9002 Problem

[resplendantreef]

Hi. I have had my Tunze 9002 for 7 months now and it has never pulled much out of my tank. I see these guys on youtube filling there cup with funky skimate in two days. I have never been able to get it to skim very well and I have taken it apart and cleaned it and inspected it for kinks or clogs. It is very depressing, I had my sump built just for this skimmer because I heard it was great. I have adjusted all day long and even let it go a couple days in between making minor adjustments. Maybe I got a bad one I don't know.
:sad2:

 

[rvitko]

Lets try some basics to start diagnosing this.

First, the water quality is important to skimmer function-

A high level of sediment in the water will impeded skimmer function.

Surfactants such as oils from your skin or fatty foods or many supplements that are organic (i.e., vitamins, amino acids, stress coats, slime algae killer, etc.) will impede skimming.

A low SG will impede skimming, for example if this is a hospital tank with a hyposaline environment the skimmer won't work well.

The 9002 is very sensitive to water level and the waterlevel is ideally about 1/2" below the marked line and should never be more than 1.5" below the marked line.

Make sure the pump is in correctly and the airline is not getting caught between the pump and body. The pump will seemingly go in backwards, the cord wraps over the skimmer to exact on the side with the notch for the cord and magnet holder. The venturi nozzle will insert through a hole in a baffle plate.

Make sure the hose is not pinched in the upper chamber below the top cover with air screw adjustement. If the top cover easily pops up this is a likely issue.

 

[resplendantreef]

Thanks Roger. Sorry I wasted your time because I am a MORON. I had the pump in backwards and the airline was crimped. I put the pump in correctly and snipped off about 2 inches of airline and she is skimming like a beast.

 

[rvitko]

Not at all, no reason to feel stupid, this is a common mistake because of the cord orientation.