i was sitting here and reading over what i have written thus far and also wanted to mention the body is seamless and all in all the skimmer looks to be a mean crap sucking machine. im really crossing my fingers for its performance.

due to a slight case of insomnia and mere determination the skimmer is in the sump. not easily mind you. i will say that the fact that the skimmer comes apart into so many pieces was slighlty helpful but i do forsee doing most my maintenance to the skimmer in sump rather than taking it out and apart... maybe once a year task a full cleaning..if i drink enough first



here is a video of the start up. the pump isnt too quiet .. i rate it a touch quieter than my 1n-180 with a rusted blistered impeller. i was hoping it would be a bit more silent than it is. it is what it is



click picture for video



http://i998.photobucket.com/albums/a...h_102_6726.jpg



now i know i should have done a vineger bath before runing this thing, and im sorry mike i wa sgoing t just didnt have time to go pickup a rubbermaid container but i was so thrilled to actually get it in the sump after 20 min of manipulation that i decided tod eal with it. cause shortly afteri stoppedthe vid it decded to puke fom and i couldnt get it to stop until i restrictd thinletto the pump.. will see what happensinthenxtcouplef day

Jeff question for ya ok with regards to the sump how big is it? Are u able to take thebsump out and make a drawer that u can pull out? This would allow u to get at the skimmer easier and faster along with monthly cleaning

regretfully no i cannot make a drawer for the sump great idea tho. the skimmer is in there and can be removed its just not a quick process. my main concern is tryng to get it to calm down and settle in. i think its going crazy due to my oldskimmer reall wasnt working well and my tank is essentially full of crap atm. big water change tonight already started mixing water last night.

The seond hole is for an upgrade option to a Sicce pump should you ever wish to, with us now distributing Sicce to go with the new CSC range of skimmers this was a natural choice.

My BKSM250 has a similar style plug, never popped off or caused any issues so I wouldn't be concerned. I wonder if the pump noise is due to everything being pretty rigid, nothing to absorb vibration from pump to skimmer connections. Might be worth investigating a dampener between the installation board and skimmer base. I guess worst case as well there is a pump upgrade which I assume is quieter.

i would like to point out to you there is no mention of the in the bad english instructions and do not want ppl reading the review to think this is the case. it states the reason for the second hole is i quote "Tapered plug, aslo can change inlet position of pump via circumgyrate body if necessary" it does not mention anything about this being used only fro sicce pump upgrades. although that was one of the questions i had asked you before purchase about replacement parts which was not answered until now ..thanks i think. ps i thought you where going to cntact me when the skimmers arrived..oh well back to my review.

i also wish to mention the instructions as well as the website recoment 9 to 11 inches for the skimmer to sit in the water or 25 to 27 cm from the sheet. i found this morning at about 5 am with lots of frustration that infact raising it to 7 to 8" its no longer spewing bubbles everywhere and im starting to get a wet light green liquid. i think i have to raise it up just a touch more inorder to be able to tuneit to my liking

it may still need that breaking in period who knows.. there really is no vibration causing the noise as such just the hum of the pump. i was concerned about this pump before i purchased it but there is no information on the web and no one really seemed to know much about it. just have to take it day by day and see how it goes.. as for the plug by the time i finally got the skimmer inthe sump even if the plugg wiggled a bit it wont go far lol thanks for the info tho.

To me pump hum would suggest vibration/rigid connection issues but I guess such things are hard to describe.

you may be right i just dont feel alot of vibration my in-180 now that had vibration..hehe i spend to many long nights with my tank....