Coralife Super Skimmer 65 - Help

[jmorgret]

Had this thing running for about 4 days with not much going on. Nothing at all in the cup. I initially had the needle wheel pump adjustment valve half open, like the directions said. After the break in period, it says to open it up all the way and adjust the bubbles with the red water adjustment valve. Well, no matter how low the water adjustment is, with the pump valve fully open, the cup fills with water in a matter of seconds. I know there was another thread on this, but it was huge and the search function is not working for me. This is my first SW tank and skimmer. Anyone who has one of these can give me some advice? Does it matter how deep it sits in the sump? or how deep the pump is? Typically how often does that cup have to be emptied? Surely not every 15 minutes or so. Is it possible I am doing something wrong? Help!

[NanoTX]

Look here (http://archive.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=563298&perpage=25&pagenumber=1)

[Sorbo]

You're opening it up WAY to much. I've had one of these skimmers for a little bit now and I love it! (Other than it's kinda of large and I haven't moved it to a sump yet).
I've had it set up to pull out really thick dark skimmate at a slow rate, just adjust it so nothing is really bubbling over the top, give it some time and the foam will rise.
It's just going to take you some time to figure out the best turn for that red knob, but I've had mine sit there for over a week before filling it, or I can adjust it so it needs to be emptied every other day.

Hope this helps,
Kev

[davefeag]

They have a pdf version ofthe manual on their website that helped me get mine set correctly.

The link below is for the 125. Hope this helps

http://www.esuweb.com/productinstruct/pdf/096316330023.pdf

[00nothing]

wow i cant believe how common this problem is the manual is wrong the pump is not supposed to be 8 inches under water u have the pump to low so its sucking in to much water not enuff air if u shorten the hose going from the pump to the skimmer all will be fixed i have mine about 3.5 inches below the surface

i had the exact same prob when i first setup my css65 once i shortened the hose it began skimming immediatly and oh man what a skim i run mine really dry and have to empty it every three days not so much that the cup is filling but that the neck is so gummed up with crap it cant do much more

[jmorgret]

Thanks for the replies. I do have the pdf version of the manual. Also, as far as opening it up, the red knob is closed as all the way and the pump valve is half way. With it like that I can stop the cup from overflowing. My problem is its not really skimming anything. The directions say after the break in period that the pump valve should be opened all the way, I just can't do that because no matter what, with the pump open all the way, the cup overflows in a matter of seconds, no matter what the red knob is set to. I did move the pump up a bit as it was sitting on the bottom of my sump, its now about 3-4 inches below the water line. I still have the same problem. As this is my first SW tank, I'm starting to get very discouraged with this skimmer. I read through about 25 pages of the other thread last night and made sure all the other things were done (ex. the return not under the water line), and still the overflow. Is anyone out there running this skimmer successfully with that pump valve partially closed?? Beause that what it appears I will have to do even though the directions say no.

[20 20]

I've got a 65 working fine in my sump, had it working fine as a HOB skimmer also. I had the 'instant overflow' issue also, and did two things to fix it. I raised the pump up as high as it would go (I'm not using the pump valve), and did the pvc mod on the output that is described in the thread linked above. Skims very well now.

[putman201]

youtr problem might be that u are suing the air silencer provided with the skimmer that attaches to the air line. alot of places tell you to just throw it away because it gets clogged real easily, and restricts air flow... which might explain why its filling up with water and you aren't skimming anything... just my two cents and a good way of eliminating one more thing that it might be.

[00nothing]

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaagh

did i type something in a foreign language u have the pump to deep when a venturi is to far underwater it has a harder time drawing air and as such it allows the pump to draw more water i had exactly the same problem as u i now run my css 65 without the adjustment valve at the pump and havea full range of control i can have it running anywhere from full wet to super dry

if u dont use that air silencer be prepared for a lot of water on the floor when u turn the skimmer on it acts as a check valve

[jmorgret]

Perhaps mine was in a foreign language as I stated the pump is about 3 inches below the water line, not 8. I don't know where you got 8, I suppose you are refering to the manual, but my pump is at 3 and still the problem persists.

[20 20]

Can you raise the pump higher than the 3 inches? Raise it as high as it can go. And unless you like noise, don't throw away the air silencer. Stick a 12" peice of airline hose on the input of the silencer to make it even more 'silent'.

