Reef Octopus 3000INT Question

[mnavick]

Have had this skimmer for a few years now and can never seem to get it dialed in
Is in 6" of water, far end of a 90g sump with drain lines from DT at other end and always a constant level of water with no micro bubbles.
Never get a nice thick foam head, just real fine bubbles and skimmate is always a transparent light brown.
I clean the collection cup and neck about every two weeks (rinse out w/hands in sink) and whole skimmer about every 6-8months (fill w/reg water and swish around).

150g DT w/90g sump and 55g fuge, sand bed in all 3, roughly 200lbs live rock, Achilles Tang, Copper Banded Butterfly and 2 Maroon clowns.
Is my tank just to clean???

 

[higorc]

Mike, I have a SRO 3000SSS which is the space saver model for almost 2 years now and I know exactly what you mean. Some people would argue you don't have enough of a Bio- Load to drive the foam/waste over the neck, and that might be true (The SRO 3000's are rated for 300G).

I have gone over this question over and over in my head when I first got the skimmer, but now my Skimmer works fine. Try this, either put the Skimmer in deeper water or (this is what I do) close the Skimmer's dial so it skims a little wet. I have been doing for a long time and it works well for me.

I don't get the real black thick skimmate either. Mine is a little darker than your picture, a lot of thick black gunk and stinks up the whole apartment when I clean it. So much so that I bought an Avast Locker so my girl would stop complaining .

I have to clean it when I get home today, so I'll take a picture and show you.

 

[freakit]

I set the fine micro bubbles to where the cup meets the body. The neck fills with larger bubbles when the skimmer is ready to skim. Skimmer sits in about 9" of water; the output is half submerged. I've owned mine only about 3 months its been a beast.




2 days worth (notice the bubbles in the neck)




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[mnavick]

I'll try the deeper, thanks guys.
My neck does cake up quit nicely, especially after 2 weeks but was reading that can be counter productive hence why they made the neck auto-scrapper.

 

[choff]

I agree with higorc about bio load. I have the exact same skimmer running on a 150dt in a 125g sump (approx 90g running cap) and I initially wished I went with the 2000. My bio load was pretty low, but as I added more fish and they started to grow it really started to kick in. I have since added a fuge and frag tank and really glad I went with the 3k

BTW, the auto neck cleaner for it is one of the single best reef purchases I have made. It keeps the neck whistle clean and you never have to adjust settings. I clean it maybe once a month. Granted it's a slightly bigger job when I do it, but I'm better off. I also added the collection chamber with auto shut off. That's a nice to have. The carbon filter really helps with the smell if your sump is somewhere public. Between the 2, I touch my skimmer every 4 to 6 weeks.

...stupid auto correct