AquaC CLUB!

[Tmartwo]

I have cv180 with a mag 9.5.. 3 feet of 3/4" tubing off the mag...gate valve removed...2" of 1" PVC with a T at the end where the gate valve was...a modified filter sock hanging on the T to help with bubbles and noise..air valve wide open....I never touch anything...it loses foam for the usual reasons..hand in sump...greasy cooking..feeding time but always bounces back...I'm getting Max air and max flow doing it this way..my skim is perfect...make sure you have the pipe for the outflow of water above the sumps waterline and the skimmer cup drain tube unobstructed in your vessel with plenty of breathing room for air flow...a lot of air comes out of that tube so make sure it can breathe. I started with 4' of tubing but the skim was to dry so I came down 2" at a time till I was happy..I only do the weekly cup and neck cleaning and bi weekly air valve cleaning...other than that I don't touch anything. I chose not to put a gate valve on my pump line cause I don't want to stress the pump by dialing it back. If I plug the air valve my water line is right at the top of the black box..when I open it up all the way the water line comes up a little but when the skimmer starts skimming the bubbles get real tiny any the waterline goes back down even with the black box. It took me a few days of disconnecting the pump tubing and shortening it but now that I have the proper length its tinkering free...good luck

 

[yangabanga]

This morning I woke up to water all over the floor. The pvc tube leading to the ball valve I was using to control input flow had popped out!

So I'm going to try going straight from the mag7 into the skimmer and see how that works. No foam / totally clear now thanks to the unintended water change...

 

[Tmartwo]

Make sure you use zip ties on all your joints...big ones and tighten them real good

 

[dlondono]

Question for anyone with a EV400

I purchased a EV400 without doing complete research, I read it was good, rated high and the tank is going to be a 200 gallon so the skimmer was adequate.

Now I find articles that the internal spray bar clogs easily and one has to clean it and other sorts of negative stuff.

Anyone using the EV400 that can help me out with a question or two?

 

[dlondono]

Hello? is this not the Aquac thread?

 

[Tmartwo]

Hey Diego...this thread dried up. I don't personally have that skimmer so I cant help you. You'll have to try a different forum or site even. Good luck.

 

[rhinonm]

I thought the only aqua c's left were in museums...

 

[cas1069]

Question for anyone with a EV400

I purchased a EV400 without doing complete research, I read it was good, rated high and the tank is going to be a 200 gallon so the skimmer was adequate.

Now I find articles that the internal spray bar clogs easily and one has to clean it and other sorts of negative stuff.

Anyone using the EV400 that can help me out with a question or two?

i have not had that problem but anyting and everything needs cleaning form time to time

 

[alton]

I don't have an evo, but my urchin pro is 10 years old and the spray bar has never got clogged

 

[saltynash76]

Ev120 owner for 2yrs never got good results unit I read this thread. Subscribed even if it is dead.

 

[heatdissipation]

I get great results from my ev1000. I can't really compare it to anything, but mine pulls out gallons of dark nasty skimmate Sometimes I get the bug to try a different kind if skimmer but have never actually made the decision to actually do it. These are great skimmers. Mostly for larger tanks, people who try to put these on a small tank never get good results.

 

[zachts]

After much fiddling around I finally broke down and bought a new 1260 pump for my EV120 and now it acutally works like it's supposed to.......

now I just have to wonder why on earth do they sell them with anything else, or recommend smaller pumps (the mag 5 was a waste of money on this skimmer). 3 years and I never got as good of results as I had with the old turboflotor hang on skimmer that it replaced.

I don't even have the 1260 throttled back at all, just a needle valve on the air intake. wondering if an even bigger pump might have been in order as there are very few skimmers I can fit in my sump due to short stand height, so I'm kind of stuck with it. But it works now

 

[zachts]

After much fiddling around I finally broke down and bought a new 1260 pump for my EV120 and now it acutally works like it's supposed to.......

now I just have to wonder why on earth do they sell them with anything else, or recommend smaller pumps (the mag 5 was a waste of money on this skimmer). 3 years and I never got as good of results as I had with the old turboflotor hang on skimmer that it replaced.

I don't even have the 1260 throttled back at all, just a needle valve on the air intake. wondering if an even bigger pump might have been in order as there are very few skimmers I can fit in my sump due to short stand height, so I'm kind of stuck with it. But it works now

 

[yangabanga]

I have a mag7 on my ev120. Does a good but not spectacular job. Get about halfway to the collector output valve each week but then again I don't have huge bioload in my 90 and do regular water chgs

I toy with the idea of another pump but doesn't seem worth the cash.

 

[Hal]

i have not had that problem but anyting and everything needs cleaning form time to time

The aqua c's create their bubbles by constricting the flow path to create high velocity streams. Those choke points can clog if your feed pump sends a small shell, rock, or critter through and it hits the constriction. It's not a big deal. It doesn't happen all that often and cleaning the nozzle is very easy. Just remove the feed hose and unscrew the nozzle. Tap it gently or back flush it in your sink. As said above, everything needs cleaning every now and then. You'll notice the clog by seeing fewer bubbles in your skimmer.

 

[yangabanga]

Spoke too soon. I added fish but skimmer has been putting out nothing for weeks.... maybe needs cleaning in the injector?

 

[Quick_Ben]

Unscrew the intake injector and clean that out. I found cerith snails in there each time my flow decreased in the collection tube. Check the air intake valve too. Any foam filters on the pump intake? Once I cleaned everything out the flow went back to normal quickly, assuming the water level is where it should be inside the dark box. These skimmers are simple to fix once you decide there's a problem. That's the issue for me - noticing that the water isn't moving around like it should in the bottom of the clear tube. Good luck!

 

[yangabanga]

No dice. I've heard I should change out my pump for something that bubbles on its own. Any ideas? Really frustrating!

 

[zachts]

Ehiem 1260 was the ticket for me. I've got it now dialed in to produce a 1/4 inch of coffee looking skimate in the bottom of my gallon jug each week, but can have it cranked up to skim off a gallon a week of thin yellow looking water if I wanted, or anywhere in between. I'ts simply a vastly superior pump for pressurized use which subsequently justifies the higher price tag, but it's worth it for me as I couldn't fit many other skimmers in my sump.

 

[yangabanga]

ok so actually I use a 1260 for my sump return and a mag 7 for the skimmer. this w/e I'll swap em and see if I can make the skimmer hum. also did I read right that you have an intake into the eheim somewhere? right now I have nothing going into the ev120 other than the water intake.