Ultra Reef Akula Skimmer Review

[Hitchhik3r]

Sorry, thinking of my 160 which is the older version. mine has a PVC thumb screw to adjust the air. So the white cap on the silencer of the new model isn't adjustable? i was under the impression that cap turned to close off the air intake hole on the side.

I don't think that cap is adjustable. It's a screw cap that I can loosen but it doesn't feel like it's supposed to be anything but screwed on tight. I did open up the effluent though after your recommendation and it seems to be producing a more consistent bubble flow now although still aggressively overflowing. I'm guessing at some point I should try slowly closing it off again until it stops overflowing?

 

[kinetic]

I don't think that cap is adjustable. It's a screw cap that I can loosen but it doesn't feel like it's supposed to be anything but screwed on tight. I did open up the effluent though after your recommendation and it seems to be producing a more consistent bubble flow now although still aggressively overflowing. I'm guessing at some point I should try slowly closing it off again until it stops overflowing?

I have the same skimmer (though I am upgrading the pump to the DC one for sound preference), and you're right, there is no air adjustment (nor do you really need it).

You should try completely opening it up, you shouldn't get any overflow, as long as the water level isn't too high. Then start to close it from there until you are just shy of overflowing (without the cup). Then if you add the cup on at that level, you should be getting some good skim.

One thing to note, I did take my skimmer completely apart to try to troubleshoot the loud noise (which was coming from the pump), and noticed there was a big chunk of "plastic" that was blocking some parts of the skimmer. I forget exactly which part, but I easily punched it out. It was like the machining didn't fully detatch this bit. You can try dissassembling yours and see if you see anything that could be blocking as well. It's a long shot, but you might have the same issue as me.

 

[Hitchhik3r]

I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong. I opened the gate valve completely and let it run overflowing with bubbles for a few hours. I then began closing the valve but it never stops overflowing. It simply goes from bigger bubbles to fine microbubbles but otherwise is constantly spilling over the edge aggressively.

edit: I forgot to add my water height is approximately 8.6-9 inches which I believe is exactly the range of the recommended height in the instruction booklet.

 

[reeftivo]

I don't think that cap is adjustable. It's a screw cap that I can loosen but it doesn't feel like it's supposed to be anything but screwed on tight. I did open up the effluent though after your recommendation and it seems to be producing a more consistent bubble flow now although still aggressively overflowing. I'm guessing at some point I should try slowly closing it off again until it stops overflowing?

leave it open. closing it off will raise the water level in the skimmer and add to the overflow problem. Have you recently used any additives, putty (frag mounting) or add anything new like filter socks? How old is your system?

 

[Hitchhik3r]

My system is brand new. I haven't even started cycling it yet. Put water in and turned on the skimmer.

 

[rtparty]

My system is brand new. I haven't even started cycling it yet. Put water in and turned on the skimmer.

There is absolutely no reason to run the skimmer right now or worry about it. It has nothing to skim or create a foam head with

 

[reeftivo]

My system is brand new. I haven't even started cycling it yet. Put water in and turned on the skimmer.

most likely just new salt and production residues from all the new equipment that is freaking out skimmer. I would just run carbon for now and leave the skimmer off until you get some cycling going and bacterial mass builds up. do you have rock or substrate in it yet? If so, live or dry rock?

live rock will also get skimmers going a little crazy for a while due to some die off during transfer.

 

[spsick]

I got a hold of AquaDriver and they said the AquaDriver Helix 160 will fit the Ultra Reef Akula 160.

Tips on contacting AquaDriver: goto their Facebook page and message them there. They will respond so quickly. But their contact form/email is a black hole.

I also measured the cup outer diameter and neck inner diameter and got:
Cup OD: 160mm exactly
Neck ID: 73mm exactly

Now, I did this by using a centimeter ruler. I couldn't find any better measuring tools. But I did spend at least 10 minutes making sure I was finding the right measurement.

Can anyone else confirm this? I can’t find the info anywhere and 2.8 inches neck diameter seems really narrow for the apparent size of this skimmer.

Trying to appropriately size either a 160 or 180 for my 75g sps tank. Currently use a bk mini 160 that’s probably just a tad too big as my nitrate and phosphate are almost 0 and I feed heavy.

