Deltec MCE 300 and Deltec MCE 600 Skimmers

[Raf]

Ok, so I went out and purchased these two skimmers, one is to go on our 90 gallon reef, the other on my 210 FOWLR. Both tanks are lightly to moderately stocked. I know I will eventually have to get another 600 for my 210 but for now my wallet says one will do. So anyways, here are my impressions so far:

Deltec MCE 300:

The price is fairly good for a Deltec but on the higher end for a smaller HOB skimmer. IMO, it is worth it so far.

The looks are good, I prefer the look of this skimmer over the MCE 600 and all it's rivals, namely the Remora PRO which has that honkin HUGE Mag3 pump hanging in the tank. The Deltec HOB's pumps are in the skimmer body, so there is a nice clean look to them.

The set-up was pretty much plug and play as advertised, you had to attach a few tubes and it was ready to mount. These skimmers can be fitted on pretty much and tank so the intake and output plumbing needs to be cut to fit if you want to keep the use of your glass top and have it fit snugly. That was the only time consuming part as I had to get a saw and make two nice cuts to the pipes.

The skimmer fits well on the tank, the degasing plate works very well although it is transparent, so eventually, alagae will cover it, so it may take some maintenance. The skimmer cup design is a little weird but after a while, it is clear how it is meant to work and adjusting the level is not difficult.

The noise level is not that bad, mostly a hising sound from the air intake a bit of rattle from the pump. MUCH quieter that and Prizim!!! and probably quieter that remoras.

In the first day, no real thick foam production but that is to be expected in the break in period. I will update after a weeks use.


Deltec MCE 600:

The price is not cheap for an HOB but again IMO, worth the $$.

This is a weird looking skimmer, very industrial, very odd looking but once you set it up and plug it in, you see how functional it truely is!

The set-up was again fairly easy unless you have to trim the intake and output pipes to custom fit to your glass tops/tank. Once this is done, the set-up is a breeze. The degasing plate works very well just like on the 300. The skimmer cup design works very well, even better than on the 300. After only 2 hours operation, this skimmer was already producing a asuper rich foam unlike nothing I have seen with Remoras and prizims! I was blown away! The overall design of the skimmer is simple and works very well. The only thing that really bugged me(for the 300 as well) is the location of the pump cord and where it comes out of the skimmer body. It pretty much needs to be used with an extension cord as it is just too short for bigger/taller tanks.

The noise again not bad. Perhaps even quieter than the 300. Some hising noise from the air intake.

I will update in a few weeks on skimming production, so far so good.

[andresont]

MCE 600.
I am using this for a month now.
I agree with everithing you mentioned.
However this skimmer defenetly needs work on its collection cup.
-Way too small and easily overflows
-Even when set up high and with little overflow tube it will bubble up and "spit" all over the place creating salt creep and pudles of water.
-Noisy but with Deltec vibration damperning rails somewhat quiet - er
-After a month of running still have bubbles returning and noisy water return splashing, Defenetly needs modifications.
-Skimmate is good, "Tunze" like performance very smelly, dark tea color DOC.
-Got rid of the hissing noise by modding with small black 35mm film container filled fith cotton face wipes, no hissing and air is filtered.
-For that kind of money collection cup is defenately my "patpeeve"

[Raf]

I agree it is on the small side

[BCOrchidGuy]

I don't want to be ignorant but the MCE600 sure looks like a CPR BacPak... are they very different? I had the CPR and added a wooden airstone, it worked like a hot damn.

Doug

[Diana]

not sure as I have not seen/used the skimmer you speak of...

So it has been 2 weeks+ of skimming and here is what I think so far:

Both skimmers skim very well, far outperform any Remora HOB I have seen. The MCE 300 being fairly new to the market still has some work tweaking some annoyances, mainly lids that don't fit tight, start up problems and a weird collection cup design. It still is worth the $$ IMO and as mentioned already, is skimming well.

The 600 I am very happy with. Skims a very thick foam and after a few days the cup is 3/4 full of the nastiest, smelliest sludge i have ever seen and smelt! I like how quiet it is and the overall performance. As mentioned previously, the collection cup is on the small side and can be difficult to clean if you don't have the right cleaning tool, in my case, a pipe cleaner to get into the nooks and crannies. This skimmer rocks and far outperforms the 300.

[Diana]

Some pics of the nog from the 600, only 4 days worth of skimming, this skimmer rocks!

[Sushiman]

that looks tasty...

[blaster]

I thought it was very overpriced and rated.It had atendencie to overfill.

[andresont]

I agree this skeems very good and skimmate is very smelly actually the smelliest out of all that i had before.
I guess smaller cup leads to more friquent cleaning, so it's cool.
I think this unit priced high but then there is no match for HOB and pefrormance,and was good find for me because my tank has no sump and i want simple setup, + i hide tons of chemical filtration media in it.

[andresont]

Silenser for air intake