Sapphire Aquatics BC29R

[Sapphire Aquatics]

Things have gotten really off track in the other thread and the debating seems that it will never come to an end. So, if you have any questions that you would like to ask and have me answer this will be the place to do so.

 

 

 

 

We are proud to announce that after months of designing and testing the new BC29R will be available in the next couple of weeks. This is the smallest recirculating protein skimmer on the market, that we know of, and is versatile enough to be used in many other applications. The dimensions are exactly the same as the BC29 and was designed specificaly to fit in the middle chamber of the Oceanic Biocube 29 gallon aquarium. The input pump is adjustable from 30 to 58 GPH and the recirculating pump is a Maxi-Jet 900 that recirculates the water at 200 GPH. We are moving away from the Rio pumps all together and the BC29 will now be sold with the MJ900 as well.

 

The input pump slips right in to the side for direct feeding, or you can feed in to the ICA chiller offered by www.nanotuners.com. We are looking at offering a few package options that would include the skimmer, ICA chiller, and possibly lighting upgrade kits sold together in one kit. More details will follow from Nanotuners.

 

The new BC29R uses a combined total of only 11 watts of power and since the recirculating pump can sit above the water level it adds very little heat to the tank.

 

I will be posting more pictures of the skimmer in action later this weekend and a video clip as well.

 

Thank you Nano-Reef.com and fellow nano reefers,

 

Kyle

 

 

 

 

 

[Ethan]

Thanks for all your great work!! I will be ordering a skimmer for my 24G Nano Cube very soon and your skimmers seem to be the best bang for the buck! this one looks awesome too!!

 

[Sapphire Aquatics]

Here are the pictures of the skimmer in action. This after running for only five minutes in change water.

 

 

 

 

 

[Sapphire Aquatics]

And some pictures of the bubbles generated by our new impeller replacement for thee Maxi-jet 900 and 1200. This will be a simple impeller replacement part that will slip right on to the magnet where the stock impeller is. It was inspired by the threadwheel modification that was invented in Germany in the late 80's and has become so popular in the states this past year. You can clearly see the difference in bubble density and size in the photos. The impeller also creates less turbulence because it does not move as much water volume as a stock impeller. I can't show you any more as I am pursuing a patent for this one.

 

 

 

 

 

The pictures above were from a MJ 900 in our BC29 model, not recirculating. The MJ 1200 completely whited out the entire skimmer body in the first few seconds.

[RBuddha]

Nice. If i may suggest that diffuser plate needs to be reworked. Its angle and the size of the holes really arent doing any benefit for your skimmer. You could put a round diffuser on top of the tube you are using for a reaction chamber. The heavier water will still fall on the left side like it does now.

[Ethan]

not this ###### again...

 

ATTN: PEOPLE IF YOU HAVE WONDERFUL IDEAS ABOUT HOW TO BUILD THIS SKIMMER, PLEASE CALL HIM AND ACTUALLY TALK TO HIM.

 

DO NOT POST IT IN THIS THREAD

 

 

thanks

[juin21]

Will this fit in the jbj 28 hqi in place of the air driven skimmer they have

[Sapphire Aquatics]

RBuddha - Would you elaborate? I am very interested, but not sure that I am understanding you completely. When the MJ impeller is completed I think that the riser tube and diffuser plate will become obsolete, but the stock impeller moves too much volume and the micro bubbles are impossible to contain in only 11" of height. This is the reason for the tube and deflector, and they get the bubbles to swirl next to the tube and really prolong the dwell time.

[RBuddha]

not this ###### again...

 

ATTN: PEOPLE IF YOU HAVE WONDERFUL IDEAS ABOUT HOW TO BUILD THIS SKIMMER, PLEASE CALL HIM AND ACTUALLY TALK TO HIM.

 

DO NOT POST IT IN THIS THREAD

thanks

 

Relax Ethan. And if you want to reimburse my work for the long distance to call him then by all means go ahead.

 

As far as the diffuser plate goes your holes are too big. If you look at most diffuser plates the holes are a bit smaller to reduce the turbulence inside the skimmer so you get a more uniform bubble column. The need for more dwell time is important in any size skimmer and most companies use baffling or try to squeeze out as much height as they can in order to do that. After the mod i think you might need a round diffuser if you decide to stick with that setup. Good thinking going with the recirc style though it will really make an impact in the skimmer's production.

