AquaC CLUB!

Well, I swapped out my factory original 3/4 inch inlet nozzle for the new 1" inlet nozzle. Visually, WOW, what a difference in cross section for the waterflow. In action I see noticably more water flowing out of the proteinskimmer.

Still too early to say how much improvement in skimming I'll get. I just cleaned and emptied the collection cup and overflow container, so I'll keep track this week.

I'm running with an underpowered pump on my EV-240: a Iwaki 30RLT, the john guest is currently unplugged, and my airvalve is wide open. I'm going to try plugging the valve and reducing airflow to see if it makes any difference in bubble size. Early indications are NO.
 
"leave it be" should be the tag line for these skimmers. once a nice slim coat is on them they run house. i have not touched a dial on my ev180 with mag 9.5 pump for 2 months. i have a 2.5gal collection jug that i empty once a month. this is run on a 150g system.

101_0254.jpg
 
Well, I swapped out my factory original 3/4 inch inlet nozzle for the new 1" inlet nozzle. Visually, WOW, what a difference in cross section for the waterflow. In action I see noticably more water flowing out of the proteinskimmer.

Can I do this with my AquaC EV-120 or is it not recommended?
 
I believe that Greg came up with the 1" injector because his pump had a one inch diameter feed hose. I think the idea was increase the flow and pressure right at the injectors clover, rather than crimp the hose inches before the clover with reducer fittings to fit the 3/4 barb, and the barb itself. I've only used pumps with 3/4" connections (with the exception of the Eheim pumps which are very near metric equivalents), so I've never tried the 1" injector.

If you get smaller bubbles, darker and more skimmate, you're golden! If it increases the size of the bubbles, I'd switch back.
Let us know how it works out.
 
Well, after several weeks of playing around switching back and forth between the original air valve and a gate valve in it's place, I've come to the conclusion that the gate works better for fine tuning the airflow. I can only assume that a needle valve would work even better. That is, until it arrives and I get to test it out. :D



Here is the valve that I ordered. (the image on their website incorrectly shows mnpt x mnpt. I confirmed this through e-mail.) I couldn't find one that screws into the 5/8" npt on the mixing box, but that's ok. I have a 5/8" mnpt x 1/2" barb from Menards that fits and the ID of a 1/2" barb is the same size as the ID of the original air valve. I will also be adding a gravity fed purified water tube to the air intake with a little john guest valve to manually add small amounts of water each night to keep the calcium build up from forming where the air valve meets the box. With any luck, it will rarely need removing to check for build up or to clean it out.

Also, I'll mention that I removed the ev180 and hooked the ev400 back up. I'll have some updates for you all sometime next week.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11785132#post11785132 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by CaptainCoral
I've only used pumps with 3/4" connections (with the exception of the Eheim pumps which are very near metric equivalents), so I've never tried the 1" injector.
Click to expand...

I've got a 3/4 inch pump output, but stepped it up with a reducer fitting (in reverse) to a 1 inch nozzle. Because I now have a 1 inch pipe leading to the skimmer, and the 1 inch elbow on the 1 inch injector nozzle I get a noticeable improvement in flow.

My bubbles appear to be smaller now (at least in my head/memory), although at the time I made the mod I also raised the water level from about 1 inch below the internal platform to the top of the skimmer box (just below the visible column).

The foam rises up about halfway in my skimmer column before they begin to pop/merge. Again, keep in mind that I'm using a pump that is smaller than recommended (Iwaki 30RLT vs. the recommended 40RLT). I suspect the bubbles would go higher before popping/merging if I had a bigger pump.
 
"Aqua C club"....how sweet is that, what luck.

Hi everyone, I just bought 2 remora pros, w/mag III, and drain fittings. I rinsed out one got it all set-up, plugged in, and this thing is foaming like crazy. The skimmate is very thin, and produceing a massive amont of water. If I didnt have the drain fitting with a hose running down to a 1 gallon jug, my livingroom would be underwater. Is this normal, and part of the break-in period? I thought it might be my S.G. I keep-it at .019 I went ahead and raised it to .020 just now and it's calmed down a bit. I will continue to raise it 1-2 point's per day until I hit .024?????

I was also wondering if it could be caused by oil residue left-over from the manufacturing process???

Thanks for your help
 
Oppps, almost forgot, I also added a Aqua clear 500. It's a used unit, but I added new foam, carbon, and bio-media.

I'm not sure if carbon would have anything too do with it? I used a brand new spone too clean, but it seems like everytime you open a new sponge package it has a little soap, or some other foaming chemical in it. I did rinse it, but it was foaming a little, little, bit during the cleaning.

Help please... :eek:
 
Hi everyone, I just bought 2 remora pros, w/mag III, and drain fittings. I rinsed out one got it all set-up, plugged in, and this thing is foaming like crazy. The skimmate is very thin, and produceing a massive amont of water. If I didnt have the drain fitting with a hose running down to a 1 gallon jug, my livingroom would be underwater. Is this normal, and part of the break-in period? I thought it might be my S.G. I keep-it at .019 I went ahead and raised it to .020 just now and it's calmed down a bit. I will continue to raise it 1-2 point's per day until I hit .024?????
I was also wondering if it could be caused by oil residue left-over from the manufacturing process???
Click to expand...

