AquaC CLUB!
- Thread starter JohnL
- Start date
TheMorayMan
New member
yea i had it put on, i have my CA Reactor hooked up through it
TheMorayMan
New member
i took off my gate valve and now adjust it throught the air valve, works better, that stupid elbow created too much backpressure, i mite jus directly silicone the gate valve to the skimmer, because with the little nipple attachment, it wont fit
JenDub
In Memoriam
I'm a little confused as to what the advantages of having a large foam tower are. Seems like the foam should be skimmed out asap rather than letting it stand in the chamber and risking a foam collapse when you touch the tank.
I'm still hoping my skimmer will produce something, my euroreef has pulled another pitcher in the meantime.
Is this a skimmer for people who don't put hands in their water much? Maybe it was the wrong choice for a working tank...
I'm still hoping my skimmer will produce something, my euroreef has pulled another pitcher in the meantime.
Is this a skimmer for people who don't put hands in their water much? Maybe it was the wrong choice for a working tank...
Well, the 1" injector has definitely helped matters.
I now have a Mag 7 being fed by a 1/2" input. The output is 1/2" on the pump, but gets stepped up to a 1" hose barb. This feeds a 1" flexible plastic hose that goes directly to the EV120 skimmer.
Now the bubbles start getting bigger higher in the tower than before. But it still doesn't seem to be skimming as well as I had hoped.
I think my next step may be to upgrade the pump inlet from 1/2" to 3/4". There is one right angle on my pump's inlet, and upping that to 3/4" may provide the boost it needs.
After that, I may upgrade the bulkhead in my sump to 3/4" (which I would have to do before upgrading the pump, anyway). That is going to be a major, pain, of course, since the sump is glass.
I now have a Mag 7 being fed by a 1/2" input. The output is 1/2" on the pump, but gets stepped up to a 1" hose barb. This feeds a 1" flexible plastic hose that goes directly to the EV120 skimmer.
Now the bubbles start getting bigger higher in the tower than before. But it still doesn't seem to be skimming as well as I had hoped.
I think my next step may be to upgrade the pump inlet from 1/2" to 3/4". There is one right angle on my pump's inlet, and upping that to 3/4" may provide the boost it needs.
After that, I may upgrade the bulkhead in my sump to 3/4" (which I would have to do before upgrading the pump, anyway). That is going to be a major, pain, of course, since the sump is glass.
chris4869
New member
My thought exactly. I find that if you have a larger foam tower, you'll get a dryer skimmate, but you also risk having it collapse back into the water. Your Euroreef foam doesn't callapse when you put your hand in the tank?
I've been running my EV-180 with the water level set to 1 inch below the collection cup, and I'm really happy with the result. There's only 1 inch of foam space before it gets blown into the collection cup. The foam tower is now being used to increase the bubbles and water contact time. I was able to restrict the intake air even further to get smaller bubbles. I've tried it before when the water level was set at the top of the black box, and it hinder the foam production. The only difference between now and then is the 1 inch injector.
I ended up doing this with the largest most gradual 3/4" elbow I could find. I ported all of the 1/2" connections out with my dremel to get more flow. I even made the 3/4" pipe in the system taper to avoid turbulence (must be the car guy in me). And I made sure that I got rid of any PVC cement that had squeezed into the water flow area.
As soon as I turned it on, I saw it was different. The bubbles were already halfway up the chamber within minutes.
Now it is skimming VERY WELL!
The small bubbles go almost all the way up the main cylinder. I'm finally skimming wet with this thing!
So the 1/2" right angle PVC pipe I had on the inlet of the pump was restricting it big time.
JenDub
In Memoriam
Hi Guys,
Well I spoke with Jason at RAP and told him the issue I was having with putting my hands in the tank too much. He recommended that I set the water column at 3" up the neck and then add air. So far this looks pretty promising as the skimmer has started to pull gunk out.
I think I', gonna turn my 120 into an sps tank and put this skimmer on there, I've never seen the water in that tank as crystal clear as it was when I was running this skimmer!
BTW- Have you guys seen the new square AquaC Calcium reactor? It is AWESOME!!!!!!!!!! Screw on lid & reverse flow and it has a small footprint & short hieght so it can fit anywhere. The square makes it hold the same amount of media as a reactor double the height. This will definitely be my next purchase!
