lifereef skimmers

[random_ryan]

anyone had any experiance with this skimmer?

[Sharkboy97]

i just bought one yesterday and the only 2 complaints i havve are that the sucking sound for the air is kinda loud and getting it dialed in is hard but thats understandable considering i havnt had it running for 24 hours yet. ill let you kno in awhile how it is

[mta]

I thought the airline goes into the collection cup so no air sucking sound is heard?

[bklynmet]

the loudest thing from my skimmer is the pump... been running for two years now an absolutely no complaints. Click on the little red house above this post to take you to my website where you'll see photo of the skimmer and LR sump in action in the tank shots section. I made the manifold that feeds the filter cyclinder myself, otherwise all the acrylic work was done by Jeff at LifeReef - high quality work!

[lvpd186]

I've had one now for a couple of months. I think its a great skimmer, especially the construction. It doesn't feel like flimsy plastic like so skimmers do. So far I think it has been pulling out allot of junk, more then the AquaC that I had before. I am running mine in sump with a mag 9.5. BTW with the airline from the skimmer cup to the venturi there is no sucking noise that I have noticed.

[PL-Reef]

i got one a month ago. love it so far.

[ddboy]

can anyone tell me how you guys dial yours in? I just got one and having difficulty dialing it in, I have the 24 inch one in sump running a mag 9.5. will it get more bubbles if I run a mag 12? my bubbles level flutuates quite a lot from the bottom of the neck then just shoot up to the top. may be i install it wrong or something?

[PL-Reef]

is the return line from the skimmer above the water line in your sump? if not its a pain. as the water level goes up and down in the sump so does the skimmer.

[PL-Reef]

is the return line from the skimmer above the water line in your sump? if not its a pain. as the water level goes up and down in the sump so does the skimmer.

[Roland Jacques]

Ive used 3 or 4 of them over the years not a big fan anymore. i think thier are many better skimmer in the same priece range ( i dont like Aqua C much ether) they are made very well but performance is just OK buy todays standards

IMO a MRC, Euro Reef, ASM all would be better. You can also buy and mod a Octopus Nw-200 air it well rock at $200 it a good value

I do still have my 3-72 but i modded it a little, ok alot. Personaly i think the ATI Bubble Master will blow away all these skimmers when they come out in the US. time well tell.

[Sharkboy97]

Sorry for this but, real quick what do you guys mean by attaching the venturi to the collection cup

[lvpd186]

On the skimmer there is an airline that goes from the top (side) of the collection cup to the venturi. I believe that it is plumbed this way to prevent overflows; i.e. when the collection cup gets too full it will flow in to the venturi and stop bubble production. If anything it does make them quiet. As for some of the skimmers that Roland mentioned I have only had an ASM. IMO the ASM worked well but it definitely was not as well built as the lifereef. The one I have feels like the cheap thin plastic (feels like any drop will crack it). I haven't had the chance to try the others, they are all NW type skimmers (different from lifereef) but I have heard good things about them.

ddboy - like plreef said if your skimmer sits in the sump where the water level fluctuates it might be kind of hard to dial it in. You could always try and put the skimmer in a bucket or something inside the sump. That way even if the rest of the sump's water level fluctuates the skimmer will always have the same water height.

[Sharkboy97]

my skimmer is what appears to be a downdraft skimmer, but on lifereef I could not find the make that i have. Could it be that it is so new and that is why the foam is producing a very wet almost clear skimmate. I bought it yesterday and so far it is being a pain. Any ideas, should i start a new thread for mine or what?

[lvpd186]

BTW Roland what mods have you done? Anything worth sharing?

Sharkboy - how is yours set up. I didn't know they made a downdraft skimmer. Can you post some pics?

[Sharkboy97]

the pump (mag 9.5) is plumbed by about a 1.5' pipe to a pvc pipe that runs in to a black box and on the pipe is a hole for the air. then it exist through the black box via a 90* angle

i can post pics if that makes no sense

[lvpd186]

Go ahead and post the pics, Im kind of drawing a blank.

[ddboy]

my water level is consistent in the sump, I have an ecosystem sump, and the skimmer is in the 1st compartment, which has a constant water level, but there is where the overflow flows in. will that be the problem? should I place the intake pump all the way at the corner so there is less turbulance from the overflow?

[lvpd186]

I have always been told that your skimmer should get raw tank water so I would think having your skimmer in that first chamber would be the best, regardless of any turbulence. When I first set mine up I tried to set the water height even with the top of the main body of the skimmer. Then I let it sit for a while to see how it would skim before any further adjustments. It took some time but I think I have it set right now. You could also send them (Jeff I think) an email. When I had some questions they got back to me right away.

[ddboy]

thanks, I emailed him already. he is very helpful. I did change the placement of the pump to the corner away from the overflow water, seems like the problem has gone away, now just waiting for it to start skimming, I set the bubbles @ about 2-3 inches down from the top. Is this good?