[Sapphire Aquatics]

Ethan - This is what I was intending. A forum where anyone who had questions for me could get an answer directly from me. I am not looking to inflate myself here or get free advertising, or not answer difficult questions about the design of the skimmer. This is an open forum in General Discussion and I will happily answer any questions about the skimmer design and function.

 

Sapphire Aquatics is actively pursuing becoming a Nano-Reef sponsor and committed to furthering the hobby of nano reefing.

 

juin21 - I have yet to get my hands on the new JBJ 28. I am waiting to see how successful the tank will be before making anything specific for it. If you would like to give me some measurements I will be happy to prototype something for you. You can reach me by email if you would like to discuss this further at: kyle@sapphireaquatics.com

[adinsxq]

Ethan - This is what I was intending. A forum where anyone who had questions for me could get an answer directly from me. I am not looking to inflate myself here or get free advertising, or not answer difficult questions about the design of the skimmer.

 

Sapphire Aquatics is actively pursuing becoming a Nano-Reef sponsor and committed to furthering the hobby of nano reefing.

sounds good to me!

[Ethan]

sounds awesome, I like very much that your here supporting your products. I know you want to answer questions I just don't want a repeat of the last thread

 

I also don't know jack crap about skimmers so I don't really know if people are flaming in techno speak.

[Sapphire Aquatics]

RBuddha - I believe that you are suggesting a dome shaped, or curved diffuser over the riser tube to deflect all of the bubbles downward?

[RBuddha]

No. Im suggesting it over the tube you have that the bubbles are coming from. Imagine a salt shaker its the same concept. To put salt in a uniform manner on your food.

[Sapphire Aquatics]

RBuddha - I see.

 

With the current flow rate, not controlling the initial direction of flow will most certainly expel a tremendous amount of bubbles back in to the display because of the short height of the skimmer body. I think your idea, which reminds me of the central diffuser at the bottom of the bubble king, would work quite well given more room to work in. The confines of the rear chambers are what has kept the design simple and led to the riser tube and deflector that work extremely well for extending dwell time as they cause the bubbles to tumble when used in this combination. Once the new impellers are used, the turbulence will be significantly less and the tumbling will be far less chaotic and skimmate production will be maximized.

 

There are almost no options for manufacturers when it comes to small venturi pumps so I am left to develop my own solution. It is easy to modify one pump, or one skimmer, but very difficult to develop a solution and implement it on a large scale.

 

Some people think that Sapphire Aquatics is a large company that has lots of employees and resources, but truth be told, I have one employee and she does an outstanding job of keeping me organized. Each product is made by hand, one at a time. No CNC machine, no short cuts, just me and a couple of fabricators that I outsource to to help me keep up with demand.

[RBuddha]

A diffuser does really help from what ive heard its just the idea of implementing a round one in a square skimmer that makes it difficult. Controlled turbulence is hard to get right but when you do you see immediate results.

 

I know where you're coming from with the production because i used to make and sell refugiums and it was just me by myself and it takes a toll after working 8 hours a day then coming home another 4 hours of making refugiums. Sometimes the best products are the ones that come from individuals who work out of their house because they are more flexible to make changes to a product as opposed to a corp. that takes forever to fix potential problems.

[newnanofl]

I am glad you decided to post this again seperately. I got tired of reading the p#ss##g contest that was going on in the other thread.

 

Being a mechanical engineer, I applaud these effort you are doing. The skimmer works great giving the small design parameters you have to work with. Could it be better, that answer is usually yes.

 

My question come more into retro-fitting the older model with a similiar concept. Is is possible for those of us who already purchased a skimmer for the BC29 to somehow take advantage of this new skimmer mechanics? or do we have to bite the bullit and just buy the new one?

 

Anyone looking for a BC29 Sapphire Skimmer?? A good deal !!!

[Sapphire Aquatics]

newnanofl - Retrofitting the the old BC29 might be possible, but it was difficult on the one I played with. Good news is that the old model BC29 will accept the MJ900. The new venturi I am using causes very little restriction on the intake side and once the new impeller is finished you will be able to slip it right in and double or triple the bubble density while slowing the rate at which water flows through the body of the skimmer. Therefore your current skimmer will perform better than it does currently and all you have to do is switch the pump out for the MJ900 and replacement impeller. You will not have the added benefit of the recirculating skimmer, but overall performance will improve considerably.

[newnanofl]

Will you offer the pump and replacement impeller or is this something I can get elsewhere? I would be more than hhappy to purchase it from you.

