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Skimmer problems


ShawnM

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Don't know if anyone has this skimmer or knows anything about it. I guess because my water level in my sump it just fills he whole cup as soon as I turn it on it has an adjustment tube on it but it doesn't make enough of a difference to change anything. Any help would be nice

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Make sure the air tube and plumbing that it connects to aren't clogged at all either. If I plug the air tube on my skimmer, it will overflow in seconds. Also, if the pump uses a needle wheel impeller, make sure the impeller isn't broken.

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I can't place the logo but you might try surfing different online suppliers. Looks to me like the pvc Tee on the right side is how water is adjusted inside the chamber. The vertical section on top of the pvc Tee should have an angle cut on the end that slides into the pvc Tee and it is rotated to adjust the outflow inturn moving the water line inside up or down. If this is how it's designed the water line outside the skimmer needs to be below the middle opening of the pvc Tee or it will put back pressure on the outflow and it will cause constant headaches trying to adjust it. If the vertical section is fixed then my guess is you are missing a valve on the pvc Tee that is used to adjust the water level inside and again having the water line outside the skimmer at or above the valve will cause adjustment headaches.

Personally I would toss it though. Skimmers do not do that much for removing DOC which research is showing is the real culprit in corals deaths not phosphate or nitrates which are food for corals simbionts. See Mike Frames thread on algae remidiation and Feldmans's research on Advanced Aquarist.

http://www.austinreefclub.com/topic/34556-hair-algae-a-case-study/

The below links to the research by Feldman, et al, on activated carbon (GAC) skimming, skimate analysis, total organic carbon (TOC) and bacterial counts in reef systems I feel are important also.

Granular Activated Carbon Pt 1
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2008/1/aafeature1

Granular Activated Carbon Pt 2
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2008/2/aafeature1

Total Organic Carbon Pt 1
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2008/8/aafeature3

Total Organic Carbon Pt 2
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2008/9/aafeature2

Protein Skimmer Performance, Pt 1
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2009/1/aafeature2

Protein Skimmer Performance, Pt 2
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2010/1/aafeature

Skimmate Analysis
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2010/2/aafeature

Bacterial Counts in Reef Aquarium Water
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2011/3/aafeature

And here's some thought provoking papers:

http://jeb.biologists.org/content/214/16/2749.full

http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/umrsmas/bullmar/1979/00000029/00000004/art00011

http://wap.aslo.org/lo/toc/vol_48/issue_6/2266.pdf

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I don't think advising people to toss skimmers is the most sound advise. Many people can run gorgeous tanks without skimmers and many people can run them with.

While not critical to the success of a tank, it sure doesn't hurt.

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eshopps is usually pretty good on support. You might run it by them and see what they say.

With what you've posted, I'm leaning towards something being wrong with the impeller, mainly because there's not much else that would obviously cause this problem. Also, double check the pump model if you take it out. It's possible someone replaced the pump with one with way more output, maybe to compensate for a really low water level.

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  • 1 month later...

Looking for some help on my skimmer issue.... Bubble Magus Curve 5 was chugging along like a champ, right up until I cleaned it last week. Rinsed the collection cup w/ tap water and used my fingers to rub off the mung. Now there is a decent level of mung built back up on the inside part of the cup (the inside inside part - extension of the neck), but the bubbles don't want to come up the neck of the skimmer body into the cup anymore. Doesn't matter where I have the adjustment set, still can't get the foam to rise. HALP!

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Has the water level in your sump changed? You could have maxed out the level in the skimmer and raising the water level of the sump will help bring the head of the bubbles up. I like to keep the water level in my sump right in the middle of the max and min lines of the skimmer so I have room to play with in increasing and decreasing the level of the skimmer bubbles. Also if you've fed your tank with certain frozen foods, foods soaked in Selcon, or any other compound that may effect the bubbles it can be difficult to maintain the bubble level in the skimmer as the water just doesn't "forth" as well. It should eventually return to normal though after a while.

Looking for some help on my skimmer issue.... Bubble Magus Curve 5 was chugging along like a champ, right up until I cleaned it last week. Rinsed the collection cup w/ tap water and used my fingers to rub off the mung. Now there is a decent level of mung built back up on the inside part of the cup (the inside inside part - extension of the neck), but the bubbles don't want to come up the neck of the skimmer body into the cup anymore. Doesn't matter where I have the adjustment set, still can't get the foam to rise. HALP!

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Level is constant in that chamber as it's the 1st one, before the baffle, and spot on at 9", which is mfg suggested level. Food is same as I've fed for the lifetime of the tank - Hikari cubes. Trying to think of anything I've changed, but I haven't added anything in terms of chems or additives. I did add the GFO/Carbon reactor, although I think that was a week or so before the cleaning and I'm pretty sure it was still creating plenty of skimmate - think that would have an effect?

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Just tap water and fingers. Doubtful there was anything on the fingers - I'm pretty good about rinsing and drying before working on the tank. Pretty sure I had been jacking w/ other stuff on the tank for a while by then anyway, which means multiple rinse/dry after being in sw.

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It may just need some break in time. My skimmer will behave differently for hours sometimes depending what's happening. When I clean it, it runs totally different for hours, sometimes days... Every time I feed, it won't pull anything into the cup for at least a few hours. Check that it's airline is clear. I've had mine build up some gunk that caused it to not suck in as much air, making it not foam up as well.

When you cleaned it did you clean the pump?

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