Canadian Skimmer Company CSC-400

[waynemah]

I’d like to start off by thanking Michael at Aqua Digital for giving me this opportunity. I’m a big fan of home reef technology and being able to play with it first hand is exciting!

In this review we will be looking at the Canadian Skimmer Company’s CSC-400.

CSC-400 at a glance:

At first glance this thing is a pure work of art, it’s a true statement of innovation without the price tag. Here are some features I noticed during the un-boxing.

Skimmer Cup
- This is fitted with a twist lock design. Removal of the skimmer cup is easy and hassle free, I’ve played with some other skimmers that twist off like a bottle cap and can get quite annoying.
- There is a hole placed in the skimmer cup for easy extraction of skimmate. This is a simple but effective design (barbed fitting). To make full use of this an airline tubing and valve would need to be purchased.

Skimmer Body
- This is a cone skimmer which does have a seam at the back of the skimmer, although not very noticeable.
- The acrylic is crystal clear and has a perfect finish to it. Truly a work of art.
- The body is secured to the base using 4 thumb screws, you can likely have the body off in under a minute.

Skimmer Base
- This skimmer uses the base and a variable gate to control the flow (water height) of the skimmer. This design allows for the extremely small footprint (11.5x11.5 inches).
- The base holds the two Cicce PSK 1200 pumps. These pumps are easily maintainable and accessible (I’d say 2 minutes from fully assembled to disassembled where you can get at the pumps).

Skimmer Air Intake
- There is an intake per pump, this allows you to control the amount of air available for the pumps. These are easily accessible and tunable.
- The intakes have nipples that allow you to attach tubing for external air (Some people like this feature to help more fresh air enter the tank)

Skimmer in general
- The skimmer sits 22.5 inches off the ground, measured from the base to the top of the skimmer cup. You will likely need another inch to remove the skimmer cup from the skimmer.
- The baseline water level is suggested at 180-250mm (7-9.8 inches).

I will keep this thread updated with progress.

Thanks for looking!

[lockrookie]

looks good.. my only thought (only owned verex skimmers) is i dont understand the output from the skimmer how does the cleaned water leave the skimmer. is it inteh tube in the back wih the adjustment dial?

[waynemah]

Originally Posted by lockrookie

looks good.. my only thought (only owned verex skimmers) is i dont understand the output from the skimmer how does the cleaned water leave the skimmer. is it inteh tube in the back wih the adjustment dial?

There is a channel that goes from the center of the base out the back, the adjustment tube you are referring too has a small gate at the bottom of it which controls the flow out.

[lockrookie]

Originally Posted by waynemah

There is a channel that goes from the center of the base out the back, the adjustment tube you are referring too has a small gate at the bottom of it which controls the flow out.

interesting.. if you get a chance id love to see a pic of that area but if its inset to tank dont worry about it i have an inqusitive mind and in the market for a new skimmer soon so ill be following along very closely... thanks for doing the review

[Psyire]

Nice Skimmer! Looking foward to hearing more. Who carries these?

[waynemah]

Originally Posted by Psyire

Nice Skimmer! Looking foward to hearing more. Who carries these?

These should be available at almost any marine store in Canada. I believe the release date will be around September.

[Aqua-Digital]

Originally Posted by Psyire

Nice Skimmer! Looking foward to hearing more. Who carries these?

As Wayne said, the range will be launched at the end of September, we are currently evaluating the pre production models which this is one of, from there the production will start in about 5 weeks.

We have already received substantial pre orders based on the feedback we got from the pre production testing of the CSC-150

Here is a link
http://www.canreef.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=87599

Currently we have over 40 active dealers across Canada and the North America head count stands as of today at 87 so supply should be of no issue when looking for a CSC skimmer.

The next model to go under the pre test is the CSC-250 which starts today through Derek LeBlanc

[waynemah]

Originally Posted by lockrookie

interesting.. if you get a chance id love to see a pic of that area but if its inset to tank dont worry about it i have an inqusitive mind and in the market for a new skimmer soon so ill be following along very closely... thanks for doing the review

I'll snap a picture of my other skimmer, it has the same design

[RuGlu6]

Looks good depending on the price and air output of the pumps.
The only thing i see is that they need to add rubber pads/feet for the skimmer body as well as rubber lining under pumps to make it silent.
Like the idea of water output at the lowest point where there is least amount of bubbles.

[waynemah]

Originally Posted by RuGlu6

Looks good depending on the price and air output of the pumps.
The only thing i see is that they need to add rubber pads/feet for the skimmer body as well as rubber lining under pumps to make it silent.
Like the idea of water output at the lowest point where there is least amount of bubbles.

Surprisingly enough, this skimmer is one of the quietest devices in my sump. There is a slight hum during start up, but then becomes pretty much silent. A single MP40 is louder than this skimmer and a lot quieter than my return pump.

There is a nice amount of foam forming and it's pulling out some skimmate (surprising for running under 12 hours). This unit is quite easy to adjust. I set the water level, then tuned the intakes to create a nice gradual increase in bubble size as it moves up the skimmer body.

Here is a quick pic of it's progress after the first day.