Bubble King or H&S

[Ruth]

OK I am going to be setting up a 300g cube tank and am trying to assemble the equipment for it now. I currently run a BK 400 ext. on my 190g tank that I am running the zeo system on and plan on using zeo with this new tank. I am happy with the BK and think it is an awesome skimmer my only concern is it was damaged during shipping and I have been waiting for replacement parts (collection cup and lid were damaged) for quite a while. I have been looking at the H&S A-300 3X1260. I have never seen an H&S skimmer in action but have heard good things about them and they are more readily available in North America so assuming that replacement parts are also more readily available. So................ my question is I'm trying to choose between the H&S skimmer and the BK 500 ext. If anyone can give me any input I would very much appreciate it. Thanks

[CAReefer]

The energy costs are what kept me away from a multi-pump skimmers, I looked at the Bubble King, Deltec and the H&S. Went with the BK. Wouldn't the 500 be overkill on a 300 gallon system? (I don't think overskimming is possible, but alot of wasted capacity in a 500 on that tank.) IMO you could run the 190 and the 300 on your current 400 ext. My 300 internal is rated for 317-793 gallons. The bubble king 400 is rated for 396-1057 gallon systems. And the 500 is rated for 581-1320 gallons.

Back to your question, replacement parts for the H&S would be more readily available as they don't have to be imported. But IMO you can't beat the performance/effeciency of the BK

HTH
Marshal

[Ruth]

Thanks Marshal. It is not possible to run both systems off of one skimmer as they will be in completely different parts of my house. I realize that the 500 is way big but what I am hoping is that I can connect it with my 230g and run both of those systems. I would have to convert the 230 to zeovit but that is not an issue. I am just trying to get a performance based recommendation on these 2 skimmers.

[scottw]

Run 1 skimmer and your set. You can for sure run it all off of 1 system. I did. I had my 240 show tank in my office, and cut a hole in the wall (wife is still mad ) and used that BK in my frag system, it was all one big system.

The amount of zeovit stuff you have should last you a good while with both systems. You know my answer on the skimmer, as I LOVE the bk, b/c I owned 2 of them, and will have a 650 as soon as I get some time to finish my project.


on a side note, we are going to be stocking more of the parts, so this shouldn't be an issue in the future. Also I shipped out your full lid/cup yesterday so let me know when it arrives. I will shoot Will an email, letting him know it shipped.

.

[Aged Salt]

Ruth, isn't Scott a nice boy? :biggthump Bob

[Miguelito]

I owned that exact H&S skimmer. It is amazing. But a BK500 would leave it in the dust. Then again, it better since that H&S is $2,200 and the BK is $4,300! I was running a 340 with a LOT of big tangs. I fed a lot. I had the H&S 2x1260 and it was incredible. Then I replaced it with a 3x1260. Brian at finsreef said I was crazy and it wouldn't skim any better, and he was right. The 2x1260 stayed ahead of my tank. It pulled out everything I put in. The 3x1260 pulled the same amount of gunk, just a little quicker. IMO not quicker that it makes one bit of difference on your tank. But I still like the 3x1260 for insurance, and because I'm a geek.

So yeah, the BK500 would beat the H&S simply because its a MUCH bigger unit. But the 3x1260 H&S will MORE than keep up with your tank. I have a lot of pictures if you want. There are also several on RC.

If I had a 300 gallon tank right now, there are really only 2 skimmers I would buy, the H&S A300 3x1260 external, or the BK300 External. Those IMO are overkill, and anything bigger is WAAAAY overkill.

Man you have good taste!

[Miguelito]

Here are a couple pix.





The cup holds about 1.5 gallons of

[Ruth]

[Ruth]

Well I made my choice and decided to go with the BK 500. I know this is way overkill but eventually I would like to have a common sump for my 190 and the 300 and who knows maybe a frag grow out tank so thought I should just get it now rather than having to upgrade in the future. I am going to temporarily run this skimmer on my 230g tank that is not a zeo tank but it will be a while before my 300 is set up and you just can't have a BK sitting around doing nothing can you?
Thanks for the input!

[jnfallon]

oh man, must be nice.

[CAReefer]

Just keep your hands and feet away from the air intake.

[Ruth]

None of that while operating skimmer! Small dogs and cats will have to be kept away as well.