[lvpd186]

I think it all depends on what kind of skimmate you want to get (dry vs. wet). I would leave it set where you have it now and see what it starts producing. If it starts kicking out too much back it down (open the valve) a little bit and see if it slows down. After doing this a few times you'll find the sweet spot for your setup. I have found that if mine is set too low (water height that is) the junk gets stuck to the inside of the tube instead of collecting in the cup, which means it needs to be cleaned more often to keep up production. Right now the water level in mine is set about 1" above the main body of the skimmer. Good luck.

[ddboy]

thanks, lvpd186

It finally start producing, and it kind of went nuts until I adjust to to about the same like yours, so far it is pretty good.

[bklynmet]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8316265#post8316265 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by lvpd186
On the skimmer there is an airline that goes from the top (side) of the collection cup to the venturi. I believe that it is plumbed this way to prevent overflows; i.e. when the collection cup gets too full it will flow in to the venturi and stop bubble production. If anything it does make them quiet.

Benefits of the airline to the venturi:
1. Helps prevent overflows on the out-of-sump types (though I wouldn't want skimmate recirculating. It would prevent a flood if it overflowed)
2. Quite down the venturi
3. Keeps the venturi moist (so you don't have salt creep build up on the venturi and affect bubble production - I think this is the most important benefit)

[ralphie16]

my lifereef skimmer has consistently pulled very very light tea colored skimmate since I bought it about 4 months ago. no matter how wet or dry I dial it in, it never ever gets even close to those dark skimmate pictures everyone posts. anyone can help? the tank is a 125 with a puffer and a trigger and 200lbs live rock so there is definately a decenty large bioload.

[cybertec69]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8505244#post8505244 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by ralphie16
my lifereef skimmer has consistently pulled very very light tea colored skimmate since I bought it about 4 months ago. no matter how wet or dry I dial it in, it never ever gets even close to those dark skimmate pictures everyone posts. anyone can help? the tank is a 125 with a puffer and a trigger and 200lbs live rock so there is definately a decenty large bioload. what type of lighting do you have, here is my VS3-36 set up on my new 120gal "no lights yet, on their way as we speak", tank is cycling at the moment with LR, http://cybertec.smugmug.com/gallery/2059513

[cbl]

I have been very impressed with Jeff and his LR skimmers. He gives excellent service (returns calls same day) and takes obvious pride in his work and quality construction. His self cleaning venturi device is brilliant!!!!! I wouldn't hesitate to rec him or his skimmers/sumps!!!!!!

[ralphie16]

I have 4 lamp T5 fixture but I think that is no relevant to how my skimmer is working like crap.

[cybertec69]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8517059#post8517059 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by ralphie16
I have 4 lamp T5 fixture but I think that is no relevant to how my skimmer is working like crap. which model do you have and what pump are you using on it, one more thing, is that a FOWL tank, if it is then the lighting is OK. Still not enough to produce anough micro algea, which is what most skimmers pull out and what gives you that dark sludge look of skimate.

[ralphie16]

i have the 24" model. vs2-24 i think its called. I got it brand new about 4 months ago. It is a 125 gallon fowlr with 200 lbs live rock, a trigger and a puffer. THe pump that came with the skimmer was the Little Giant 3mdxsq (the one Jeff at Lifereef recommended).

So it is really the microalgae that produces the dark skimmate? Because I have quite a bit of cynabacteria climbing up the tank walls.

[cybertec69]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8517413#post8517413 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by ralphie16
i have the 24" model. vs2-24 i think its called. I got it brand new about 4 months ago. It is a 125 gallon fowlr with 200 lbs live rock, a trigger and a puffer. THe pump that came with the skimmer was the Little Giant 3mdxsq (the one Jeff at Lifereef recommended).

So it is really the microalgae that produces the dark skimmate? Because I have quite a bit of cynabacteria climbing up the tank walls. what salinity is your water, and temperature, and how many inches is the water level in the skimmer from the bottom of the collection cup.

[ralphie16]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8538702#post8538702 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by cybertec69
what salinity is your water, and temperature, and how many inches is the water level in the skimmer from the bottom of the collection cup.

1.0256 (53mS)

TEMP IS 82F

Water level in the sump is slightly below the output of the skimmer (right under the bottom of the bioballs) right where Jeff explained I want to have it.

Water level is about 1" below the neck of the skimmer. I have tried it both further down and further up over the past 4 months but skimmer still does not produce any decent skimmate.

To test whether my tank as a low bioload or whatnot, I installed a Tunze 9000 series skimmer in the sump for the past few days and turned off the LifeReef skimmer. What a difference! Skimmate was MUCH darker. Im not saying the Tunze is the most amazing skimmer ever at all, just saying how a random skimmer that my friend loaned me produced much darker skimmate within a day.

I am thinking these LifeReef skimmers, no matter how good of a quality peice it is, is not a very good skimmer. Mine consistently skimmed very very light green skimmate over past 4 months, which leads me to beleive it was not taking out the organics very well.