Fluval Sea SP1 Skimmer

[Kairus]

Just got a Fluval Sea SP1 Skimmer, it was $55 on Amazon. It's a part of Fluval's new saltwater line, along with a circulation pump and an LED light. I'm going to use it as an in-tank skimmer on my 30 gallon FOWLR.

 

The box is quite nice:

 

 

Packaged well:

 

BUT we have bad news:

 

MICROBUBBLES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

 

And you can see it's rather large in tank, I'm probably going to have to get some more rock to strategically hide it. You can also see the microbubbles it's spitting out.

 

So the whole unit is two plastic pieces, the skimmer pulls apart. The plastic doesn't seem strong enough around the top so it's not fitting together snug and bubbles are slipping by. I sent an e-mail to Fluval to see what they're willing to do in this situation. I've opened it up and closed it a few times but no dice. I will probably have to modify it to keep the bubbles out.

 

Aside from that it's quiet and making some very fine bubbles. Fitting it into the tank is a little bit of a problem, the min/max lines are pretty close together so even when it's right up against the top brace of the tank you don't have much adjustment as far as the water level goes.

 

I can't say much on its effectiveness, but it's producing nice bubbles (even if they are getting into the tank for now) and the skimmate cup is adjustable as is the airline, so it can be pretty fine tuned.

 

 

I will update this thread when Fluval gives me a response regarding the bubbles escaping.

[dmasterx1x]

hmm.. that thing has the identical cup/collector design as Hydor's nano skimmer. Hope it works out for you with the microbubbles.

[Kairus]

hmm.. that thing has the identical cup/collector design as Hydor's nano skimmer. Hope it works out for you with the microbubbles.

You're right, it's nearly the exact same thing. This skimmer seems to be wider than the Hydor nano one, but it's hard to tell.

[dmasterx1x]

It does look a bit wider. I have the hydor and luckily no microbubbles thus far.