Ultra Reef Akula Skimmer Review

[SpyC]

Swapped my ac pump on the 180 for the dc the other day. It is much quieter, but the bubble density is well below what the original created. Hoping that will change after a week or two of running it.

 

[eggie]

Swapped my ac pump on the 180 for the dc the other day. It is much quieter, but the bubble density is well below what the original created. Hoping that will change after a week or two of running it.

What percent are you running it ?

 

[SpyC]

What percent are you running it ?

Currently running at 70% in case anything changes while biofilm builds up on the pump. I did run at 100% for about 15 minutes and did not see a marked increase in bubble production

 

[eggie]

Yeah it could take a couple of days to set it. Im running mines like at 85%
The good part of the DC pump is you could reduce the flow with out killing the pump in a much easier way

 

[SpyC]

Yeah it could take a couple of days to set it. Im running mines like at 85%
The good part of the DC pump is you could reduce the flow with out killing the pump in a much easier way

What water depth donyou have your skimmer in? Mine is at ~8", but this is what it was at before the switch to the dc pump

 

[spsick]

That’s odd. My bubble density increased. My guess was it likely due to the bigger impeller.

 

[SpyC]

That’s odd. My bubble density increased. My guess was it likely due to the bigger impeller.

I expected it to at least be the same production

 

[FinalPhaze987]

Duplicate post

 

[FinalPhaze987]

@AquariumSpecialty when will you be getting in more DC conversion kits for the UKS-200?

 

[Zaireguy]

Trying to decide between the ukd 200 or the typhoon i have room in my sump for the out side pump and I am at about 255 total volume with main display and sump and 50 gallon low boy attached

Is the extra $280 or so worth the typhoon does it give extra dwell time?

 

[reeftivo]

Trying to decide between the ukd 200 or the typhoon i have room in my sump for the out side pump and I am at about 255 total volume with main display and sump and 50 gallon low boy attached

Is the extra $280 or so worth the typhoon does it give extra dwell time?

i've always loved the typhoon design. A few years ago some users posted some reviews on ultimatereef that i saw when they first came out. at that time i was thinking of upgrading to a much larger system and was looking everywhere for reviews. The reaction chamber will definitely give you more dwell time but the ease of maintenance would be the big winner for me. from what i saw in some videos the foam head is very pillowy compared to my internal UKS series and the whole chamber is milked out top to bottom.

 

[spsick]

Trying to decide between the ukd 200 or the typhoon i have room in my sump for the out side pump and I am at about 255 total volume with main display and sump and 50 gallon low boy attached

Is the extra $280 or so worth the typhoon does it give extra dwell time?

I’d happily pay that to be able to just pull the pump off for cleaning without disassembling the whole skimmer.

 

[Dr. D]

I purchased an Ultra Reef skimmer from another R2R user whose sump was too small to accommodate it. I’m super impressed. Very beefy, crazy silent, and wonderful bubble action. Couldn’t be happier.

 

[Gtinnel]

I’ve been using my UKS-180 for 2 months and it’s the best skimmer I’ve ever owned. The only downside is that when I empty the cup I get yelled at by my wife for the awful smell. The skimmate in my old Bubble King stunk but not as bad as this one.
I’ve never used the style with the external pump due to having limited space but I would definitely prefer it if space wasn’t an issue.