Reef Octopus BH1000 Questions

[dragonfisher33]

i just bought and setup my BH1000 over my regular 29gal reef tank this week. within hrs of turning it on, it started pulling out wet yellow/light brown skimmate. here are my questions:

1) how do i adjust so that i can get not-as-wet skimmate? just by moving the collection cup up or down?

2) how high should the collection cup be relative to the reaction chamber? for BH100 (the smaller version) there's a marking for maximum water level but for BH1000 there's no none. right now i position the cup just enough to have some bubbles travelling up the neck.

3) it seems to me that every time i dump the collection cup and put it back into the skimmer, the position of the cup gets changed a little. the rubber band around the cup helps a little but it's still not where the cup was before the dump. how do i deal with this?

4) silencer and the air valve: is there a use of the air valve? right now the airline tube is connected to the silencer

 

[NanaReefer]

1) The higher your cup the drier your nog. But to high and you get nothing. Tank to clean and you get nothing. Yes, moving it up and down.
2) Cup should start out at the point where foam bubbles meet the bottom of the neck. Then lowered gradually if needed. My cup has a wavy water level on it. Yours should also. On the side where the brand name is.
3) If the cup/band get wet the band slips. Dry them both off before replacing. Just gently use a paper towel and wipe.
4) I've never used an air valve. Muffler only.

I've been running the same skimmer for a year on my 26g. Over skimming results in a wetter nog, period. The dirtier the water, the thicker nastier the nog
I have also added Filter floss to the return chamber of my skimmer. Was shocked to see how nasty it was just after a couple of days. Not sure if this is an indication of me not setting my cup properly or just the normal running of the skimmer. Whatever it is, I'm happy for the floss

 

[dragonfisher33]

thanks for the prompt reply. i double/tripple checked my skimmer and there's no wavy water level on it. i know what you're referring to though because i have seen it on BH100. also when i was researching between BH100 and BH1000, the videos from Youtube show no wavy water level on the BH1000

 

[NanaReefer]

guess some do & some don't

 

[rjcranor]

Mine doesn't have a water line. I just adjust it to what seems to do the best. The manufacturer just said not to lower it where it covers the whole between chambers.

 

[NanaReefer]

Strange because I've used a piece of tape to cover that annoying lil hole. Otherwise I get major micro bubbles entering the tank. Never had any issues with it being covered for the last year.

 

[rjcranor]

I was told by the manufacturer not to cover the whole it's also a over flow protection

 

[dragonfisher33]

I was told by the manufacturer not to cover the whole it's also a over flow protection

I agree on nit covering the hole. right now the issue I'm having is the quality of the skimmate. it's yellow to light brown, should I raise the collection cup?

 

[ReeferBob]

I agree on nit covering the hole. right now the issue I'm having is the quality of the skimmate. it's yellow to light brown, should I raise the collection cup?

Yes, that will result in a dryer skimming. As long as it is skimming something it is ok. If you stop seeing anything new, then lower till you see it. It is an art more than a science.

 

[dragonfisher33]

Yes, that will result in a dryer skimming. As long as it is skimming something it is ok. If you stop seeing anything new, then lower till you see it. It is an art more than a science.

well, at it's current position the skimmate is light brown and yellow, if I raise it up just a tiny bit, I feel like nothing is going through the neck. sigh

 

[rjcranor]

As long as it's pulling junk out let it be. As they say if it ain't broke don't fix it.

 

[dragonfisher33]

As long as it's pulling junk out let it be. As they say if it ain't broke don't fix it.

i will try to ignore it. just can't get the dark skimmate mental image out of my head. I have the tendency to compare my system/equipment to other people's even though I know everyone's setup is different