advanced fine tuning skimmers

[SharkLover]

I seem to always have a problem fine tuning my skimmer.
Either it doesn't reach the neck and sits on the larger portion diameter of the body or... it rises too high and spills eventually..... Its a octopus dnw150 external. I dont have a gate valve and i'm thinking that is extremely clutch to resolve this issue. Advice? suggestions? these are EURO measurements so i have to order parts online but until then.......

thanks in advance.

 

[JayM]

the gate valve on my gen I octo nw200 made a HUGE difference in my ability to tune it.

FWIW, I sanded the outside of the octo skimmer's return until I could get a 1.5" pvc coupler to snug fit, avoiding the 'euro-pvc' BS

 

[RayD]

I have a new Octo 160 and having the same issue. PITA. How long is a normal break in period?

I miss my Euroreef already.

 

[SharkLover]

i cant really measure the breakin period since i'm having trouble with it.I removed it from receiving water from the Drain. Its now being fed by a maxi jet 1200 and its already looking alot better. I dont know how it would react if i had a gate valve with drain.

 

[JayM]

the inconsistency in flow from the drain probably contributed to your issue.

also, as an fyi, my octo skimmer started producing some skimmate within 3 days. I gave it a soap and water wash, thorough rinse, then a vinegar bath, rinsed well, and put it to work.

 

[Joel A]

mine is fairly consistent, in the sense that i get a full cup of skimmate every 3-4 days... but the skimmate isn't as dark as i'd like... a good deal of it is the tea colored water crap.

I always thought it was just because of my low bio-load, but maybe i need to fine tune it better.

How much sanding did you have to do Jay?

 

[SharkLover]

i made a resevior like liam recommended and it was fed through a clear tube so i saw it was pretty good in consistency... my problem was the amount of water traveling into the skimmer, ultimately i couldnt get enough water into the simmer and had to ball valve the T split exiting drain to the sump. bad idea, and i see now the maxi jet works alot better. its been 45 min and i'm getting better bubbles than i have in the last 2 months.

 

[jwaka11]

I'm not familiar with your skimmer but I used to have that problem with my ASM G3--where water would just keep overflowing into the collection cup. After many tweakings, looks like it has something to do with the water level. I raised the skimmer on an eggcrate and was able to tune it to the lowest setting and now produce foam.

Sometimes when my auto-topoff water refill increase the water above its normal level (most of the times, Kent Float does what it supposed to do), the skimmer performance would change. So make sure the water level remains constant while you're making changes.

 

[Arthur1]

Gate valve and constant water level is going to be your solution

 

[SharkLover]

Hi everyone.
its been a few days now that i've been running the skimmer off a maxijet 1200. The bubble skimmate is definitely more consistent now. The gate valve will probably further tweak my skimmate. at the moment its mediocre next to none.

 

[Reef55]

Also, on the air intake line, you can put a micro valve to tune the size of the air bubbles.

 

[SharkLover]

ohhh.... thats a good idea.

I'm definitely producing alot more foaming looking foam. Its just not as dirty as i'd expect when aiming for dark sludge to be pulled out!
still have some quirks to figure out. I'm definitely going to try the valve thing and keep u all posted

 

[SharkLover]

I tried tuning the size of the micro bubbles and it worked great in terms of the bubble size but nothing was really skimming it just looked like a wet surface no actual foam was building so i took it off. the maxi jet is definitely doing the trick though and i think maybe after a couple days of letting it break in after cleaning it i'll try the valve again

 

[deynon09]

old cyclone skimmer

I have a cyclone skimmer, and 3 small fish and NOTHING coming out of my skimmer. I just installed a small overflow box but still nothing. Is it because of such a small bioload or is it just not working right?

Deryk

 

[SharkLover]

your live rock may be doing all the work. how much rock do you have? have a clean up crew, how many?

 

[deynon09]

I have ~15-20 lbs LR (GOT TO GET MORE!) 5 turbo's, 11 nassarius 1 blue leg hermit, 1 emerald, 1 sand sifting star

 

[stingythingy45]

I'm not familiar with your skimmer but I used to have that problem with my ASM G3--where water would just keep overflowing into the collection cup. After many tweakings, looks like it has something to do with the water level. I raised the skimmer on an eggcrate and was able to tune it to the lowest setting and now produce foam.

Sometimes when my auto-topoff water refill increase the water above its normal level (most of the times, Kent Float does what it supposed to do), the skimmer performance would change. So make sure the water level remains constant while you're making changes.

Slap a gate valve on there.
I have a G-2 with recirc/gate valve mods, and I just set it and forget it.

 

[Bobbofin]

GATE VALVE, GATE VALVE GATE VALVE!!!!!!!!! Have one on my Octopus. THe fine adjustment is awesome. Give it 1/4 turns over several days so it's tweaked right in.

 

[deynon09]

I actually have a Seaclone and I don't think they have a gate valve for that model.