I have an older aquac skimmer (I am pretty sure it is a 180). It is the one that does not have the valve on top. It is running on a rio 3100 pump and it does not seem to make a lot of foam. The foam typically is not up the neck at all. It does extract about a cup of tea colored water weekly, but most of the downdraft, becket, and recirculating skimmers I have seen seem to always have a neck full of foam. This is running on a 75 gallon display with a 20 gal sump and a 25 gal refugium. Any advice on this would be really appreciated.
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Help with aquaC skimmer
- Thread starter emanaresi
- Start date
well i have a newer model and it's temperamental. Sometimes it'll be foaming like crazy (especially if the valve is wide open), and other times I get this nasty mud-like stuff around the neck only. Not sure what advice is appropriate for you since the new ones are notorious for needing time to "break-in". Is the pump rated appropriate for it? You should check with the president of aqua c - he's really good about responding to customer inquiries...at least he was when I asked in 2005. Not sure if he still personally answers emails anymore.
emanaresi said:
It sounds like you are describing a EV-150. If it really is a EV-180, then a Rio 3100 doesn't produce enough power to make it work right. As a minimum it should have a MAG 7, others that are into playing say a MAG 9.5.
EV series can be figity to initally setup, but once tuned if you leave them alone then are fine. Most people have the water level too high. Do you have a GATE VALVE on the OUTPUT and a BLUE AIR input on the black body?
Let me know, I am pretty experienced tuning these has I have owned about 3 of them.
It does sound like a EV-150.
Try this. Get a flashlight. Block up both holes with your fingers so the skimmer gets no air, that should make the water level go down. With a flashlight, point into the grey box near the top by the water output and open the valve until the water level is just below the internal platform (not the top of the box, that is only for models made after 2002). Wait an hour, then do the procedure again to make sure the level stayed there (It tends to rise).
Try this. Get a flashlight. Block up both holes with your fingers so the skimmer gets no air, that should make the water level go down. With a flashlight, point into the grey box near the top by the water output and open the valve until the water level is just below the internal platform (not the top of the box, that is only for models made after 2002). Wait an hour, then do the procedure again to make sure the level stayed there (It tends to rise).
Something seems amiss, I just pulled out from my closet an old 150 and it had the air valves on it.
Can you take a picture of the skimmer. I think you are missing a air restriction valve and the second whole might have been where the John Guest ozone valve used to be.
Can you take a picture of the skimmer. I think you are missing a air restriction valve and the second whole might have been where the John Guest ozone valve used to be.
This is a quote from marine depot. I think mine is from before theyt added the ball valve for air flow.
"The addition of a precision ball valve for airflow control allows the aquarist to fine tune the skimmer's output. Unlike most other high performance skimmers in this class, the EV is remarkably silent. The spray injection system does not generate the sucking noises typical of venturi and Beckett units."
I also found a pic on marine depot, this looks just like my skimmer, but mine is a little bigger
"The addition of a precision ball valve for airflow control allows the aquarist to fine tune the skimmer's output. Unlike most other high performance skimmers in this class, the EV is remarkably silent. The spray injection system does not generate the sucking noises typical of venturi and Beckett units."
I also found a pic on marine depot, this looks just like my skimmer, but mine is a little bigger
First of all it might not be the issue of the skimmer itself:
- How much are you feeding and/or using additives? If you are feeding very little or not at all there would be nothing to skim in the first place.
- How efficient is your overflow? Is it pulling the surface water from the tank?
- I couldn't see clearly from the picture about your sump setup, but how far apart are your intake and outflow of your skimmer? Are they in the same chamber of the sump and where are they relative to the overflow feed and intake for the return (to the tank) pump. In other words, is the skimmer by any chance re-processing already skimmed water, or is the water flow in the sump bypassing it.
Here is the manufacturer's page http://www.proteinskimmer.com/products/EV180.htm that might help you tune it and set it correctly (they caution about syphoning effect for submersed output line and proper placement level). Injection skimmers are highly dependent on the pressure provided by the pumps. Are you sure that your pump is working optimally and that it is providing enough pressure? Is the injection nozzle clean and unimpeded? The neck of the collection cup looks sufficiently clean on the pics, but I have found that the efficiency of my skimmer depends highly on how clean of gunk is the bubble column.
- How much are you feeding and/or using additives? If you are feeding very little or not at all there would be nothing to skim in the first place.
- How efficient is your overflow? Is it pulling the surface water from the tank?
- I couldn't see clearly from the picture about your sump setup, but how far apart are your intake and outflow of your skimmer? Are they in the same chamber of the sump and where are they relative to the overflow feed and intake for the return (to the tank) pump. In other words, is the skimmer by any chance re-processing already skimmed water, or is the water flow in the sump bypassing it.
Here is the manufacturer's page http://www.proteinskimmer.com/products/EV180.htm that might help you tune it and set it correctly (they caution about syphoning effect for submersed output line and proper placement level). Injection skimmers are highly dependent on the pressure provided by the pumps. Are you sure that your pump is working optimally and that it is providing enough pressure? Is the injection nozzle clean and unimpeded? The neck of the collection cup looks sufficiently clean on the pics, but I have found that the efficiency of my skimmer depends highly on how clean of gunk is the bubble column.
That pic is not mine, but a pic I found that looks like my skimmer.
I would love to accept the idea that there is nothing to skim, but I simply cannot believe that.
My overflow is a standard megaflow in a 75 gallon and it discharges into my refugium and also into a filter sock in my sump. The pickup pump for the skimmer is located right by the filter sock and the discharge from the skimmer runs into the same filter sock as the return from the tank (to cut down on micro bubbles. Maybe the skimmer is getting a lot of allready skimmed water...I am planning on reconfiguring my sump room to allow me room for a frag tank...how do you think the skimmer should be plumbed?
I would love to accept the idea that there is nothing to skim, but I simply cannot believe that.
My overflow is a standard megaflow in a 75 gallon and it discharges into my refugium and also into a filter sock in my sump. The pickup pump for the skimmer is located right by the filter sock and the discharge from the skimmer runs into the same filter sock as the return from the tank (to cut down on micro bubbles. Maybe the skimmer is getting a lot of allready skimmed water...I am planning on reconfiguring my sump room to allow me room for a frag tank...how do you think the skimmer should be plumbed?
emanaresi said:
That all depends on if you are trying to gorge your corals and fish like I am doing :
or you don't feed anything in the tank. If the skimmer's output is mixed with overflow's outpt (in the same sock), then it is certainly reprocessing the same water far more then it should.emanaresi said:
If you want to eliminate the microbubles, put another sock and orient the skimmer's output towards the return pump's input.