 

[reeftivo]

Can anyone else confirm this? I can’t find the info anywhere and 2.8 inches neck diameter seems really narrow for the apparent size of this skimmer.

Trying to appropriately size either a 160 or 180 for my 75g sps tank. Currently use a bk mini 160 that’s probably just a tad too big as my nitrate and phosphate are almost 0 and I feed heavy.

Yes, 2.8 neck.
Mixing chamber is tall and the neck through the cup tall as well, so it works very well. I would say up to 100 DT would be ideal for the 160. Cup holds a lot of skim too

 

[spsick]

Hey all just picked up a 160 from @AquariumSpecialty (Scott was super helpful highly recommend).

Thing is built like a tank, but what are you all doing with that little flimsy foam spacer on the Venturi? I thought it was just for shipping but it’s actually in the diagrams. It feels like it will last about 1 cleaning which is odd considering the rest of the build being top notch.

 

[TimSt]

I threw away that foam by mistake. Haven't noticed any issues with the skimmer without it.

 

[reeftivo]

Hey all just picked up a 160 from @AquariumSpecialty (Scott was super helpful highly recommend).

Thing is built like a tank, but what are you all doing with that little flimsy foam spacer on the Venturi? I thought it was just for shipping but it’s actually in the diagrams. It feels like it will last about 1 cleaning which is odd considering the rest of the build being top notch.

what foam spacer? Can you post a pic?
mine is an older version and did not have any foam spacer that i can remember. i looked at the diagram of the new one and wonder if you are referring to what looks like a foam oring that may slip over the smaller taper of the venturi and it may help seal any small gaps between the body and the venturi itself. shouldn't have any real effect on performance if you remove it.

 

[spsick]

what foam spacer? Can you post a pic?
mine is an older version and did not have any foam spacer that i can remember. i looked at the diagram of the new one and wonder if you are referring to what looks like a foam oring that may slip over the smaller taper of the venturi and it may help seal any small gaps between the body and the venturi itself. shouldn't have any real effect on performance if you remove it.

Yeah looks to be to stop microbubbles from espcaping there. I’m sure once it breaks in it’s not necessary.

 

[reeftivo]

Yeah looks to be to stop microbubbles from espcaping there. I’m sure once it breaks in it’s not necessary.

sounds reasonable. that's probably why it looks cheap. only a "break in" add on.

mine never needed one.

Question!

do the new ones have that black reducer in the venturi nipple?

just curious ;-)

 

[spsick]

sounds reasonable. that's probably why it looks cheap. only a "break in" add on.

mine never needed one.

Question!

do the new ones have that black reducer in the venturi nipple?

just curious ;-)

Like inside the barb fitting? I did look through it and didn’t seen anything obvious.

Here’s a pic of the foam thing btw

 

[reeftivo]

Like inside the barb fitting? I did look through it and didn’t seen anything obvious.

Here’s a pic of the foam thing btw

nice

yep that's what that cheap foam piece is for, micros. you'll never need it again after it breaks in.

the venturi nipple is completely different from mine so i doubt there is an insert. the insert in my white venturi nipple is black and very visible.

Hope you enjoy the skimmers performance!

 

[Wildreefs]

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"?

That’s what happens when a few fan boys do a review on a product. Heavy plastic somehow matters, you know in case your carrying it across your roof and happen to drop it

 

[Rmike545]

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

 

[Rmike545]

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

Hi Sonny I just got that same skimmer and I am have a hard time to tune it if you don’t mind what water lvl do you have the skimmer in and how high up the skimmer buddy do you have the bubbles ?
Any help is appreciated

 

[AquariumSpecialty Verified Sponsor]

Hi Sonny I just got that same skimmer and I am have a hard time to tune it if you don’t mind what water lvl do you have the skimmer in and how high up the skimmer buddy do you have the bubbles ?
Any help is appreciated

Hey, it’s Scott and I’m the owner of Aquarium Specialty. We are the US and Canadian distributor for Ultra Reef. Feel free to PM me and I’ll give you my cell number (or you can give me yours) and I’ll help you with your skimmer. My family vacation started today but I don’t mind helping you while I’m traveling to the coast later today. Getting in some fishing and r&r with the family.