9005 skimmer doesnt skim much :(

[CoralBeautyII]

I replaced my Prizm skimmer when the pump died with a Tunze 9005 in tank skimmer and i'm sorry to say my Prizm pulled out a ton of stuff while my Tunze pulls hardly anything at all.
Its been 6 months and all i get is a table spoon or two of skimmate per day.
The bubbles just dont seem to make it to the top quickly enough.
My tank is over a year old and overstocked so im sure theres stuff in there to skim, especially since my Prizm took out alot of gunk, sometimes i needed to clean the cup a few times a day it was pulling so well.
I'm very disapointed in the Tunze's performance, with such a good name I expected this skimmer to kick butt. I did some research and it seems like im not the only one who has had problems with this skimmer not pulling enough.
Should I hook up an airstone in it or something? I took the air plug thing off completely to get it more air, it has helped a little but it still doesnt produce much considering my bio load

 

[rvitko]

I would suspect something is broken or not properly assembled. If you can send me the skimmer I am positive we can get it working for you.

 

[smatter]

My 9005 skims about 200mL a week in my low load small SPS tank.

 

[CoralBeautyII]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13976963#post13976963 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by smatter
My 9005 skims about 200mL a week in my low load small SPS tank.

200ml a week is hardly anything to brag about, thats less than a cup per week. I used to skim a cup to 2 cups per DAY with my Prizm.
I dont think my skimmer is faulty, its just a crappy skimmer. I thought maybe their was a mod to it or something, someway to get more air in to produce a more vigorous bubble. I do clean and empty the cup every 2 days.
I took a pic of what I got after 48 hours, about 25ml, thats pretty bad for a 300 dollar skimmer. The color is great but it just doesnt produce enough. I did a search here on "DOC" and I found several posts all saying the same thing "it doesnt produce enough"

 

[The Grim Reefer]

After about 6 months I noticed my 9010 wasn't doing much. When I pulled the cup there wasn't enough flow for the foam to rise into the air intake like its designed to do. Cleaned everything out and still no good. A friend had mentioned he had to lower his skimmer deeper into the water to make it work so I did the same thing. The water level on mine is now just below the top seam and the thing is working again. I think the pump is just crap. I have to keep the air valve wide open to get it to work as well but when it was new it worked with the recommended factory setting..

Both symptoms seem to indicate loss of flow to me.

 

[CoralBeautyII]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13979789#post13979789 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by The Grim Reefer
After about 6 months I noticed my 9010 wasn't doing much. When I pulled the cup there wasn't enough flow for the foam to rise into the air intake like its designed to do. Cleaned everything out and still no good. A friend had mentioned he had to lower his skimmer deeper into the water to make it work so I did the same thing. The water level on mine is now just below the top seam and the thing is working again. I think the pump is just crap. I have to keep the air valve wide open to get it to work as well but when it was new it worked with the recommended factory setting..

Both symptoms seem to indicate loss of flow to me.

Yes mine too works better at the water level below the top seem. The skimmer has been perfoming like this since day one, or shall i say more like day three when it "broke in"
That little blue valve i totally removed, it does nothing. I'm dying to stick an airline tube in there and see what happends lol.
I guess theres not much that can be done for it, its just not a good skimmer. I will wait a couple of months to save up for something else..i probably will play it safe and go back to my prizm. The only reason why i stopped getting the prizm is because the pumps on them burn out pretty quickly (around 10-12 months) and it was prone to overflowing onto the floor. I thought id try something new, and Tunze has such a great name, at least thats what everyone told me

 

[The Grim Reefer]

I expected more from the Tunze considering the price

 

[CoralBeautyII]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13980198#post13980198 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by The Grim Reefer
I expected more from the Tunze considering the price

Exactly
This performs no better than a Seaclone, but at least the Seaclone is cheap
Well, lesson learned

 

[The Grim Reefer]

The design is great. I wasn't too impressed with the materials they used but I hoped for a lot better long term performance.Mine had a obvious quality control issue right out of the box. Roger was great to get the replacement part out to me ASAP but the issue was something a blind monkey should have caught on the assembly line. So much for superior German quality.

