Opinions on a Reeflow Orca 250

[superwizbang]

Hey folks,

Anyone have a Reeflow Orca 250? I have an ETSS 600 at the moment and while it does a good job, my water volume will be increasing when we buy our new house soon and I will be going from ~320ish gallons total to about ~400ish.

While I like my ETSS DD skimmer, it won't keep up. It barely does now. I am curious what opionions there are out there from owners. Read a bit on RC and everyone seems to love them. There are also a lot of "I heard they were good" comments. Again, I am interested in knowing what folks with actual contact with them think. It's fairly large (which is of no matter) and said to be nearly quiet. Based on my Hammerhead, I would judge that to be pretty close to accurate I bet.

Thanks in advance!

-Ken

[motorslave]

RanRan had one.

[Doug1]

The ETS skimmers were the ones that pumped high pressure down a column of biioballs? I remember them being state of the art when I got into reefs back in 90 but seems like Becketts and recirculation needlewheels have stolen alot of their thunder, but I could be wrong

[superwizbang]

Thats right about ETSS Doug. For the same current that I push my Iwaki 40 with to send water down the DD riser, I could use the same electricity to power an Orca Gold needlewheel pump. I am just curious whether the cost is justified. I read about the amount of air forced through the system but $1200 is a lot; however now is the best time to take the plunge before we move and I set up a new system (for years to come). After three years, I have decided this is a hobby I am going to stay in and enjoy very much so this would be a "one-time" expense for a while until it dies and it's time to change again.

-Ken

[bogey]

I have a Orca 250 running on about 320-330 total system volume. Its very well made, easy to adjust and does not need to be constantly tinkered with to get it to work correctly. Its good to go out of the box after assembly. No need for mesh or any other mods. I love it!

[superwizbang]

Bogey, where are you? Are you in the KC area by chance? If so, might I come take a look?

-Ken

[superwizbang]

Bleh. Forget that. My mouse clicky finger wiggled loose from the duct tape and now I am a proud owner of a shiny new Reeflo Orca 250. Guess I'll go back to food stamps for a few months. Here's to hoping my wife doesn't find out the "actual" price of the new skimmer. She somehow got the idea it was about 1/2 the true price. 8p

-K

[bogey]

Originally Posted by superwizbang

Bogey, where are you? Are you in the KC area by chance? If so, might I come take a look?

-Ken

Didn't see your post until tonight. I'm in Wichita. I think you will be satisfied it. The only downside is the assembly instructions are not good. Make sure that you use the short PVC tube as the riser up to the tee. The longer piece is for the horizontal run. I recommend that you do a dry fit and compare to the pictures before you glue the pipe.

[superwizbang]

Good advice and thanx for the tips. I will do just that!

-Ken

[Hop]

I doubt there will be any buyers regret with that purchase. I saw one running a few months ago and was pretty amazed. I thought about seeing how I could sell my skimmer and make a switch, but I'm too lazy to do it right now

[superwizbang]

There are three pipes in the box, a short, medium and long pipe. The short looks about 1/2" short when looking at the photos online. Basically, if I use the short pipe, it aligns the "T" so that the top of the horizontal output pipe is about even with the top of the main chamber (and bottom of the flange that meets the chamber). If I use the medium pipe, it aligns the bottom of the horizontal output pipe with the said main chamber marker.

Any input?

-Ken

[superwizbang]

Figured it out thanks to this great article: http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2007-11/pr/index.php

Here are some photos:

[superwizbang]

Bogey, the white nylon screws which go into the inlet and outlet of the sequence pump, and mentioned in the article, were in my box. They are very long and only screw in about 1/2 an inch (with about 2 inches hanging out)...there was no black "nut" as mentioned in the article...did you get these? How did you insert them? I just screwed them down as far as i could easily and left them.

-Ken

[bogey]

I'm out of town but will be getting back on Friday. I'll take a look when I get home.

[bogey]

Ken,

I have two white nylon screws that are screwed in as you describe. No black nuts anywhere.