This skimmer produces lots of microbubbles and great skim. The physical size is a bit larger than I had hoped, but it is understandable for the tank rating on the skimmer.
I did notice that if you restrict the airflow with the built-in valve, the aspiration pump gets extremely noisy. That said, don't try and run this skimmer with much more than a 450 gph pump. Any more and you will start to have water in your skimmer cup (this is not good) even if you have the return completely unrestricted. A 400-450 gph pump is recommended by the manufacturer.
For anyone who is concerned about leaks on with the aspiration pump, I have had none. I'll bet anyone who has failed to install the o-ring with the pump. (It is in a separate baggie with the pump)
I love the features automatic neck cleaner and the ability to remove the skimmer cup without shutting down the main pump. I always hated having to unplug my skimmer pump just to empty the cup.
All in all, it does what it is supposed to, but the aspiration pump is a bit louder than I had hoped for. If you are trying to make your setup as quiet as possible, this is not the skimmer for you. I will be putting my aspiration pump on a timer to get around the noise issue.
I have been in reef aquaria keeping for some time (20+ years) and have owned several skimmers. Each has its own needs as far as water input, cleaning and foam production levels inside the skimmer to be effective at skimming dissolved solids from your aquarium. But few are so simple as to plug the unit in connect two hoses and in few hours have a quality foam head.
I found the Red Sea 1800 skimmer worked perfectly from the moment I plugged it in and produced a foam head as good as reef octopus or ASM skimmers and far better than Aqua C or Beckett skimmers (note: Older tech which were great in there day) which require a large GPH pump to drive the unit for foam production.
Some of the items on the unit like the neck wash are a good idea but you will find they will not work well if your foam production is good. The neck will fill with so much waste material that it will cake the sides of the skimmer neck and it will not wash off easily depending on the height you set your foam head at. But the option to divert the water when you wish to remove the cup is very good and very useful.
Here is a breakdown of the pros and cons of this unit
Pros -
1. Exceptional foam production from the internal recirculation pump due to good air to water ratio
2. The need to purchase a large supply pump is not needed for the unit. You could supply the unit with less than the recommended supply and it will just spend more time in the unit getting skimmed more.
3. Unit is not hard to break down for cleaning
4. Very large collection cup. Even with a large amount of waist the cup will go 3-4 days before it fills on medium wet/dry foam. Also the cup is very easy to remove and secure back in place
5. Can be used in sump or external
Cons -
1. Unit is rather big, won't fit in small sumps. Just a thought here you could always build a container supplied by the overflow as an intermediate sump to contain the skimmer. This would always keep the skimmer level the same even when evaporation has lowered your true sump. But it might not look good depending how your setup is. I did this and also placed my GFO and Bio pellet unit inside.
2. Unit has a very small neck so if your water source level is in constant flux due to evaporation you may have issues keeping the foam head at the level you want.
3. Cleaning neck process is a good thought but does not work well in real life.
4. I thought the connection to the intake could have been a little better. I took the screw on connection off and placed a hose clamp on. You don't want this to come off or your whole tank could be on the floor.
5. Even if used in sump it will take another pump to supply water that is not supplied with the unit. This is an extra expense that some units that are comparable in skimming do not need but would be required on all recirculation skimmers whoever you buy from
6. Although I love the unit I would not feel comfortable running it on a 450 gallon aquarium no matter what it is stocked with. It just can't process enough water no matter what they say.
To finish I can't comment on Red Sea customer service but I can't see much need to contact them. A skimmer like this has only a few items that would go bad and all those parts are available from online web dealers. It's built solid and could probably take some abuse. The cons here were small issues that should be noted before purchase. On a regular size tank under say 250 gallons this unit should work well but is a little pricey since it needs another pump to run. If you can find it at a discount I would say absolutely buy but for the full asking price it's a stretch.
Buy Red Sea Fish Pharm ARE50203 C-Skim 1800 Advanced Protein Skimmer for Aquarium Now
Terrible product with terrible customer service. Purchased this product online for just under $400 with proper feeding pump and after complete set up, it never worked!!!! Called RedSea customer support 4 times and each time they told me the person I needed to talk to was in the "warehouse" and I needed to leave a message for them. Left a message four times and never had the call returned!! Don't waste your$$$$$
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I use these as specified for the C4 H.O.B. filter by Fluval, they provide adequate space for the beneficial bacteria to grow & flourish.
