for the record i hate my ASM

[jsn150]

for the record I hate my ASM ... had i known i was going to have to make all these mods to simply get it to perform even halfway decent I would have coughed up the extra cash for a beckett or something else. this is ridiculous i have screwed around w/that dang riser tube for 10 weeks now and my g4x is on a 150 reef and might pull 1/4 cup of some colored water once a week at best ! only time i ever got some good skimmate was when i had 200lbs of LR curing. if i put the tube too high the cup fills w/water yet just below that it will pull NOTHING for days. so $370 for the g4x and then add all the frustration and cost of all the mods i will now have to do... should have bought something else. please tell me before i rip it out of my sump to do the gate valve mod if this will REALLY make a difference. am tossed about doing the mod or selling it and getting a euro or a beckett

[john37]

dang, sorry man. i dont know what to say, i havent modded my G3 at all and it works fine. but i've heard that the gate valve mod helps a lot. how high is the water level in relation to the skimmer? there's an asm thread and a lot of problems have been disscussed there

[coralfarmer84]

i have the same skimmer on my 240 and all i did was plug it in and it works great... did you give it time to break in. Mine pulls almost a cup of dark skimate every three days.

[jsn150]

is the "dark" skimmate watery or is it gunk ?? mine doesnt pull jack. yes i broke it in and the water level is 7-9'' in the sump, I have tried everything except doing all the mods which i am getting ready to do (reluctantly) where do you have the riser set ???? and do you wipe down the in side of the tube on the collection cup when you clean it ??

[jay24k]

Pretty much a skimmer is a skimmer when it comes to these guys. They are all run on the same exact principle. It's possible you don't have it set right or you just don't have a high bioload. If it worked once when you were curing, it isn't going to magically stop like a computer.

Is it still churning air bubbles? Have you cleaned the pump or cleaned the air tube? Have you inspected it for any cracks?

[jsn150]

cant figure it out man, still have good bubbles, havent cleaned the pump or anything but this tank has only been set up for 13-14 weeks now, wouldnt think it would need a major clean yet. and it never really worked great just the brief period when the LR was curing.

[jay24k]

Well I have a G3 on my 180 with 19 fish and 5 being tangs. I pull out about a half cup every 2 to 3 days. I feed quite a bit too. That is a big skimmer for that tank. What is your bioload because I'm willing to bet that skimmer has nothing much to skim. It's a good thing.

[Lager]

Im With Jay here,, If you already have clean water,, the skimmer wont pull much.. relax.. you have a good skimmer.. Be happy..

[golfish]

Its not going to work much diff then an ER...Spend the 18.00 and do the gate valve mod, its well worth it.

[sevise]

I have a G4X on my 200gal system and it fills the cup half full every week. I did do the gate valve mod, less than $20. However I have mine in about 18-20 inches of water.

I have a CSS 125 on my 30cube, it pulls out little to nothing, however its BB and has little bioload, I agree your water could be clean already.

[nic_u812]

"and do you wipe down the in side of the tube on the collection cup when you clean it ??"


The answer to that question would be a big fat YES.... That is probably why it is not skimming that great for you... You need to make your entire collection cup (mainly the inside of the riser) look like new about every 3 days...

You can't set a skimmer up and forget about it, and expect it to work well....

[merlock116]

like nic_u812 said you definitely need to wipe down the collection cup.

also if you've never cleaned the pump after 13-14 weeks you definitely need to. take the pump apart and give the needle wheel impeller a good scrubbing with a toothbrush. you should do this at least every couple months.

[john rochon]

I will disagree some what with you guys, I feel theres no need to clean your riser every 3 or 4 days. I do mine maybe once a month. as long as the bubbles are frothing over the last section of riser your fine.
also, cleaning a pump that much! no way, that would drive me nuts.
IMO if your getting good fine bubbles and contact time then your just not pulling much out because theres nothing to pull out.

I have a very small bioload on my 500g right now and I pull out maybe 1 cup every 2 weeks.

[jay24k]

I haven't cleaned my pump yet and it's been 6 months however sometimes maybe something is in there. Piece of macro algae or something blocking flow.

Anyone know the link for the gatevalve mod? Interested in doing that to get rid of that PITA sponge.

