Woohoooooo! Skimmer question with pics! :-)

SouthBayPhoto · 03-08-2008, 10:02 PM

Ya'll know I love ya'll, right? LOL

I have a question regarding my skimmer. It seems like it only skims so much and then stops...until I clean it. Is that normal? Below are some pics. It's been about two weeks since I totally cleaned out the cup. I take it off, pour out the skimmate, then take a paper towel and hot water and clean out the crap inside of the venturi and cup. So, it looks crystal clear when I put it back together.

This is it today. It seems like it skims to this amount in the cup and then "stops". Ya, it's still working, but it seems that when it gets "coated" on the inside of the venturi like this, it stops pushing stuff up the venturi and into the cup. Does this mean as soon as it starts to look dark in the venturi I should clean it?

I guess this seems like a stupid thread, but I was just wondering why it stops (hypothetically) skimming after the ventrui gets "dirty".

Am I possibly skimming it way too dry and it's not allowing it to go up the venturi? My "bubble level" is approximately at the point where the venturi is dirty. That's where it's normally at. Way too dry?

Thanks for the help.

The skimmer cup after running two weeks from fully clean

Skimmer venturi after it gets "dirty" after about 1.5 to 2 weeks

Close look at the "bubble line" of the ventrui

Ratpack · 03-09-2008, 10:27 AM

Something doesn't seem right Mat. I have a POS Seaclone and it pulls more than that in two weeks. I am not sure what the right adjustments are but i just doesn't seem right. Unless you have very little bioload.

ret25yo · 03-09-2008, 11:36 AM

what is the issue? is your venturi nozzle clogging? or is it that your neck seems to get too clogged, the dirty neck is a "good" thing I have found my ATI (not venturi) to produce more skimmate when I just rinse the neck off instead of scrubbing it clean, When I scrub it clean it in turn "breaks in" again,
the venturi clogging would drive me nuts.. but I ave no expereince with the venturi skimmers..
i take it this is what constantly needs cleaning?

SouthBayPhoto · 03-09-2008, 02:29 PM

Tim / Ret25yo,

I really don't think I have too much regarding bioload. I only have two 2.5" Javanese damsels, one 1.5" Percula clown and a 7" (tip to tip on the legs) black brittle star. Oh and 6 astraea snails & 1 blue-legged hermit that is about the size of a dime. That's it. No corals or anything else. It's in a 46g bow front with 55 pounds of crushed coral on the bottom. (well, 40# of agronite <I think that's it> and 15# of crushed coral on top) I'm also running a four filter mechanical filter as well on it with activated carbon in it. I also only feed them once a day when I get home from work and twice a day on weekends since I'm here.

It's a Coralife 220g Super Skimmer with the needle wheel. I'll check today (it's water change & cleaning day) to see if anything is blocking anything in there, but I don't believe so.

I agree that when I totally clean it, it has to "rebreak-in" each time. Maybe once it really breaks in like that, I should raise the bubble level a bit. Maybe I'm keeping it too low. There is a knob on the top of it that either raises or lowers the bubble level in the venturi. I usually keep it right where the photo shows...whether it's dirty or clean. I upped the level one time and it seemed fine and when I got home from work that night, the cup was TOTALLY full...all the way at the top of the cover and even spirted out the air hole in the cover. WHOOOPS! So, I then turned it back down and there is where it stays.

However, when I do put food into the water (say flake food or frozen brine shrimp), the bubble level will actually decrease (even if I don't touch it at all) and after the fish feed for a while, it'll go back up to normal level. Also at this time (per another post) it seems to "burb" or "surge" and blow bigger bubbles out. After a while it stops.

This is my first time with a skimmer, so I don't know what is "normal" and what's not. LOL I just know I didn't have like $350 to buy a really good AquaC skimmer, so I went with this one (plus I only had store credit from returning the Seaclone 150 that you spoke of).

ret25yo · 03-09-2008, 10:23 PM

id get it just a touch wetter with the skimmate since you dont have a large bioload. find the sweet spot..

warforged · 03-10-2008, 12:34 PM

I am curious too since I have the same skimmer but mines a 65g version on a 55gallon and I have it HOB.

