps that was you?

So everyone knows, we are having an Ultra Reef 15% off sale for a limited time.

Internal Protein Skimmers | Aquarium Specialty

Best in class internal protein skimmers from Bubble King, Reef Octopus, Vertex, Bubble Magus, My Reef Creations and much more.

www.aquariumspecialty.com

mandarin417 · Aug 17, 2022

I installed an Ultra Reef Akula UKS-200 Protein Skimmer on my system a few weeks ago. I am a big fan of Nyos skimmers but this skimmer performs better than any other needle wheel skimmer I have ever used! I had good skimate within an hour of turning it on. I highly recommend this product line.

kinetic · Aug 17, 2022

AquariumSpecialty said:
Did you ever hear back from Aqua Driver? If you are still interested then give us a call and we will try to help you. I spoke to someone about a week or so ago and he was interested in a self cleaning head for his skimmer. Perhaps that was you?

So everyone knows, we are having an Ultra Reef 15% off sale for a limited time.

Internal Protein Skimmers | Aquarium Specialty

Best in class internal protein skimmers from Bubble King, Reef Octopus, Vertex, Bubble Magus, My Reef Creations and much more.

www.aquariumspecialty.com

Never heard back from AquaDriver. It's still a bummer that the avast won't be able to retrofit and their wiper just doesn't fit the neck. I'll shoot you an email for now (I'm in meetings all day).