[00nothing]

Originally posted by jmorgret
Perhaps mine was in a foreign language as I stated the pump is about 3 inches below the water line, not 8. I don't know where you got 8, I suppose you are refering to the manual, but my pump is at 3 and still the problem persists.

my apologies i didnt read your second posts so sorry about that

if it is only a few inches below the water line the only thing that i can think of to link it too is lack of air. Now this may not be a long term answer but it might be worth a try to see what happens, my cousin has the 220 and he was having a similar problem his was however related to the depth of the pump he hooked an air pump up to his venturi and it began to work right away might be worth a try jsut to see if a lack of air is the actual problem

[jmorgret]

Thanks man. From your post I'm thinking you mean put an air pump line to that hole on the pump? The one where the small tube comes off and goes to that thing that looks like a contact lens container?

[00nothing]

exactly or just hook it right up to that canister then u dont have to worry about it back siphoning when u have to shut down the skimmer or unplug it for whatever reason

if u want i can try and help u thru this on msn i have read almost that entire thread on this skimmer so i know quite a bit about it

my msn is hmccartie@hotmail.com
or aol slydeways7

[jmorgret]

Thanks, let me get some pictures of it tonight and try to post them so you can kind of see. As it stands right now, I think my main problem was it was not really set up right to begin with so I think it didn't get broken in. Now as I turn the stuff up, it works a bit better over time, I guess breaking in. Right now I have the pump valve open all the way, which is a first, and its not overflowing into the cup. But its not really skimming anything either. Let me get a picture up and maybe you can see what I am doing wrong.

[00nothing]

if u can open it up all the way and its not overflowing it sounds like u are on the right track is the skimmer body full of microbubbles because if so now its jsut time to start adjusting the skimmer get it so that the large bubbles are forming and breaking jsut as they reach the top of the collection cup neck for a dry skim little bit more for a slightly wet skim

not sure if this was already posted in here but how big is your tank how many lbs LR and how is it stocked these are all things that can affect how a skimmer will perform at any given time also how long has the tank been up and running

oh and also make sure u include some tank pics i am a whore when it comes to seeing other peoples tanks :D

[jmorgret]

I'm gonna get some pics up today. The tank is 30g, with a 20g sump underneath where the skimmer sits. About 25 pounds of live rock. The thing that was so frustrating about the skimmer was everything else I learned from this board such as making the sump, the return, etc. worked just fine and those were the things I was worried about. I figured buy a new skimmer, no problem. I think you are right, its getting better as I can control the overflow now. This morning the cup was full of water again, but it was a whole days worth and it was sort of yellowish, not clear like the tank water, but not really "dirty". Thanks for all the help. I'm going to go down right now and get some pics and post them up here in a few minutes....

[jmorgret]

And the pics. As you can see its in the hallway as you come in the house, so kinda hard to get good tank pics:

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/46802skim1.jpg

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/46802tank111.jpg

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/46802tank112.jpg

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/46802tank113.jpg

[00nothing]

nice setup everything appears to be working great

i think ure skimmer not producing much is a bioload issue for u right now u dont have anything in there by the looks of it

the height of your bubbles in the neck looks to be about the same as mine so u wont get a ton of skimmate in the collection cup but u will get a ton of dry skimate in the neck wait till u wipe it out with your finger the stuff is like modelling clay, really stinky modelling clay

looks like ure of to a good start any room in your sump for that heater though

[jmorgret]

Thanks. The heater is a bit long to fit into the sump, as you can see it takes up almost the whole length of the 30g, and the sump is 20g. I could probably squeeze it in there, possible sideways, but it doesn't bother me where its at.

The neckhole is getting yucky, so from what you said it sounds like its working and you are right no real bio load yet. Just put the rock in on Monday. Gonna do a first water change this weekend and see how that goes. Kinda sad I didn't get any hitchers on the rock though.

For those others that get this Skimmer, what I've learned here is: don't let the pump be too deep in the water, and make sure it is set up correctly to allow for proper break in, which I didn't do. Thanks for all the help 00Nothing!

[BradL.]

Your water looks super clean. Your tank looks ready for some life!