MTC MVX Skimmer review

[JBNY]

Ha the DC12000 looks to be a beast you should be in fine shape! I like the MTC over lifereef too. I think it skims better than the Lifereef, I used to have a Lifereef VS3-36.

 

[jason2459]

That bit more seems to have stall or at least slowed down a bit. Could be many things. Looked back and looks like I let it go a few more days for a week before cleaning it out and got to 1 gallon. So, we'll see what its like Sunday night.

3 days with
784 mazzei @14scfh
Mag18 @ 65watts

Previously
3 days with
684 mazzei @ 12scfh
Mag18 @ 62watts

 

[jason2459]

This skimmer is very interesting.

Its pulling more air @ 14scfh

Its pushing more water as indicated by higher air draw and higher watts used that correlates with lower head pressure allowing more water flow.
@ still averaging just over 65 watts

It seems to be running a bit wetter. Which all together especially the wetter part you would, or at least I would, think it would produce more skimmate. It hasn't.


After a week it looks the same.

But slightly under the 1 gallon mark

So, sencing running wetter is producing less I turned the nob down a bit and see if running a bit dryer and match the dryer production of the stock 684 with the installed 784 mazzei.

I cleaned out the collection cup and ran the pump in the davy jones to dump put the skimmate. I'll check back again in 3 days. After that I think its waveline dc12000 time.

 

[jason2459]

Not much difference in the skimmate output with the mag18 and 784 Mazzei. Slightly more then the first 3 and second 3 days. Slightly less then the mag18 and 684 Mazzei.

 

[jason2459]

And now for something completely different...

I got the waveline dc12000 with the stock 684 mazzei installed tonight. I'm using the waveline controller for this too. I can hook it up to the apex but I'll do that later. The waveline controller has 12 speed settings so that will be more then enough to test with for now.

Pics with the all new plumbing and fully modular now with unions and 1" spaflex. Detailed the fittings earlier in this thread.

I tried out all 12 settings quickly and took some video at each level. Needless to say I was pretty surprised at the initial air draw at even the first speed setting.

I'll get that video uploaded and I will have to refer to it as well for the air draw numbers. But I do remember at the lowest settings it was already pulling 10scfh but water level/flow was very low. By the highest setting the water level was overflowing the collection cup.

What was interesting was the little to no difference in air draw once past level 8 I believe it was. Maxing out around that 20scfh of air draw. Very promising I think. Will slightly lower flow at a slightly lower setting perform better then all out power on.

Right now I've left it to run for a starting point at level 8 and it's pulling about 18scfh of air. I left it with the water level right at the flange again.

Will update more with initial air draw numbers at different levels later.

 

[jason2459]

MTC MVX Skimmer with Waveline DC 12000

It's looking great so far

 

[jason2459]

Video

Run through with all 12 settings. Notes added to say what level it's at


Level 8 that it's currently running at right now to start with

 

[jason2459]

Ok, check this out.

 

[jason2459]

Some cool stats update 1

Aquamaxx Em 300
Air draw: ~38-40 scfh
Watts: rated 27watts actual: 31.38watts
Skimmate produced: ~1 cup dry/day and ~3cups wet/day low side

Mag18 as return pump w/ ~12' head height
Max head height:16.85'
Watts: rated 150watts actual: 71.18watts
Flow: rated 1500gph@0 head actual: ~750gph@12' head pressure

Mag18 with MVX stock 684 mazzei venturi
Air draw: ~12 scfh
Max head height:16.85'
Watts: rated 150watts actual: 62-63watts
Skimmate produced: ~3 cups dry/day high side

Mag18 with 784 mazzei
Air draw: ~14scf
Max head height: 16.85'
Watts: rated 150watts actual: 65-66watts
Skimmate produced: ~3 cups dryish/day low side

Waveline DC 12000 @ Level 8 w/ 684 mazzei
Air draw: ~18scfh
Max head height: 22.96'
Watts: rated: 150watts (w/ adapter) 139watts (after adapter) actual: 113wattts (w/ adapter)
Skimmate produced: TBD

 

[jason2459]

That watts actual used definitely shows the waveline handling the head pressure much better then the mag18 and validates at least the head height ratings are higher for the waveline. Its great they are both rated for 150 watts at the outlet to help compare better.

