Help adjusting a Bubble King DX200

[Ironfish]

Hi!
I need some help or tips here.

I have a Bubble King DeLuxe 200 running since July 2023.
Back in December 2023 the pump failed and after 6 weeks of back and forth emails with Royal Exclusive they sent me the new version (24v) of pump and controller for this skimmer.

They told me that because this new pump is a more powerful one I'll need to run it at only 30+ watts (pump max is 68w I believe)
The pump has been running for almost a month now but I haven't been able to get good skimming out of it.
I started with that low setting but slowly over 2 weeks I kept on turning it up and now at 60w it's skimming something but not how it used to skim.

There's also a lot of bubbles/foam that exits the skimmer outlet and besides making noise its spraying salt all over the inside of the cabinet.

I've always had some doubts calibrating/adjusting this skimmer. The pipes on the outlet have that twisting and pushing/pulling that I've never understood 100%.

Any advice is appreciated!

 

[disaster999]

More info needed. What water depth are you running? what is your bio load like? Was it like this with the old pump?

If you need to run the pump at the power to skim anything and is spewing water out the outlet and splashing everywhere then you definitely running your pump too fast. Your tank probably doesnt have enough bio load for the skimmer to function properly. Just set it back at the recommended wattage, make sure your skimmer is at the recommended height, let the water level come up to just bottom of the neck and let it run. Dont worry if its not skimming anything

 

[C_AWOL]

Sounds like you moved the exit nozzle upward too much(usually points downward) and/or the water level is too low (i run my larger 300 at about 10" of water)
Since the skimmer has been out of commission for a while, running it with the twist tube wide open and riser down is best until it foams normally (basically breaks in again) and then make adjustments from there (based on desired pump speed and bioload)

 

[Ironfish]

More info needed. What water depth are you running? what is your bio load like? Was it like this with the old pump?

If you need to run the pump at the power to skim anything and is spewing water out the outlet and splashing everywhere then you definitely running your pump too fast. Your tank probably doesnt have enough bio load for the skimmer to function properly. Just set it back at the recommended wattage, make sure your skimmer is at the recommended height, let the water level come up to just bottom of the neck and let it run. Dont worry if its not skimming anything

It's in the range for suggested water height. Its 11in.
Bio load is on the higher side for my tank.
260gal.
7 tangs
2 angels
2 pygmy angels
2 clowns
5 anthias
6 wrasses
Some gobies

With the old pump it was skimming more and better. I ran the old pump at 58w. That's also on the higher side but it was a smaller pump.

 

[Ironfish]

Sounds like you moved the exit nozzle upward too much(usually points downward) and/or the water level is too low (i run my larger 300 at about 10" of water)
Since the skimmer has been out of commission for a while, running it with the twist tube wide open and riser down is best until it foams normally (basically breaks in again) and then make adjustments from there (based on desired pump speed and bioload)

It's still pointing downwards and water height is 11in.

But how long could that break in period last? It's been running now for almost a month.

 

[C_AWOL]

It's still pointing downwards and water height is 11in.

But how long could that break in period last? It's been running now for almost a month.

I don't think anyone has an answer to how long a break in period may be since all tanks are different.

Weird that it's making a lot of noise though if the nozzle is pointed down and the water height is definitely fine.

Only other thing I can say is go back to the same setting they suggested (30w) and instead of making pump adjustments, turn the riser tube to adjust the water height in the skimmer to the base of the neck or a bit under (for overflow risk) and leave it there for a while

 

[Ironfish]

I don't think anyone has an answer to how long a break in period may be since all tanks are different.

Weird that it's making a lot of noise though if the nozzle is pointed down and the water height is definitely fine.

Only other thing I can say is go back to the same setting they suggested (30w) and instead of making pump adjustments, turn the riser tube to adjust the water height in the skimmer to the base of the neck or a bit under (for overflow risk) and leave it there for a while

That's exactly what I did to start with and after the second week I started cranking it up little by little until the day I started getting some stuff skimmed out ‍

 

[Ironfish]

I'll try this one more time bc I'm about to give up and replace the bubble king with a different skimmer.

It's been 10 months with the newest model pump on this skimmer and I still haven't been able to tune it to a desirable skim amount. Not to mention the excess noise and bubbles coming out of the skimmer.

Does anyone have experience with this skimmer and the new Red Dragon pump?

Thanks!

 

[H.herry]

I'll try this one more time bc I'm about to give up and replace the bubble king with a different skimmer.

It's been 10 months with the newest model pump on this skimmer and I still haven't been able to tune it to a desirable skim amount. Not to mention the excess noise and bubbles coming out of the skimmer.

