Skimmer Q&A Thread

[reeftivo]

try disconnecting the line from the venturi and either draw air through the tube while it's connected to the reactor or hook the line up to the inlet side and blow air through. Sounds like a restriction or maybe your getting some kind of residue through the scrubber that is messing with the surface tension of the bubbles. Production residues can do that but i've never heard of a CO2 RX doing that.

you could also try just unscrewing the BRS outer cup a little to let more air in and see if it settles down.

Somethings funky.

 

[oxy71]

try disconnecting the line from the venturi and either draw air through the tube while it's connected to the reactor or hook the line up to the inlet side and blow air through. Sounds like a restriction or maybe your getting some kind of residue through the scrubber that is messing with the surface tension of the bubbles. Production residues can do that but i've never heard of a CO2 RX doing that.

you could also try just unscrewing the BRS outer cup a little to let more air in and see if it settles down.

Somethings funky.

it was me, put line from scrubber on wrong side. i appreciate all your help. Im running a wetter skim than i would like, would raising or lowering the skimmer help that?

 

[reeftivo]

it was me, put line from scrubber on wrong side. i appreciate all your help. Im running a wetter skim than i would like, would raising or lowering the skimmer help that?

Nice!!!!

raising the whole skimmer would help with adjusting for a drier skimmate but you have a DC pump so you can just increase the air draw by increasing power and lower the internal water level a bit in the skimmer.

how often do you have to empty the cup?

Can you post a pic of the skimmer running and what the skimmate looks like?

easy as drag and drop

you may not need to adjust or raise the skimmer so that why i ask

 

[oxy71]

The power is lowest already

 

[reeftivo]

The power is lowest already

thanks!

how long has the skimmer been running since it was set up and how long did it take to generate that amount?

minutes?
Hours?
days?

 

[oxy71]

this is about an hour. its been running 2 months

 

[reeftivo]

this is about an hour. its been running 2 months

okay.

that last pic helps

I wouldn't touch or tweak anything on the skimmer and just let it run.

the water line in the body between the turbulent bubbles and the calmer rising cobweb bubbles looks fine for now and should settle down.
The translucent slime coat that the skimmer develops probably just got disturbed and needs to fully coat the inside again.

does the cup have a drain plug on it?

if so, after that cup fills up i would empty it then pull the drain plug and let the skimmer run while it drains the wet contents back into the sump. There shouldn't be enough organic (proteins,poo,food) in there to make the skimmer go nuts again. After a while it should settle down.

this way you wont have to stay up all night watching it and emptying the cup (been there, done that)

report back later today/tonight for any updates

hang in there and happy reefing

tivo

 

[reeftivo]

once it settles you ca start fine tuning again

 

[oxy71]

its already calmed down a ton, thanks will tweak it until all tuned. i really appreciate your help

 

[reeftivo]

its already calmed down a ton, thanks will tweak it until all tuned. i really appreciate your help

Nice!

i would not touch the stand pipe right now and just increase the power one level at a time then monitor for an hour or so for results after each increase. you got this!

 

[Yodaman]

On my lightly stocked reefer 250, would it be worth changing my curve 5 to a RSK300? There is one locally for a decent price, but I’m having trouble determining if it would be worth changing or not

 

[reeftivo]

is your curve 5 working well?

if so i would keep it. they don't have the best pumps but when they are working they skim well.

if you're getting a deal on an RSK read ALL the reviews (good and bad) you can first before you pull the trigger.

 

[Yodaman]

is your curve 5 working well?

if so i would keep it. they don't have the best pumps but when they are working they skim well.

if you're getting a deal on an RSK read ALL the reviews (good and bad) you can first before you pull the trigger.

I seem to be struggling with getting good skim mate. I see a lot of good reviews, I just haven’t yet had the same luck as others.

I’ve been restricting the air inlet, but as I write this I should reevaluate the water height and see if raising it can solve my tricky tuning. The RSK local to me, someone purchased and couldn’t get it to fit into his sump, so it’s basically brand new (except opening the box) and about $100 off retail

 

[reeftivo]

are you running the curve at 10 inches

raise it to run at 9 inches w/unrestricted air and see what it does.

 

[Yodaman]

I will check where it’s at this evening and arrive with a plan to raise it

 

[Yodaman]

are you running the curve at 10 inches

raise it to run at 9 inches w/unrestricted air and see what it does.

So it’s actually in 7.75” water depth. I went ahead and left the air restriction off, and I adjusted the drain valve so that the top of the bubbles are about at the midway point in the height of the cup.

 

[reeftivo]

So it’s actually in 7.75” water depth. I went ahead and left the air restriction off, and I adjusted the drain valve so that the top of the bubbles are about at the midway point in the height of the cup.

sounds good. you should adjust the level in the skimmer so that the bubbles break at the collar where the cup attaches to the body. i know that may seem low but after it runs like that for a while it will re-establish a uniform slime coat and go through a mini break in. if you have the bubbles breaking halfway up the neck of the "cup" you risk the chance of it overflowing when it finally settles in. once you adjust it there just leave it alone and let it run for 24hrs. Resist the temptation to keep adjusting because that will reset things each time and the skimmer will have to bed back in.

post a close up pic showing the side of the skimmer if you can

 

[Yodaman]

sounds good. you should adjust the level in the skimmer so that the bubbles break at the collar where the cup attaches to the body. i know that may seem low but after it runs like that for a while it will re-establish a uniform slime coat and go through a mini break in. if you have the bubbles breaking halfway up the neck of the "cup" you risk the chance of it overflowing when it finally settles in. once you adjust it there just leave it alone and let it run for 24hrs. Resist the temptation to keep adjusting because that will reset things each time and the skimmer will have to bed back in.

post a close up pic showing the side of the skimmer if you can

That’s good to know, and would explain why I’ve set a decent level in the past only to arrive home for it to be overflowing! Hopefully that’s not what happens today, but if I get home to find it out of whack, I’ll set it low, and get a picture of where the bubble breaking is happening

 

[reeftivo]

after running for a while a skimmer will create a visible air/water line (visible line) in the body where the larger, more turbulent bubbles in the body converge to create smaller fine bubbles that slowly rise. i use that line to set my skimmers and never raise that line higher than the neck collar. i usually run that line and inch or so below a skimmers collar because if run above the collar, it will most likely overflow when it finally beds in.

check tonight to see if you can find that line. if you see it and the skimmer is still performing crazy then take a picture of the line and post it so i can see where it's at in the body of the skimmer and may be able to help further.

 

[Yodaman]

after running for a while a skimmer will create a visible air/water line (visible line) in the body where the larger, more turbulent bubbles in the body converge to create smaller fine bubbles that slowly rise. i use that line to set my skimmers and never raise that line higher than the neck collar. i usually run that line and inch or so below a skimmers collar because if you do, it will most likely overflow when it finally beds in.

check tonight to see if you can find that line. if you see it and the skimmer is still performing crazy then take a picture of the line and post it so i can see where it's at in the body of the skimmer and may be able to help further.

That certainly helps a lot with setup. Between not waiting long enough to dial the skimmer, and not noting the difference where the turbulent water and bubbles begin to separate, definitely kept me from making stable, and informed adjustments. My curve is definitely more stable then it was before, and I’m already getting a darker skimmate