[Sapphire Aquatics]

newnanofl - We will be offering the pump and replacement impeller once the design is finalized and produced.

[luxo1]

Hi Kyle, I posted this in the other thread before things went a little overboard there:

 

I am new to the hobby, I bet a lot of us newbies have the same type of questions. Thanks in advance for your patience.

 

What makes your model/machine better than the one recently put out by CPR for the 29g biocube?

 

Can you explain what you mean by add-ons, etc?

Can you add the add-ons at a later date, if you want to just start with your skimmer for now?

 

Do you know the price yet? Will these be for sale on your Website?

 

Will you be at the IMAC conference with this new skimmer in Chicago, or will one of your reps be there? Perhaps there will be special conference pricing?

 

And -- this gets people really going --- will a protein skimmer make your water clear? I know it cleans out gunk, levels off the chemistry of the water, but will it make the water in a tank less cloudy?

 

I am holding off on buying anything until your new model hits the market and gets reviewed.

 

---Chip

[SPerry]

Guess I dont understand. What is the benefit of recirculating protein skimmer over the regular sapphire skimmer? If you are going away from the Rio pumps, what pump will be used on the NC 12 skimmer?

[texasarrowhead]

What about micro bubbles in the main tank will their be any?I do not like bubbles in my my tank and most small skimmer I have seen have them.

[Sapphire Aquatics]

luxo1 - Wow, lots of questions, how did I miss this?

 

Our new skimmer, BC29R differs from the CPR in a few ways. We have found over the past few months that the Rio pumps are not always molded perfectly and the front plate that holds the venturi lines and the impeller in place will sometimes leak microbubbles out the front of the pump itself before they ever enter the skimmer body. This is not a common fault, but one that I feel can be avoided altogether by switching to the Maxi-jet brand of pumps. I have selected the MJ 900 for the line, recirculating or not, and discovered a wonderful venturi that does not reduce the flow rate of the pump. In addition, the pump sits out of the water and the input reaches down in to the water nearly eliminating any heat transfer from the pump to the water. Once the impeller modifications are molded it will be a simple swap so there is no need to wait, you can start skimming now and see the instant improvement once you swap out the impeller.

 

The benefit of the recirculating skimmer is that you are now feeding tank water to the skimmer at a rate of 30 GPH instead of nearly 200 GPH. The recirculating venturi pump recirculates the water inside the skimmer body nearly 300 times per hour since the internal volume is roughly 1/2 gallon. This means, in theory, that the skimmer is fed the entire tank volume one time every hour and every gallon is recirculated 10 times. This is only in theory because not every water molecule is going to make it through the skimmer every hour and when you mix air with water you significantly reduce the actual water volume being moved by the pump, but I think you get the point.

 

As far as add-ons, you will be able to have the feed pump feed the Nanocustoms ICA chiller, for example, before the water is pushed in to the skimmer. You would be eliminating the need for a separate pump and have the benefits of the skimmer and chiller all in one. You could also feed in to a carbon reactor, or phosban reactor, or ....

 

Pricing is still up in the air until I receive invoices for the grey PVC fittings and MJ pumps.

 

I will not be able to attend IMAC, but I do hope to be at MACNA this year sharing a booth with Chris from Nanotuners.

 

The skimmer will certainly help in keeping your water clear. Just remember that it can only remove solids that are small enough to enter the pump inlet, and dissolved organics. It can not remove waste that is not suspended in the water column. Fish such as sand sifting gobies and blennies, inverts, good random water movement and ocassionaly blasting detritus off the flat rocks with a turkey baster will all help keep detritus from accumulating and keep it in suspension for the skimmer to collect.

 

SPerry - Hello Perry, it's been a while. The pumps on the NC12 and NC24 are not distributed or manufactured by Rio. They are a mass produced pump from China that many manufacturers place their own label on and make their own impeller assembly for. I have looked at many American pump companies, but none of them offer a small pump that will accept a venturi or are strong enough to pull a venturi in several inches of water with head pressure. I am constantly looking so if anyone has suggestions, I am all ears.

 

texasarrowhead - The new line of BC29 skimmers emit no micro bubbles after a short break in period, even with a light bio-load.

[Sapphire Aquatics]

This impeller modification seems to triple the bubble density compared to the stock impeller and the bubble size is noticeably smaller and uniform in size. These are pictures from a standard BC29 in the sump of my 75 gallon tank with a very light bio-load. Only two fish, a few corals, clams, and plenty of snails,