Skimmer causing micro bubbles?

[laezur]

Hey guys,

Sump was out of action for a few months. Fixed and put back together recently and all the equipment is going again.

I've been running my skimmer and thinking it'll break in, but it's been... weeks now. Its still overskimming to hell and causing microbubbles in the display. I have tried using foam between the baffles to catch the bubbles but to no avail.

Anyone know how I can calm it down?

Any videos/pictures you need let me know.

Thanks.

 

[blaxsun]

What type of skimmer? Do you have the correct water level in the sump?

 

[laezur]

What type of skimmer? Do you have the correct water level in the sump?

Bubble magus curve 5 and I have it sat on the bottom with the standard height of water in that section of the Red Sea 170 sump

 

[blaxsun]

Bubble magus curve 5 and I have it sat on the bottom with the standard height of water in that section of the Red Sea 170 sump

Do you know if the standard water height in that chamber is the recommended height for that particular skimmer? I don't know if this will help or not, but this is what I did for my skimmer:

1. Water open full, air off to see how far up the neck of the skimmer the water is reaching.
2. Adjust water to get the lowest level in the skimmer neck.
3. Turn on the air and adjust such that the foam never goes above the bottom of the collection cup.

This gives me more of a wet/condensed skim as opposed to just foam.

 

[laezur]

Do you know if the standard water height in that chamber is the recommended height for that particular skimmer? I don't know if this will help or not, but this is what I did for my skimmer:

1. Water open full, air off to see how far up the neck of the skimmer the water is reaching.
2. Adjust water to get the lowest level in the skimmer neck.
3. Turn on the air and adjust such that the foam never goes above the bottom of the collection cup.

This gives me more of a wet/condensed skim as opposed to just foam.

Recommended for that skimmer is 9.5” to 11” but I don’t think the chamber is even that high. I just got my measuring tape out and the height of the water in that chamber is at 7.5 inches, but that’s the maximum it will go without overfilling the sump… well that’s not fun news.

I was running this skimmer for about a year in the same sump though without this issue and having never made the measurements, so I’m not inclined to believe it’s the height of the water.

How do you change the air intake? And what’s the best “setting” to have it on? I’ll be honest, I don’t understand this min, 1, 2, 3, max setting - it tells you nothing about what it’s doing.

Thank you!

 

[blaxsun]

Recommended for that skimmer is 9.5” to 11” but I don’t think the chamber is even that high. I just got my measuring tape out and the height of the water in that chamber is at 7.5 inches, but that’s the maximum it will go without overfilling the sump… well that’s not fun news.

I was running this skimmer for about a year in the same sump though without this issue and having never made the measurements, so I’m not inclined to believe it’s the height of the water.

How do you change the air intake? And what’s the best “setting” to have it on? I’ll be honest, I don’t understand this min, 1, 2, 3, max setting - it tells you nothing about what it’s doing.

Thank you!

It's probably not the water, and in any event - you can't do much there anyway...

It's a little different from my Nyos Quantum 160, but you basically want the bottom hole of the water adjustment tube facing inwards (so that the maximum amount of water can flow through the skimmer). I found a Curve manual but it was less than intuitive, so I'm not sure what the min/1/2/3/max settings will do (I assume that's the amount of air that it lets in). Start with min, wait about 5 minutes and then try the next higher setting.

 

[laezur]

It's probably not the water, and in any event - you can't do much there anyway...

It's a little different from my Nyos Quantum 160, but you basically want the bottom hole of the water adjustment tube facing inwards (so that the maximum amount of water can flow through the skimmer). I found a Curve manual but it was less than intuitive, so I'm not sure what the min/1/2/3/max settings will do (I assume that's the amount of air that it lets in). Start with min, wait about 5 minutes and then try the next higher setting.

Gotcha I will start cycling through the settings every 15 min or so until I find something that isn't going absolutely nuts and overflowing the cup.

Is this the same reason that there are microbubbles in my display? Will they dissapear as the skimmer calms down?

 

[Patx]

1 ,2,3 and max is the opening out take.
1 is less water flow out...so higher water in the skimmer etc...

 

[Patx]

start at max and close it until some bubble reach the center of the cup

 

[laezur]

start at max and close it until some bubble reach the center of the cup

It has Max 1-3 and Min 1-3. I've started at Max 3 and slowly working my way to the other side. At the moment, bubbles are just overflowing over the top of the neck.

 

[Patx]

keep it there
wait 1..2 hrs
see if it skim as you want... wet or no etc...

 

[Patx]

you can also put a valve on the air intake... to play whit it (since you don't have the recommended water level)

but for now try to not skim to wet and see how its go.

 

[laezur]

keep it there
wait 1..2 hrs
see if it skim as you want... wet or no etc...

Thanks will see how it goes

 

[MischiefReef]

I have a completely different skimmer (eshopps) so this may not even work for you. But on my older unit without air flow control it is super finnicky about water levels. And it can overflow the collection cup which just makes its skim even harder. Sometimes I found it took forever to break in. In the end I used a little plastic nozzle from a test kit needle and cut it and placed it over the air intake tube of my skimmer (it’s on the side of most models). This allowed me to decrease the bubbles and then my skimmer breaks in very quickly, (1-2days) Afterwards I remove the nozzle, and it still stays broken in. Of course if you have the option to adjust the air intake then you can just do that, but I have never used your model of skimmer sorry!

 

[laezur]

I have a completely different skimmer (eshopps) so this may not even work for you. But on my older unit without air flow control it is super finnicky about water levels. And it can overflow the collection cup which just makes its skim even harder. Sometimes I found it took forever to break in. In the end I used a little plastic nozzle from a test kit needle and cut it and placed it over the air intake tube of my skimmer (it’s on the side of most models). This allowed me to decrease the bubbles and then my skimmer breaks in very quickly, (1-2days) Afterwards I remove the nozzle, and it still stays broken in. Of course if you have the option to adjust the air intake then you can just do that, but I have never used your model of skimmer sorry!

There is an air intake valve that’s usually covered with a lid and a tube but mine was lost, so I’m currently covering it with aluminium foil with a small hole poked in LOL

 

[Patx]

There is an air intake valve that’s usually covered with a lid and a tube but mine was lost, so I’m currently covering it with aluminium foil with a small hole poked in LOL

oh the muffler !
this cap is just for the sound.

 

[laezur]

oh the muffler !
this cap is just for the sound.

Yeah the muffler, I took it all apart to clean once and it just… vanished. The thing is so loud and it’s in my bedroom so I had to use foil to cover it for my own sanity. I guess that doesn’t affect the air intake then, doesn’t look like there’s an option to change that. Can’t find a spare part anywhere for it, but not too bothered now

 

[MischiefReef]

There is an air intake valve that’s usually covered with a lid and a tube but mine was lost, so I’m currently covering it with aluminium foil with a small hole poked in LOL

Hahaha, MacGyver is that you??

 

[MischiefReef]

oh the muffler !
this cap is just for the sound.

Ah okay, someone with actual knowledge of the unit. Thanks for the info! Definitely different than the eshopps skimmer.

 

[laezur]

So just to update on this... I've tried every setting on this thing and it's still going wild and overflowing constantly LOL. And the microbubbles are super annoying. It's not harming anything, but ruins the viewing experience for sure.