 

[CoralBeautyII]

What I dont get is what are all those nozzle holes for? I know the one with the valve, but whats the other one across from it? and the tiny little one at the back?

 

[smatter]

The small nipple on the back is for ozone, the larger one allows air inside. I wasn't bragging by the way when I said it pulled 200mL a week, just sharing my experience with the 9005. I just thought that nearly a cup a week in my little <40g tank with two tiny fish was pretty good. When I first put the rock in it overflowed with nasty foam, but now there isn't much for it to pull out. Something is definitely wrong with yours. You should give Roger a chance to get it working for you before you start bashing their products here.

 

[CoralBeautyII]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13981217#post13981217 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by smatter
The small nipple on the back is for ozone, the larger one allows air inside. I wasn't bragging by the way when I said it pulled 200mL a week, just sharing my experience with the 9005. I just thought that nearly a cup a week in my little <40g tank with two tiny fish was pretty good. When I first put the rock in it overflowed with nasty foam, but now there isn't much for it to pull out. Something is definitely wrong with yours. You should give Roger a chance to get it working for you before you start bashing their products here.

I dont see how it can be fixed if this is the way its made? All the posts say the same things about this skimmer. You cant get pepsi from a cow ya know
As for bashing the product? well I spent $300 dollars for it, and i expect it to skim properly, and it doesnt, am i supposed to rave about it?

 

[smatter]

It doesn't because there is something wrong with it. There are many satisfied Tunze customers that have been using the 90xx series for years and years without issue. It is unfortunate that you mainly hear from the ones that want to bash Tunze. The best thing about Tunze is that even those people will be helped. Nobody's asking you to rave, just give them a chance to fix it. I understand where you are coming from, you spent a lot of money and you want it to work, and I am certain it can be fixed.

 

[CoralBeautyII]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13982506#post13982506 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by smatter
It doesn't because there is something wrong with it. There are many satisfied Tunze customers that have been using the 90xx series for years and years without issue. It is unfortunate that you mainly hear from the ones that want to bash Tunze. The best thing about Tunze is that even those people will be helped. Nobody's asking you to rave, just give them a chance to fix it. I understand where you are coming from, you spent a lot of money and you want it to work, and I am certain it can be fixed.

But what if it is the pump? like grim reaper said
How can i mail this thing lol, it has coralline all over it and sponges lol
and what if it comes back the same? like this is just how its meant to work.
You get 200ml a week, thats about what i get, so maybe yours is broken too :lol:

 

[The Grim Reefer]

Bashing? I didn't even mention the ill fitting panels nor brittle erection set parts that broke when I was toying with the idea of hanging the skimmer.

 

[CoralBeautyII]

Its just not a good skimmer, face it Smatter, 220ml per week should be 200ml per day! so yours isnt working too well either.
You may choose to stick up for it, you may be a Tunze rep or something, ater all it does say Tunze accouterment in your sig
I'm looking into the Deltec and Octopus skimmers, so far they seem to have the best rating.

 

[The Grim Reefer]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13983444#post13983444 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by CoralBeautyII
Its just not a good skimmer, face it Smatter, 220ml per week should be 200ml per day! so yours isnt working too well either.
You may choose to stick up for it, you may be a Tunze rep or something, ater all it does say Tunze accouterment in your sig
I'm looking into the Deltec and Octopus skimmers, so far they seem to have the best rating.

To be fair you can't judge a skimmer soley by the amount of skimmate it collects. If you have a lightly stocked tank with a clean up crew and good feeding habits it can greatly reduce the amount of crap to be removed.

 

[freddie40]

I also have a Tunze 9010. It has never worked well. If I have the j-tube attached it really doesn't work well. Using it as an intank skimmer with the water level at the suggested blue-line also doesn't make the skimmer work well. However, if I drop the skimmer 1 inch it skims better. This is not how it should be though.

Dave

BTW: I have cleaned the pump and skimmer and this does not help.

 

[CoralBeautyII]

Its a bust
money down the drain

 

[rroselavy]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13983711#post13983711 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by CoralBeautyII
Its a bust
money down the drain

I'm really confused. Why don't you just send it to Roger Vitko so he can have a chance to fix it?