[scarletknight06]

sounds like you just have clean water. i clean the inside of my riser tube every day or 2, but do i have to clean the rest of the collection cup, i wouldnt think this would be necessary.

[nic_u812]

After the neck of the riser becomes encrusted with gunk (in my case about 3-4 days) the skimmer's performance drops rapidly. Why do you think Deltec has their own "wet neck"?

My skimmer has been going at it well over a year, and I have yet to clean out the pump.. Probably overdue... A dirty pump will not effect simmer performance nearly as much as a dirty "neck" will...

asmskimmer.com has good info on the gatevalve mod - also, check out the talk in the asm skimmer club...

"FOR THE RECORD I LOVE MY ASM SKIMMER!!!"

[Chrisrush]

Jay,
Check out ASMskimmer.com and look under modifications, they have the gate valve mod under that section.

Chris

[kirei]

How are you feeding the water into the skimmer, fluctuations in sump level can really mess with skimmer performance, try doing the recirculating mod, and feeding it from the overflow, or have the overflow output into a bucket, then place the feed pump in the bucket, this regulates the sump level to the pump and also concentrates the "raw water" for processing. Other things to check: air intake (make sure there is no salt clogging it), run the pump in some vinegar to de-calcify it. Do the gate valve mod, and add a needlewheel valve to the airline, this will give you more precise control over the water level in the skimmer and the amount of air injected. I personally favour my beckett over my H&S, becketts are much more aggressive, and suit my purpose better. But Deltecs, ERs, H&Ss, and ASMs are all great needlewheel skimmers.

[raskal311]

if it dosn't pull a lot of skimmate out just means you dont have much to pull out. I empty my cup out once a month and my buddy with the same skimmer has to do it every few days. Both of our tanks are doing great. Now if you really one alot of skimmate for some reason just dump a lot of crap in to your tank.

[jsn150]

i will do the gate valve, hopefully this will help with performance and it will produce something. cleaned the inside of the collection cup and the tube last night and checked the cup today and its dry as a bone... dont think my water quality is THAT good for it not to pull anything

[jasonstr8up]

Originally posted by jsn150
i will do the gate valve, hopefully this will help with performance and it will produce something. cleaned the inside of the collection cup and the tube last night and checked the cup today and its dry as a bone... dont think my water quality is THAT good for it not to pull anything
Just to let you know the gate valve will not improve your performance. It’s just for fine tuning your skimmer. I must say the gate vale mod rocks. It’s soooooo easy to adjust the height of the bubbles.:D

[nic_u812]

Originally posted by jsn150
i will do the gate valve, hopefully this will help with performance and it will produce something. cleaned the inside of the collection cup and the tube last night and checked the cup today and its dry as a bone... dont think my water quality is THAT good for it not to pull anything

Can you post a pic of the water level inside your neck? I am curious to see what you have it set at...

[DocG]

jsn150

I agree with your last post. If you have something alive in the tank then you should get some decent skimmate.

The gate valve will give you better control and make it easier to find the sweet spot. But you should be getting something. If it is an adjustment issue then I can see you getting 1/4 cup a week but it will be really dark and the inside of the riser tube should be caked with gunk.

Could you post a picture of the skimmer so we can see the size of the bubbles.

Also:
1) How often are your hands in the tank? If you have your hands in the tank often then the oil on your hands will shut down foam production big time!

2) What do you feed your fish? How often? Oily food will also shut down the skimmer. When I feed mysis shrimp or cyclopeeze then my skimmer shuts down for a while.

Don

[jsn150]

here is the setup ... water level is 7-8'' in the sump, riser is almost all the way up set maybe an inch or two above the bottom of the collection cup and the foam is not the green i see everyone getting its white bubbles and thats it ... two days now and no skimmate
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a380/jsn150/DSC00716.jpg
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a380/jsn150/DSC00717.jpg
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a380/jsn150/DSC00718.jpg
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a380/jsn150/DSC00721.jpg

[jsn150]

here is another couple pics of the setup ... any help appreciated before i sell this thing and buy something else.
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a380/jsn150/DSC00714.jpg
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a380/jsn150/DSC00715.jpg

[jasonstr8up]

It looks like it's skimming to me. Like they said you might not have a whole lot to skim:) .....Thats a good thing.