I maxed out the valve by the intake...and turned the red nob down to super minimal.... my bubble water line is 3" over the red ring near the indentation in the plastic...before it widens and reaches the bottom of the cup...if you have one of these skimmers you know what im talking about.

At first I was getting half full cups but after a few days of changing it out ...i get about 1/4" of crud daily now....

Check my profile you will see i have a lot of stuff in my tank too..

You say you maxed out the intake ? and got a full cup...maybe keep doing that till it lowers more...maybe you have more crap in your water than you think...

In the book doesnt it say you should see a bit more junk taken out initially till it tones down anwyay?

AFTER LOOKING CLOSE:

hmmm your bubble line is at the bottom of the cup? Thats pretty extreme but not a bad thing according to the owner of a store in my local area. He prefers the CPR Backpacks but he says that skimmer you have to put the water bubble line at that bend in the neck ..on mine its a indentation ..... your like 3" over his suggestion...but he also recommeneded I put mine at the bottom of the cup for the first week on break in to clean the crap outa my tank faster.

So i guess having yours so close to the cup and only produce that much is good?

Also the vavle by the intake controls flow intake = more bubbles.... the red nob raises the water level by slowing the flow out of the outtake.

Try maxing out the intake valve...lower the red valve ...so get more bubbles and see how it turns out.... More bubbles= more cleaning right

Rubisco · 03-10-2008, 02:41 PM

If youre cleaning the skimmer with your bare hands your spreading oils all over the cup and riser tube. This is why you experience the "break in" after cleaning, I was experiencing the same thing until I started wearing nitrile gloves. Now when ever I clean my skimmer its right back to action as soon as I replace the cup.

Rubisco

SouthBayPhoto · 03-14-2008, 12:38 AM

I'm one "dot" from full on the valve. If I turn it up to full (big dot), then it will just shoot the bubbles and water up through the venturi and fill up the cup with SW in minutes. Basically not doing any skimming...just flushing the cup with SW.

To me if I go any lower with the bubble line (say under the red ring), I don't think it's going to get any into the cup. I'm thinkin' I might try setting the bubble level to the middle of the venturi (which is also, technically, the middle of the cup itself as well) and see what goes.

Also, I don't clean the cup/venturi with my bare hands. I use hot water from the sink along with paper towels to clean it. I actually make sure my fingers/skin doesn't touch anywhere on the inside of the cup/venturi...only the very outside of the cup itself. Basically when I'm done cleaning it, it looks like it just came out of the box. Totally clean.

I'm going to try raising the bubble level a bit and see if that helps.

tray262 · 03-17-2008, 02:08 PM

I too started with that skimmer. I too had the same problem. Very touchy on the adjustments. I ended up just turning it up a more then what you have going there, and I skimmed "wet" for a few months. And out of the blue, I had it go crazy, and actually flooded my floor a couple times. So It's gone now, and I have a octopus skimmer now, and wow what a difference. I wish you luck, with the skimmer. I would also suggest taking the pump apart and cleaning it. I had a broken shaft at one point.

SouthBayPhoto · 03-18-2008, 01:07 AM

Thanks for the info Tray. I appreciate it.

Well, I just cleaned it yesterday and all I did was take off the cup and rinse it out with hot water and put it all back together and on the main body. I also turned it up a touch so we'll see what happens. I guess I'd rather have it too low than too high and flood. Almost did that once myself thus far.

tray262 · 03-18-2008, 11:44 AM

I'll tell ya, I did the same thing with my Coralife SS and I'll tell ya, I had a lot of troubles as you are. I partially blame that skimmer for some of the problems I was having with the tank. I wasn't skimming nearly enough out of the tank. Then I started having all my problems. The GHA, and cyno, I've since changed to a better/bigger skimmer, and it's working great. I don't ever have to adjust it. I just unplug the feed pump when I want to clean it. I pull the collection cup off, wash it out. Put it back on and plug the pump back in. I don't think I've messed with the adjustment in about 8 months. I've definitly come to thing that SS was a big mistake for me personally. $150 wasted. lol.