Red Sea C-Skim 1200 Skimmer.

[Steve McKay]

I agree with that,funny thing though.There's no manual,they don't make one for it.Granted it is not a NASA satellite,but it would be nice to know I have it assembled correctly and adjusted within reason.To maintenance the pump they sent me a link to a similar pump,so that might be fun too.But if for some reason I need help I can always call you.

[gregony]

I have seen that Premium Aquatics has some Bubble King manuals online. I don't know if they're to the one you got. PA apologizes for the English, it seems BK is Dutch. I tried to go through the slide show, but it was torturous. Apologies not accepted.

[Steve McKay]

No manual for mine or any of the cone skimmers,you can see by the pics of it which and where the hoses go.I only have two questions that I need to call Premium Aquatics about,one,there is what appears to be a flow restrictor on the pump inlet.In the pics it's not there,so what's it for and do I need it on.Two,the water adjustment knob,tube has a hose that goes to the pump,which limits the movement of the adjustment.There might not be much adjustment,these are simple "I don't knows" that could be easily answered in a manual.IMO they should at least have a manual for each type of skimmer.For the price you pay it would be little to ask for.Maybe after I get it up and running and know what's going on,I'll make them one.

[Steve McKay]

Update:The Alpha 170 Cone Skimmer is the best skimmer I've owned,it was simple to install the pump and setup.It took a few days to break in,that was expected.Then it took me about a week of adjustment to find it's sweet spot,it works very well and my NO3 is 0.0.

[gregony]

That's good news Steve!
It's nice nowadays to hear that when you pony up the dough you actually get what you pay for. We were talking about that at work, how appx 90% of everything made these days is just crap. Cheap, expensive, it doesn't matter, it seems sometimes that everything is just crap. Maybe that's a sign I've been in electronics manf too long, I don't know.

[Steve McKay]

Well,Saturday I tested my Ca with a API test kit it was Ca=440,I tested again Sunday it was 420.Monday night I was going to start daily dosing to keep it at 420,I tested it again tonight with a new API test kit (old one used up) to see what the level was and the Ca was 480.How could this be,I'll tell you why it's because the API test kits are not consistent,their junk.Now I have Salifert Ca,Alk and PH test kits on the way.No more API,I guess you get what you pay for.

[gregony]

The API nitrate test is good, pH isn't bad. But, yeah, all the others they make are pretty suspect. I use Salifert's ALK test (if only they were all this easy), and I use RedSea's Ca, and TropicMarin Ca/Mg (which requires a PhD in chemistry to use properly, now I know why it was on sale). Put it this way, the TropicMarin has an instruction diagram on how to put all the crap back in the box when you're done with the test. It reads the same as the Red Sea btw, so I feel pretty good about figuring out how to use it. It only took an hour to figure it out.

[Steve McKay]

The API nitrate test kit might be accurate but the color code for 5 and 10 are virtually the same color,I can't tell the difference.Do you find this to be true?Since my nitrates stay at 0.0,I use the API because if you don't have any nitrates it stays yellow.If it turned orange,I would test it with my Salifert test kit.I have been using the Salifert PH test kit,but I bought a API PH test kit because it was cheaper.I'll see how that works,but I bought another Salifert PH test kit for backup.The API Alk seems ok,but I'll test it against the Salifert when I get it.For Mg I use Redsea.

[gregony]

That's true, you can't tell nitrate levels once they get below 10. I've personally never had a problem with nitrates when they get that low but everyone's tank is different, so I understand some obsessing over low level nitrates. I wanted to get the Red Sea Mg test kit but I'm a cheap ba@#@!, so when I saw the TropicMarin on sale for ten bucks I decided to give it a try. Plus, I had a sneaky suspicion, after talking to the Tropical Fish Emporium owner, that magnesium wasn't my problem, so I was leery of dropping a bunch of money on a magnesium test kit to find out my magnesium was fine. So I finally tested my magnesium with the TropicMarin kit and found out it was ... drum roll...... fine. "You've only got a 40 gallon tank Greg, change the water more often and see how that works for getting your alkalinity and calcium back into tune" is what he said to me. He was right, it took about 6 weekly 10% changes, but the Ca is back up to 400 plus, and the alk, a tad low between 8 and 9, but much better. It had been about 320 and 10 to 11. A different LFS guy recommended adding Mg.
It's funny, if someone were to describe the problem I had to me, my recommendation would be to change the water. But because it's my tank, I have to add this or that.

[Steve McKay]

I had a problem with NO3 when I had my 30g with CC,now it stays at 0.0 and I can save money by using the API test kit as long as it stays yellow.You need to test Mg because it keeps your PH up and stable.I keep my Ca at 420 and Alk at 9.