[jsn150]

thats just it, the 1/4 inch of water you see in the cup is water not gunk and the foam is not green its white ... looked at it again this morning and the level in the cup hasnt changed a bit.

[rklutt]

Yeah from what I can tell it looks like it's skimming. Since the tank is so new you just might not have a ton of stuff for it to pull out. Maybe try and do a little tank cleaning (scrub the glass, blow the rocks off) and see if you get any goo. Thats always seems to kick my skimmer into goo making mode.

[jasonstr8up]

Try doing a 20-30% water change and see if it pulls anything out. That should tell you if it's working. It should foam up real good once you add new salt water.

[examiner]

The only suggestion I'd have is maybe a higher level in your sump. Hard to tell, but it looks like the pump inlet into the skimmer may be only about half submerged, you may be sucking some air in through the uniseal there. I *think* this might reduce your water level in the skimmer, despite pulling the riser tube all the way up. You've got good bubble action, but maybe not a high enough level to push the bubbles over into the collection cup.

It is skimming, as you can see by the gunk building up on the riser neck. But even if your water is "clean", you should be able to get the bubble levels up high enough to push clean bubbles and water into the collection cup.

[my2girls]

jsn- sell it. I sold my G2 and have never looked back. I bought a MRC. The beckett is UNBELIEVABLE. So much better than that weak needlewheel.

[jsn150]

so you love the MRC ??

[rklutt]

I just got a ER yesterday and I love it already! In less than 3 hours it was already pulling green goo out of the tank... but I have had this system up since March and I have 6 fish in it and I also had a crappy skimmer in the system before that was not doing anything so I really need to get a better skimmer on it before it was to late for my SPS! I have a reef club member who has the G3 and he is not to happy with it either.

r

[jsn150]

i am either gonna get the gate valve mod and try directing the overflow into the skimmer itself or just sell it and get a MRC

[HookedOnReefing]

I just took a look at the pictures of your skimmate. How many day's worth? How is the tank stocked?

You mentioned that your system is only 14 weeks old. Not very mature at all yet and probably not stocked much yet.

Skimmate seems fine too me. I also see gunk (the dark green coating) collected on the riser tube.

You mention that the foam looks white... That is usually the case. Even with my Deltec, the foam is white. Once it pours into the collection cup and over time the bubbles burst, only then does it turn nasty brown/green with pieces of protein? floating in it.

I expect the same to be the case with the Bubble King I just got but haven't set up yet.

Your system is still VERY young. Give it time. If it were me, I wouldn't worry so much. Don't compare your system with others posted that are mature and fully stocked.

Just my 2 cents worth :D

[sjm817]

I Agree with HOR. Jsn, your G3 looks like it is working fine. You can't pull out gunk that doesn't exist in the first place.

[NicoleRM]

I think I remember reading somewhere that the G4x performs much better with a bigger pump. Maybe it was in the ASM Club thread, but someone was saying that the G4x pump is underpowered for the size of the skimmer?

[jsn150]

i guess my concern is that what it does pull is nothing more than colored water not gunk. and my stock list is moderate at the moment yes but should still be pulling something. what you see in the picture is colored water from adjusting the riser too high and water spilling over, not actual skimmate. the inside of the tube does collect a green goo it just doesnt seem to make it into the cup itself, where do you guys set your water level in the skimmer or at what point to you set the riser tube ???? mine is at about an inch or two above the bottom of the cup itself so the foam if there is any has to climb maybe 4 inches or so

[shelburn61]

What livestock is in your tank?

Your tank is very young. the color of your skimmate is determined by the concentration of gunk in it. I doubt there is much to skim so you are forced to skim "wet" in order to collect skimmate. This is good! I think people drastically overestimate the amount of skimmate that comes from a well-maintained tank.

As long as the air intake is clear you are fine. As mentioned before it will make a huge difference to have the skimmer pump pull water directly from the overflow. The drain outlet and skimmer pump should be in the same container in order to concentrate the proteins coming from the surface water.

I would also add the recirc mod with a direct gravity feed from the overflow.