Need Advice: recirculating skimmer owners how do you dial it in?

[chaostactics]

I have an Avast > recirculating with gate valve mod< Cone skimmer which I love in concept. But I'm having a hard time getting it dialed in. I'm just getting very wet skimmate or none at all.



How far does your fine foam/water mixture come up the skimmer neck?



Do you have any sort of tuning device on your air intake?



Do you find it's better to control the water level in the skimmer body using the effluent valve or by dialing the feed pump?



My air intake is pretty loud, any advice on that?



Note: It is definitely technically oversized for my tank volume. I have a 80 gallon with a 16 gallon sump. With live rock displacement and the sump running around 8-10 gallons give or take. I probably have pretty close to only 80 gallons of total volume. Stock list is a pair of clowns a pair of bangii cardinals, gramma, shrimp/goby pair. I do try to feed the tank at least once a day with fish food, a few times a week with reef roids, and everyday with Reef Energy AB+

 

[Mic lubin]

I have an Avast > recirculating with gate valve mod< Cone skimmer which I love in concept. But I'm having a hard time getting it dialed in. I'm just getting very wet skimmate or none at all.



How far does your fine foam/water mixture come up the skimmer neck?



Do you have any sort of tuning device on your air intake?



Do you find it's better to control the water level in the skimmer body using the effluent valve or by dialing the feed pump?



My air intake is pretty loud, any advice on that?



Note: It is definitely technically oversized for my tank volume. I have a 80 gallon with a 16 gallon sump. With live rock displacement and the sump running around 8-10 gallons give or take. I probably have pretty close to only 80 gallons of total volume. Stock list is a pair of clowns a pair of bangii cardinals, gramma, shrimp/goby pair. I do try to feed the tank at least once a day with fish food, a few times a week with reef roids, and everyday with Reef Energy AB+

I tuned skimz recirculating by opening the gate valve all the way, putting the air adjusting screw in the middle and dc pump just under the factory reccomended gph. Adjusted gate valve to get small bubble top to 1 inch below the bottom of the cup. Ended up backing out the air screw a little bit to adjust bubble size. All small increments and allow 12-24 hours to see how it affects the skimmer

 

[chaostactics]

I tuned skimz recirculating by opening the gate valve all the way, putting the air adjusting screw in the middle and dc pump just under the factory reccomended gph. Adjusted gate valve to get small bubble top to 1 inch below the bottom of the cup. Ended up backing out the air screw a little bit to adjust bubble size. All small increments and allow 12-24 hours to see how it affects the skimmer

The dc pump is that your feed pump or your primary/bubble generation pump?

Also my bubbles are ultra fine the smallest I've ever seen on a skimmer I figured that was a good thing. Maybe not so much?

Do you have a link to your air control valve?

 

[Mic lubin]

The dc pump is that your feed pump or your primary/bubble generation pump?

Also my bubbles are ultra fine the smallest I've ever seen on a skimmer I figured that was a good thing. Maybe not so much?

Do you have a link to your air control valve?

Yes, my dc pump is the feed pump

Skimz came with a screw in the silencer to adjust air flow. On my last reef octopus however I installed a small valve in the air line which allowed me to adjust air flow.

Small bubbles are great. The adjustment I made really just changed the bubbles on top carrying the skimate over the edge. Im no pro, just sharing my limited experience that worked great for me

 

[K7BMG]

I have a Reef Octo Regal 300EXT

First thing I do/did was get my water level set without the air right to the neck ring.
Then using my DC air pump I set the amount of bubbles.
I also gave it 12-24 hours to adjust before the next change to airflow.
That is unless I would have had an overflow of course.

EDIT
Yes small bubbles are far better.
Equates to more surface area for proteins to adhere to.

 

[chaostactics]

I have a Reef Octo Regal 300EXT

First thing I do/did was get my water level set without the air right to the neck ring.
Then using my DC air pump I set the amount of bubbles.
I also gave it 12-24 hours to adjust before the next change to airflow.
That is unless I would have had an overflow of course.

EDIT
Yes small bubbles are far better.
Equates to more surface area for proteins to adhere to.

Which part of the skimmer/skimmer pump are you referring to as the "neck ring"?

 

[K7BMG]

Well on my skimmer its where the cup fits into the body.
I dont know abour skimmer and its recommended water level.

 

[Chibils]

Which part of the skimmer/skimmer pump are you referring to as the "neck ring"?

Not sure on his skimmer, but your adjustment will be a lot easier if you set the water level to the manufacturer's recommended level and adjust from there.