Can't wait to push the levels higher and see what air draws are like with the 784. I'll probably keep bumping up around every 3 days to keep this going since there's 2 mazzei injectors and 4 settings each to get through.

So far after 1 day its producing like crazy. Foam is thicker and whiter.

 

[jason2459]

With the higher head pressure ratings the waveline dc12000 will produce higher watts as it's not struggling as much to push against the pressure that's being produced by the venturi and plumbing. The more pressure against the pump the less flow and less wattage used.

So, with the Mag1800 rated at 150w at 0 head and the waveline dc 12000 rated at 150w at 0 head this tells me that the waveline dc 12000 at level 8 running at 112-113watts is producing a lot more water flow (possibly close to double) then the Mag 1800 running at 62-63 watts.

 

[jason2459]

lol yeah the water level went up a bit and started skimming wet.

So, wet skimming with the Aquamaxx was like 3 cups a day...

Wet skimming with this setup...

2 gallons per day HA!

 

[jason2459]

I've reset and brought the water level back down a bit. It was only like 1 to 2 inches higher.

Will, check back again in 3 days...

 

[jason2459]

Sorry can't help but check in early. Back on track with the dry skimmate and it's still producing amazingly awesomely.

Day 2 and so far about at day 3's production with the mag 1800!

Back to dry skimming

 

[ksed]

Thanks for the updates Jason

 

[jason2459]

Thanks for the updates Jason

And I'm only at 8 [emoji4]

 

[jason2459]

This is great!

Some cool stats update 2

Aquamaxx Em 300
Air draw: ~38-40 scfh
Watts: rated 27watts actual: 31.38watts
Skimmate produced: ~1 cup dry/day and ~3cups wet/day low side

Mag18 as return pump w/ ~12' head height
Max head height:16.85'
Watts: rated 150watts actual: 71.18watts
Flow: rated 1500gph@0 head actual: ~750gph@12' head pressure

Mag18 with MVX stock 684 mazzei venturi
Air draw: ~12 scfh
Max head height:16.85'
Watts: rated 150watts actual: 62-63watts
Skimmate produced: ~3 cups dry/day high side

Mag18 with 784 mazzei
Air draw: ~14scf
Max head height: 16.85'
Watts: rated 150watts actual: 65-66watts
Skimmate produced: ~3 cups dryish/day low side

Waveline DC 12000 @ Level 8 w/ 684 mazzei
Air draw: ~18scfh
Max head height: 22.96'
Watts: rated: 150watts (w/ adapter) 139watts (after adapter) actual: 114wattts (w/ adapter)
Skimmate produced: ~4 cups dry/day!!!

Best performance yet of any skimmer I've ever owned. Biggest beast I've had previously was a reef octopus SRO 3000. Around 42scfh air draw and it produced about 4 cups per day wet. I haven't even gotten into wet skimming yet. Or at least on purpose to test out.

Biggest issue I had with the SRO 3000 was instability. It would just overflow out of no where. The aquamaxx was very consistant but did go crazy with LRS frozen. This MVX has been rock solid through any kinds or amounts of food I've thrown at it.


Day 3

Again can't see a darn thing

That looks like 3/4ish gallons to me or around 4 cups per day

Ended up averaging around 114 watts

 

[jason2459]

I've got a quick 4 day hiatus on this as I'll be testing something else out over the next few days. After that its off to the races with level 9.

 

[jason2459]

LEVEL 9!

I had to clean this out tonight

I can see why those really tall skimmer can have really long necks. This sucker, even though it was running with the water level that low, was pushing foam all the way up to the collection cup still

Then wiping that gunk out of the body was like, well, cleaning up baby poop. Best way to describe it. Smeared supper easy but if it touched anything it just stuck to it. Had its own unique nasty smell though.

Nice visual...

Anyway, back to, LEVEL 9!

Back up to running levels

Already producing that nice foam head

AND LEVEL 9! Pulling in a nice 22scfh

Killawatt is now monitoring

 

[jason2459]

Waveline dc12000 @ Level 9 is pulling 127-128 watts. Take that head pressure.