Rio 600 - keep it or lose it?

[Anonymous]

I put a bak pak skimmer on my 18 gallon angler tank. It has a rio 600. Hmmm. Should I leave it, or replace it with a MJ?

RR

 

[investigator1]

I have had a rio600 for almost a year now with no problems. They run cool and are very quiet. I say keep it.

 

[Joew]

i have had my bak pak for almost 2 years and the 600 is still kicking. Word of advice, keep it clean.

 

[danmhippo]

I would replace it, but use the 600 for other non-essential tasks (salt water mixing pump...etc).

 

[liquid]

The larger RIO's are the ones that seem to catastrophically fail. I've rarely heard of anything less than a RIO 1700 melting down. FWIW, I had a RIO 600 on my Bakpak for 3 yrs w/ no problems. <shrug>

Shane

 

[Anonymous]

I put a MJ on with a rigged venturi, but it was really loud. I guess I will order the venturi kit from PA, and see how that goes.

Shane,
Your experience seems to be the norm. I have read about lots of people using them on their bak pak with no problems. Although, the rio report poll lists 4 600 that have failed catastrophically - but no details.

 

[krusty_krab]

I had an old CPR bak pak 2, with the rio that came with. It was either a 6 or 800, cant remember. Got shocked by that pump. Figured replacing it with the maxijet would be the way to go. Got the fancy venturi kit, which is convenient, but, well, not necessary IMO. That can be easily rigged. Anyhow, it was very loud. Bigger pump mixing air will make for better skimming, but more noise.

You can rig that with a stiff plastic tubing shoved into the slotted intake grate thingy.

KK

 

[Anonymous]

Yeah, I went from the rio 600 to a MJ900 to a MJ 1200. That's where I'm at now. It's a little louder, but it skims so much better. The choice is really up to you.

The noise is from the air hitting the impellar. one of those $5 fancy-schmancy venturi adapters won't stop the noise, they just make it easier to attach the hose. Just stuff it in.

I have an extra skimmer box I made It's a lot smaller than the stock one(it doesn't fit over the pump,it just attatches to the intake of the pump. It is a box with the top corner cut off, not slots cut in to the top. Gimme a yell if you need it, I'll send it to you.

BC

 

[Anonymous]

My rio burned out, but did not leak into the tank. I say get the maxijet. Better safe than sorry, especially for only $20.

 

[JohnD]

When I came home from work this past summer, I smelled an awful burned plastic smell. The rio 800 had died. It was about 18 - 24 months old. The water had the burned smell in it as well as a thin coat of oil on the surface. The gilled-ones were still looking ok, but not great.

I fired up the RO/DI unit and made as much water as possible. I moved the Remora to this tank to start skimming off the oil. Then it was off to the LFS to get extra carbon, RO water and salt.

I always let the saltwater age, but not during this emergency. I did 3 water changes over the first couple of days and then twice a day after that. I also ran carbon for a week and was changing it daily.

That first 24 hours was real touch and go, but then after that things looked a little better. It took a week to get rid of the burned plastic smell.

My $.02.

 

[Anonymous]

Alright. I don't want to risk it. Bummer though, because the rio is so much quieter than the MJ. Oh well! Any suggestions for quieting it down?

Thanks for the offer Bingo, but no need for the skimmer box.

RR

 

[Anonymous]

So the simple way to quiet it down - put an airstone in it and say bye bye to the venturi.

I don't like it because of the extra equipment, but the noise...the noise...

 

[JohnD]

Righty,

If noise is a big problem (the tank is in your bedroom), consider putting the skimmer on a timer. Do skimming when you are at work or home and awake.

HTH

 

[Anonymous]

Yar! I think the air pump took care of it.