AquaCare ACF1000V review

[roidan]

Do note that there are severe limitations to the Bane's Venom Test. So while, it is not conclusive over the performance of this skimmer, it will be an interesting experiment to conduct and observe.

- I wouldn't be able to produce identical composition samples of Bane's Venom for future testing as every 'batch' will definitely be different and of different concentrations of organics

- I do not know whether the skimmer has runned in or not and how long it needs to be runned in (although it did foam immediately upon addition of Bane's Venom)

- I had to further reduce the air flow into the skimmer to prevent overflooding and over dilution of the skimmate collected by this skimmer. (thus operating well below manufacturer's 220l/hr of air) but also the manufacturer wun be expecting a user to dump or his tank inhabitants to generate 50ml of venom per 35litres of saltwater in an instant also

- and many other limitations that i haven't thought about yet.

[roidan]

about half an hour and already 1cm of skimmate collected...

again the skimmate collected will not be of the same concentration/dilution level as the Bane's venom poured in....

50ml of Bane's venom introduced may probably render anything from less than 50ml of skimmate collected to much much more ml of skimmate collected depending on the setting of the skimmer....

all we can know is that...whether 50ml or more (wetter) skimmate is collected in the end....absolute amount of Bane's venom remaining in the water column should fall and this will result in less venom in the water column at every single skimmer pass.

[roidan]

skimmer stopped foaming.....

i have reopened the valve to near 220l/hr that the manufacturer recommendeds and see if it can start foaming again to remove remaining venom.

Skimmer stops foaming because either:

-it has picked up all the venom

-it has picked up whatever venom that it can and not able to pick up the rest

-other unseen reasons

[roidan]

view overhead seems to show that it has picked up rather nasty stuff....

meaning it managed to pull up quite abit of Bane's Venom before the venom is allowed to deteriorate the water quality.

But as to how much exactly it picked up, i will measure later when i can confirm that the skimmer is no longer able to foam anymore.

[roidan]

decided to measure the skimmate before it starts drying up......

wow..i was in for a surprise....while i cannot conclude the concentration/dilution levels in comparison with Bane's Venom....it seems that the skimmer stopped skimming because it pulled quite alot of it out....

in fact i put 50ml of Bane's Venom and yet i get more than 60ml of skimmate within an hour from this skimmer. Of coz this skimmate in reality is less concentrated since i cannot get more than what i have put in and it is inaccurate just to judge by the colour of the pictures....but it seems pretty good to me.

Near-final impressions:

While this is a small skimmer, it seems to be very fast in generating organic-laden foam. (either that or Bane's Venom is too potent for the skimmer not to foam )

It definitely does not possess the high air/water volume that some other skimmers can offer, but it is a pretty effective skimmer in its own right.

The manufacturer recommends this for tanks up to 1000litres. But as i always say, their ratings are just a starting reference point as everyone's system is unique.

If after using this skimmer and you get the low nutrient levels that you want, congrats. If after using this skimmer and you are still not satisfied, doesn't mean that this is a bad skimmer, it only means you need a more powerful one.

[Gouldian]

Great job bro! I think we really more of your kind of reviews in this forum, so that we will be better informed and also assist us in our decision-making during our next purchase.

[roidan]

Thanks bro...

i do not want to bring direct comparison with other skimmers as i do not have other skimmers sitting side by side in the same tub, thus i only offer my readings and observation by virtue of the skimmer itself.

whether another skimmer will fare worse or better than this skimmer is definitely not conclusive.

at least with pictures and some write-up, it helps a prospective buyer more than looking at clean new skimmers in the websites

[Gouldian]

Thanks bro...

i do not want to bring direct comparison with other skimmers as i do not have other skimmers sitting side by side in the same tub, thus i only offer my readings and observation by virtue of the skimmer itself.

whether another skimmer will fare worse or better than this skimmer is definitely not conclusive.

at least with pictures and some write-up, it helps a prospective buyer more than looking at clean new skimmers in the websites

Can't agree more man!

Besides with your ways of evaluating, it also help educate us on how we can do a simple test at home to evaluated my own skimmer.