Does anyone have experience with this skimmer and the new Red Dragon pump?

Thanks!

Hi there,

I just recieved mine a week ago, I started with 46watt for a few days and found out 44w is the sweet spot for my tank. I believe every tank might be different. I had my skimmer sit around 9-9.5inch water level, cos we have deluxe i think water level inside body easily achieve by adjust that torque pipe.
250gal and 25 fishes btw. Hope that help

 

[Ironfish]

Hi there,

I just recieved mine a week ago, I started with 46watt for a few days and found out 44w is the sweet spot for my tank. I believe every tank might be different. I had my skimmer sit around 9-9.5inch water level, cos we have deluxe i think water level inside body easily achieve by adjust that torque pipe.
250gal and 25 fishes btw. Hope that help

Thanks!
Did you play with the outlet pipe? Up/down or twist?

 

[H.herry]

Thanks!
Did you play with the outlet pipe? Up/down or twist?

I dont cos my water level already around 9.5" and fully open " two dots lined " What was your water level ?

 

[Ironfish]

This is my skimmer right now running at 44w, 10.5 to 11 inch water level.
I just cleaned the cup bc it overflowed but it was very watery, not much ****.
I just opened the outlet a bit more because of that overflow, but it's basically half way open (based on the dots) and the pipe half way up.
Noisy and a lot of bubbles coming out, and this sprays the entire cabinet so I have to clean it from salt residue every two months or so.

 

[Ironfish]

I dont cos my water level already around 9.5" and fully open " two dots lined " What was your water level ?

I love how dark the **** in the cup is.
Also, what's that hose on top of the cup?

And what's on the right side? A reactor? Looks nice. What reactor is it? I'm frustrated at all reactors I've head in the past.

Thanks!

 

[Ironfish]

Here's a video of it.

 

[H.herry]

This is my skimmer right now running at 44w, 10.5 to 11 inch water level.
I just cleaned the cup bc it overflowed but it was very watery, not much ****.
I just opened the outlet a bit more because of that overflow, but it's basically half way open (based on the dots) and the pipe half way up.
Noisy and a lot of bubbles coming out, and this sprays the entire cabinet so I have to clean it from salt residue every two months or so.

10.5 is too deep i think for 44w . You can try 36-38 let it run . Outlet need to be fully open,( two dots lined is fully open) also the pipe all way down. If u pull up the pipe it will increase water level inside skimmer body, as your sump level already sit on 10" . You cannot adjust the pipe up.

 

[H.herry]

I love how dark the **** in the cup is.
Also, what's that hose on top of the cup?

And what's on the right side? A reactor? Looks nice. What reactor is it? I'm frustrated at all reactors I've head in the past.

Thanks!

Hose is recirculating co2'scrubber.
As for the reactor its from seatorch media reactor with a small sicce pump. Copycat of royalexclusiv lol.

 

[H.herry]

Photo for reference




See two dots are lined that is full open and telescope pipe all way down and you can try slow wattage from 38, let it run few days if too dry not skimmate maybe up to 40w

Also make sure nothing clog your air inlet and silencer.

water outlet also need be to above water level. Make sure it not full submerged.

 

[WhatCouldGoWrong71]

I’ll shoot some pics of mine. It took me a minute to get it all sorted out, I think. My tube is probably 25% twisted back. My red dots are pretty spread. It’s in about 8.5-9.5” of water. I dump mine into a locker, 4”round by 15”’. I don’t touch the skimmer anymore, or at least for now. I dial it in with the controller. With 5 bars showing I was skimming wet and emptying my locker every 48 hours. I am now one bar less and it’s much dryer. Holds a great head. I have light bio at this point 500 gallons, 10 fish 5 of them being tangs.

The one challenge I have is for example - I shut my skimmer down often. I only run it about 12 hours a day on schedule. But I also have it shut off when my PH > 8.40. Upon start up, it will overflow for about 7-10 seconds and then instantly settle down. That’s annoying.

 

[Ironfish]

10.5 is too deep i think for 44w . You can try 36-38 let it run . Outlet need to be fully open,( two dots lined is fully open) also the pipe all way down. If u pull up the pipe it will increase water level inside skimmer body, as your sump level already sit on 10" . You cannot adjust the pipe up.

I started out with the outlet fully open (dots aligned) and pipe down but it will only skim at over 56w.

 

[Ironfish]

Hose is recirculating co2'scrubber.
As for the reactor its from seatorch media reactor with a small sicce pump. Copycat of royalexclusiv lol.

Is that a DC pump? What kind of media do you run there? Gfo?