Bubble Magus Curve 5 HELP!
- Thread starter robbrouse
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GHill762
Valuable Member
mine started pulling once I transferred over all my livestock to the new tank from my old tank.. I'm currently getting a really nice foam, with a skimmate a little darker than your photo.. the foam is darker, but it's only been "skimming" since saturday..
GHill762
Valuable Member
I think he's running wide open, just like I am..
let me know if this is right/wrong:
more open (most flow through) = drier skim
more closed (least flow through) = wetter skim
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robbrouse
Well-Known Member
Yes I;m running wide open... They what everyone said to do until it broke in. If I turn it down it never skims anything.. Should I lover it in the water are jsut turn it down.. When I fist put it on it was pulling darker skim for a day and has been like this since then.. Yesterday was a week it's been running...
ReeferBob
Valuable Member
I have almost the same Bubble Magus. They suck, pure and simple. I have had it about a year and it still is wildly unreliable. For a week or two it will work great and the next week it will overflow and flush all the skimmate back into the tank. If I could afford another one I would get rid of it in a heartbeat. I have tried it at all different levels too. Currently it is sitting just below that round plastic thing near the fat part of the bottom - maybe 5" of water. Any deeper and it constantly overflows. I suggest if you can take it back to take it back. It will never work correctly.
GHill762
Valuable Member
This is the first bad review I've seen for the curve skimmers.
I would double check and make sure the airline is clean and venturi isn't plugged. Second I would make sure that the the adjustment pipe is where it should be and assembled and not backwards just in case and that nothing is blocking it.
Bo N Rachel
Community Member
Ok
Iev had my curve 5 for over a year,got it from a local reefer bc it also acted crazy on him so I chunked it up for him being a noob. I can say I don't like this skimmer period. Tried raising and lowering the skimmer adjusting the crappy tube and like everyone else begging for help on the issue of its either not skimming or over flowing.. Iev had my same issues! Piece of advice for you get your bubbles to the red ring on the bottom of the collection cup and keep it there!! It will eventually started pulling decent skim mate and I'd say on its good days it skimmed okay but I never gotten to get super dark. Here recently only after having it skim ok for me for about 3 months I had a issue with cyano and tried everything I could but ended up using chemiclean( works great btw) followed everything to the T! Started the curve back up after 2 water changes and it starts this (see pic) tore it down cleaned and checked everything. Let it run for 2 weeks letting it overflow back into the sump with no avail. I mean I could raise it up but it's only in around 8" of water and worked fine before.. I'm done with it moving forward to a different brand! Rant over lol
redfishbluefish
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Whatever they tell you to run it in, it's way too deep. I ran one for a short period of time and I can't remember the depth, but I'll guess about 8 inches....or maybe less. That's the secret.
Bpb
2500 Club Member
erratic skimming has almost nothing to do with skimmer quality. It's almost always a break in or water surface tension issue. Skimmer quality can be judged in pump longevity and quality of acrylic fabrication. If your skimmer is overflowing constantly, but it works well for hundreds of other people, it's user error. Frustrating as it may be. Keep it running wide open, in 6-8" of water, ensure it was assembled correctly and nothing is blocking or occluding the air or water suction openings, and it will calm down. It's a simple device. Pinwheel impeller, and you let more or less water in the chamber. Nothing else to it.
Keep in mind also if you recently used any aquatic cements or epoxy those can screw with the water and cause your skimmer to overflow for days to even weeks on end sometimes. I recently used an entire stick of epoxy to mount about 20 acro frags in the tank and the skimmer has been overflowing in the open position for 7 days now. This is normal and will stop eventually when the molecules in the water causing it to happen break up in time.
Keep in mind also if you recently used any aquatic cements or epoxy those can screw with the water and cause your skimmer to overflow for days to even weeks on end sometimes. I recently used an entire stick of epoxy to mount about 20 acro frags in the tank and the skimmer has been overflowing in the open position for 7 days now. This is normal and will stop eventually when the molecules in the water causing it to happen break up in time.
oscar garcia
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I would leave it on without any adjustments until it fully breaks in which is around a week. If it is overflowing then you should add egg crate layers under the skimmer or something to lower the water level accordingly until you get the bubbles to stop overflowing then let it sit like that for about a week so it can break in first.
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oscar garcia
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I don't think there is a skimmer out there that won't require adjustments all the time. There are always many factors that come into play that will require skimmer adjustments such as if you have fed, used chemicals, epoxy, top off , etc
Marius Swart
Active Member
@jd371 how deep is your skimmer exactly and reading between 1-3 ? I tried everything , 2 months with noting . Then i raised the water level to 26cm , setting between 1 and 2 and now im getting yellow water with some foam but nothing like yours
Just to mention i have a 180l setup ...
Just to mention i have a 180l setup ...
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