It is normal to have a break in period, however, usually it produces nothing for a couple to a few days and then does the flooding thing. It is the oil residue left over from the manufacturing process that causes the break in period. So I would guess it is something else causing the flooding immediately upon start-up. Chemiclean will cause results like that, have you used it lately? About the salinity causing runny skimmate, I don't know, but I have aways heard that natural seawater concentrations produce the best skimming results.
My hunch is that your hunch about the sponge is the culprit.

Good luck, and let us know how things work out.

BTW, welcome to Reef Central and to the AquaC club. :)
 
When I moved my EV-180 to my new system I soaked the skimmer in Vinegar for a few hours, connected it to the new system with the Mag 9.5, the skimmer took 5 days to break in, It was constant fiddle, like everyone mentions, the skimmer needs the "slime coat" to revive it, I just wiped down the reaction chamber every 2 days because there was residue just no foam would start, just make small adjustments and keep the water line where the clear reaction chamber meets the black box, I never run my air wide open I crank it back to about 60% closed. Now that its set I never have to mess with the air adjustment or the gate, it runs awsome, but I do have the problem of my air input collecting a salt residue that clogs it and i have to clean it out weekly to keep my skimmer 100%, I run my skimmer external out of the sump and have the stock 3/4 injector, so anyone with a new skimmer just take your time and it will be worth the wait you really learn alot about the skimmer during setup then you can fine tune it once you understand
 
Well, my needle valve arrived. :bounce3:
Although it is equipped with 1/2" barbs, the inside diameter is smaller than a normal 1/2" barb (which is the same size as the inside of the stock air valve). So I did this so I can still benefit from it.

10.jpg


This valve should widen the sweet spot greatly due to the precise dialing capabilities and likely allow me to find a spot I couldn't even get to with the original valve. Next I'll be figuring out a way to feed fresh water to the air intakes to keep calcium build-up from forming at the base of the box. This will be even more crucial now that the ozone hole will be calcifying as well.

BTW, it is all still hooked up to the 3/4" spa flex tube I have running out the window to the chill Chicago land fresh air. ;)
 
"It is normal to have a break in period, however, usually it produces nothing for a couple to a few days and then does the flooding thing. It is the oil residue left over from the manufacturing process that causes the break in period. So I would guess it is something else causing the flooding immediately upon start-up. Chemiclean will cause results like that, have you used it lately? About the salinity causing runny skimmate, I don't know, but I have aways heard that natural seawater concentrations produce the best skimming results.
My hunch is that your hunch about the sponge is the culprit.

Good luck, and let us know how things work out.

BTW, welcome to Reef Central and to the AquaC club."

Thanks for the welcome, and the response :)
After 24hrs the first one has mellowed-out some. Its gone from puking-up a gallon of water every 1hr-1 1/2hrs too 1gal in a little less than 24hrs. So I went on ahead, and set-up the other one on another tank. 12hrs. later NOTHING/EL ZIPPO not one freaking once of foam in the catch cup. However, thank you for the heads-up on the goes a few days then floods warning. I put the one gallon jug in a 5 gallon bucket, just in case. I haven't put any chemicals at all in the tank, and I think your right about left over oil from manufacturing/sponge as my culprits.

The good news, you might ask? I spoke too the guys at Aqua C, and they said "If they don't start working right, send it/them back, and we WILL replace them" Now that's what I call good business.

I will keep you guys posted, Pat
 
Ok so now that I have finally got my pump sizing issues and the right injector my Ev-1000 pushed by a Blueline HD-70 with a 1" injector is running great.

The problem I have is when I feed twice a week or so it shuts down like it should but when it kicks back in it just goes nuts. I have to back the air and gate valve way off then readjust. This is time consuming and a pain in the rear. Is this normal? What can I do to change this? Tim
 
I would set it where I like it when it's going nuts after a feeding recovery, and then leave it be. Maybe it will skim fine between feedings without adjusting it.
 
I would do that but right now I have drian going back into the sump, if I did not I would 20+ gallons of water because of it. This is where the real problem is.
 
I would set the drain to empty to a 5 gal bucket. Then I would set it (when it's flooding) to skim dry (or wetter if you like, but the point being, that it isn't ever set to flood). Then I wouldn't touch it. The Idea is to "tune" it when it's "kicked in". Raising the water line, and or increasing the air when it isn't kicked in, will result in it flooding when it does. The constant fiddling is a viscous circle.
 
TIMMYE, did that help out any? Am I still not understanding?

Well, the results are in on the new needle valve.
It's all I had hoped it would be. Far more precise dialing than the ball valve. (hint to AquaC) Hopefully one can be found that is the correct inside diameter and proper thread size, and won't hit the foam tower screwing in. That would better serve the ev120 and ev180 users, who probably would gain the most from the valve. Gone is the tendency while adjusting the air to go from dry...nothing gets to the cup, to all out wet skim tank drainage. If you have an unused john guest fitting on your box and you're having troubles fighting the air ball valve, I highly recommend this valve. It's only $8.95.

Here's the ev400 all tuned in with a day and a half of skimmate. Maybe a couple tablespoons in the collection jar, nothing worth photographing.

20.jpg

It's much easier to find that dry spot I like. I'll draw a dash with a sharpie on the valve where I like it, so I can get back to this spot instantly.
 
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