- Hey, Thomas here with an awesome budget,
(gentle music)
DC controllable protein skimmer,
the AquaMaxx DFC lineup.
I got the 120 here with me today,
but we're gonna check them all out.
In this video, we're gonna go over its features,
its build quality and see basically exactly what you get
for a DC controllable conical body protein skimmer,
starting at just north of that $200 mark.
Considering it's basically an upgraded version
of the FC proteins skimmers
that are already pretty dang popular,
I think there's a lot to look forward to.
So let's dig into it.
There is a huge selection and range
of protein skimmers out there from simple and effective
to luxury performance and everything in between.
Usually if you want a feature rich protein skimmer
with a lot of those thoughtful and useful conveniences,
as well as performance enhancing add-ons,
you typically end up paying quite a bit extra for them.
AquaMaxx has apparently made it their mission
to bring a fantastic feature rich DC controllable skimmer
to budget conscious reefers with their DFC lineup.
They've taken their popular FC skimmers
that sport a sleek wine bottle body,
specialized bubble diffuser,
slim watergate, adjustable air silencer,
and twist off cup with a convenient handle
and unique clear dome lid and upgraded it
with a DC controllable pump, making it one of the best
and most affordable budget DC skimmers out there.
There are a lot of great features packed into these skimmers
at what I myself and what most reefers
would probably consider to be a very affordable price point.
So let's get this one out of the box and take a closer look
at this very sleek piece of reef kit.
In the box, you'll find the skimmer body,
the collection cup, the bubble diffuser, the venturi,
the air silencer, the tubing and plug for the collection cup
as well as the motion pump, its controller and power supply
along with the instructions.
The DFC line comes in four sizes,
the 80, 120, 180 and 280 rated for tanks up
to 70, 100, 130 and 240 gallons respectively.
One factoring in that heavy bio load most reefers tend
to lean towards.
The DFC lineup are all quite compact
thanks to that internal pump and the slim watergate design
that eliminates the standpipe that we typically see.
The 80 only takes up a roughly seven inch
by 7 3/4 inch footprint while the largest,
the 280 comes in right around that 9 1/2 by 11 inch mark.
So all four models should be a really comfy fit
in standard sized sumps with room to spare
and they should still squeeze in nicely on those sumps
that are a little bit tighter on space.
Something I really do like about these skimmers
is that they were clearly designed
with user-friendliness in mind
from the simpler details like the recessed base
that creates a lip, so you can easily line up that body
to the twist off collection cup
with an easy to hold carry handle.
AquaMaxx did a fantastic job of making sure this skimmer
would be a pleasure to work with.
I mean, they even opted to ditch
the typical nylon thumbscrews for metal screws,
which I presume are titanium
and instead of press fit rubber nubs under the base,
these skimmers have larger rubber feet
that are actually fastened firmly in place.
These skimmers also look pretty fantastic.
They sport
a single piece cell cast acrylic wine bottle body,
slick translucent, blue accents,
rounded and polished edges and a laser cut AquaMaxx logo
instead of the typical sticker we usually see.
I think it's pretty fair to say that form
was just as high on as function
when they were designing these skimmers.
When it comes to dialing in these foam fractionators,
you have your two basic points of control,
plus a third in the form of that DC controllable pump.
First, you can roughly dial in the air to organics ratio
by adjusting the pump speed and then fine tune it
by twisting the air silencer,
which doubles as the air valve.
There is a nice indicator at the base of the silencer
to indicate the direction of more versus less air flow.
And you can tighten down the screw
to hold that silencer firmly in place once you've got
a stable foam.
Then you can adjust the water level inside
of the skimmer body to dial in how you'd like
to collect that foam in the collection cup, using the gate.
The knob on the gate turns to nice and smoothly
and has quite a lot of threading making
for some accurate fine tuning.
There aren't any graduations or markings however,
so keeping track of the position of that gate
that works best for your tank might be easiest
if you take a picture of the position
once it's perfectly set or perhaps market off
at the threads.
After your skimmer's dialed in
and it's hauling out that skimmy,
it's going to rise up the neck into the cup
and hit that unique, clear dome design
on the inside of the lid.
The dome shape helps guide that foam into the cup
while also giving you a great view of the foam itself
from above.
The vents of the lid on the cup are quite large,
but they are facing inwards towards that dome
instead of upwards like we typically see.
They also have a generous amount of clearance,
which should help prevent a full cup of skimmy
from having that grungy foam pop up through the vent holes
in the lid and trickle down the sides of the skimmer,
which nobody likes.
When the cup is eventually full,
a simple twist and lift using that carry handle,
and you can comfortably take it to your sink to dump it
and rinse it out.
And for those reefers who like to use
an external waste collector
to extend the time between cup cleanings,
the cup does also have a drain board.
So you are good to go.
Circling back real quick to the motion DC pumps
that are included with these skimmers.
One of the first things that you're gonna notice
is the clear volume that gives you a view of the impeller,
where the air and water will be mixed together,
which is something we typically see
in some of the higher end protein skimmers.
While it isn't a necessity,
it does make it really convenient to check on how dirty
that impeller chamber is and how soon it might need
to be serviced.
Plus let's face it, it's just really cool to watch.
When it comes to control, the motion pump offers adjustment
of the pump speed from zero to 100
in single step increments,
which should allow for some very fine tuning.
It also has onboard memory to store settings.
So in the event of a power outage,
your skimmer pump will come back on
and resume the setting you left it at.
And like we've come to expect for most DC skimmer pumps,
it also has a feed button.
So you can temporarily pause the pump
and have it automatically resume
once you're finished feeding or dosing additives
that might send it into overdrive.
These pumps also have a clip on base,
which makes removing the pump for maintenance
and reinstalling it afterwards really quick and easy.
On that note, just about every single part on this skimmer
can be disassembled for maintenance as well,
which makes servicing the skimmer a lot less frustrating
than some others, since it becomes a lot easier
to reach those otherwise hard to get places
that usually require some pretty thin and flexible brushes.
Once it's all clean, it goes back together easily
and all of the components have great tolerances.
So you shouldn't be fighting any of the parts
and they should fall back into position nicely
while you tighten up the screws.
So if you've been looking for a feature rich DC skimmer,
built for budget conscious reefers
and AquaMaxx DFC line matches your reefing mantra,
you can go ahead and pick one up for yourself
by clicking right here.