I understand that none of us have the necessary equipments to fully test and compare between products by I think with you, we are one step closer.

[roidan]

Justice League's Batman (aka World's Greatest Detective) at your service

[strat]

Awesome review!!!!

ps: where is yr sidekick robin the boy-wonder??

[roidan]

Awesome review!!!!

ps: where is yr sidekick robin the boy-wonder??

Thanks strat....

my sidekick ah....

Dispar Anthias lor....the boy-wonder

[Dispar_Anthias]

Awesome review!!!!

ps: where is yr sidekick robin the boy-wonder??

side kik robin boy wonder.. here i come

[Gouldian]

Hey Boy Wonder, dun forget you a dedicated driver that is still learning the robes.

[Dispar_Anthias]

Hey Boy Wonder, dun forget you a dedicated driver that is still learning the robes.

dun worry i wun forget... so wed on huh?? woops

[typrobin]

side kik robin boy wonder.. here i come

anyone looking for me??

great job Batman!!! good review!!

[DeepBlue]

bros...

Roidan...good review. I am sure a lot of guys here has benefitted a lot from this thread. The obj is not to compare skimmers and brag about who has the bigger, more expensive or efficient skimmer. It really is about understanding the capacity of a skimmer and its performance under a rather controlled environment.

I would really love to see it run in your setup for a few more days to see more results...maybe your bane's poison is too potent this run

I'm sure the owner of this skimmer owes you a big cup of coffee for doing the late night review

[strat]

Sorry some OT here,

wanna ask, what's bane's posion? skimate ?

[roidan]

Sorry some OT here,

wanna ask, what's bane's posion? skimate ?

"50ml of Bane's Venom.......actually just the skimmate diluted with water from my quattro lah " as i quote myself here...

http://www.sgreefclub.com/forum/index.php?...pic=30772&st=15

[roidan]

Round 3 of testing:

Outsump testing again....

Sicce extrema using as short a hose as i can.....end up using just slightly longer than 12inches of hose from pump to skimmer connection point.

do note: this skimmer is now working on my 180gallon tank+80gallon sump together with my beckett skimmer in dual mode. If the skimmer does not skim either with the sicce extrema/eheim 1262, i will set it up for another round of testing in my 4ft FOWLR where i can afford to let this AquaCare skimmer be the lone skimmer.

[roidan]

Managed to coax 4l/min (240l/hr) of air from the venturi.....

skimmer not foaming yet.....i will leave it overnight till tomorrow morning before i switch over to the eheim 1262 for testing again.

here's the schedule if all goes to plan:

now till Tuesday morning: Using sicce extrema on my main system

Tuesday to Wed morning: Using eheim 1262 on my main system

Wed to Thurs morning: Using sicce extrema on my FOWLR

Thurs to Friday morning: Using eheim 1262 on my FOWLR

shall then pass the skimmer back to Superman to fly it back to the owner

[roidan]

picture of bubbles with sicce extrema on main system (240l/hr of air)

[roidan]

till now no foam production with the sicce extrema.....

i do not even see a dirtier layer of foam on top of the reaction chamber...just simple white bubbling going on.

in awhile i will be changing to eheim 1262 to 'turbo-charge' it and see if there will be foam production, testing schedule brought much forward from now.

personally i feel that my skimmer is not allowing this AquaCare to fully work its magic on the water. While my skimmer is maintaining a constant foam prior to the AquaCare, it is still maintaining the foam whereas the AquaCare is not building up foam.

My verdict at this point is that I will need to bring this AquaCare skimmer to work on my FOWLR as the sole skimmer if we are going to see any chance of foam production.

[roidan]

looking from top down...

clean clean white white bubbling going on...

either the skimmer is unable to pick up organics or the water column is already purely clean, which i doubt as my skimmer is still maintaining a constant foam.

[roidan]

gave up.....switching over to eheim 1262.

got 6l/min of air (360l/hr) from the venturi....shall see if it foams first or floods first

[roidan]

rather dense chamber....i shall comment about this chamber bubble density a little more later....