Well I spoke with Jason at RAP and told him the issue I was having with putting my hands in the tank too much. He recommended that I set the water column at 3" up the neck and then add air. So far this looks pretty promising as the skimmer has started to pull gunk out.
I think I', gonna turn my 120 into an sps tank and put this skimmer on there, I've never seen the water in that tank as crystal clear as it was when I was running this skimmer!
BTW- Have you guys seen the new square AquaC Calcium reactor? It is AWESOME!!!!!!!!!! Screw on lid & reverse flow and it has a small footprint & short hieght so it can fit anywhere. The square makes it hold the same amount of media as a reactor double the height. This will definitely be my next purchase!
Pacific Reefs
New member
I will have to check out that calcium reactor...didn't know Aqua C made one.
OliverM3
New member
I have to say I was spoiled with my remora's.
Just adjust the collection cup to the desired skimmate and you're done. Even with a larger pump all you needed to adjust was the cup level.
The Ev-180 is a whole different animal.
Most of the problem is probably my fault.
I've only had it running for maybe a week 1/2 and I've already tried my Mag 7, 9.5 and Ehiem 1262 on it.
So far I think I like the wide open 1262 the best.
I've been controlling the skimmate with the air valve.
I just got it dialed in last night and this morning I have about 2" in my 5L waste container.
Just adjust the collection cup to the desired skimmate and you're done. Even with a larger pump all you needed to adjust was the cup level.
The Ev-180 is a whole different animal.
Most of the problem is probably my fault.
I've only had it running for maybe a week 1/2 and I've already tried my Mag 7, 9.5 and Ehiem 1262 on it.
So far I think I like the wide open 1262 the best.
I've been controlling the skimmate with the air valve.
I just got it dialed in last night and this morning I have about 2" in my 5L waste container.
What do you guys use for modified air valves?
The airflow is so touchy with the ball valve. The line between skimming WAY too wet and not skimming at all is so fine that it is really hard to get it perfect.
I had it too wet one afternoon, and it filled a half gallon jug with clear water. Then I just barely touched the air valve, and the next morning, the bubbles were only 2/3 up the tower.
It seems as though a gate valve would work better. But gate valves are still made to control water. There has to be an air valve out there that would work perfectly.
The airflow is so touchy with the ball valve. The line between skimming WAY too wet and not skimming at all is so fine that it is really hard to get it perfect.
I had it too wet one afternoon, and it filled a half gallon jug with clear water. Then I just barely touched the air valve, and the next morning, the bubbles were only 2/3 up the tower.
It seems as though a gate valve would work better. But gate valves are still made to control water. There has to be an air valve out there that would work perfectly.
Hey all!
I have owned an AquaC EV-180 for about 1 year. I had been running it with a Mag 7 and gate valve on the skimmer output for about a year with what I felt were inadequate amounts of skim.
After reading through this thread I opted to put a bigger pump on the skimmer and chose the Eheim 1262. I have the 1" output on the pump that runs in 1" tubing to a hosebarb hooked up to a 3/4" ball valve. From there it reduces to a 3/4 tube to hook up with the skimmer.
I also changed the skimmer output by removing the gate valve and added a peice of straight vinyl tube to cut backpressure down.
When I run the pump wide open the water level in the tube goes up about 3". It has tons of tiny bubbles in it I would like to run the pump wide open if possible. Does anyone have any suggestions on what I could do to achieve this?
When I dial the ball valve back so the water level is at the top of the black box and adjust the air intake to produce bubble I get no skimmate at all.
Any help you geniuses could provide would be greatly appreciate.
Thanks!
Heres a couple of pictures...
Plumbing.
Water level at the top of the black box.
Pump wide open and air dialed in to make fine bubbles. Its hard to see but there is a discernable line in which you can see the water level a little bit. (Notice the super wet skim that it pushed through)
I have owned an AquaC EV-180 for about 1 year. I had been running it with a Mag 7 and gate valve on the skimmer output for about a year with what I felt were inadequate amounts of skim.
After reading through this thread I opted to put a bigger pump on the skimmer and chose the Eheim 1262. I have the 1" output on the pump that runs in 1" tubing to a hosebarb hooked up to a 3/4" ball valve. From there it reduces to a 3/4 tube to hook up with the skimmer.
I also changed the skimmer output by removing the gate valve and added a peice of straight vinyl tube to cut backpressure down.
When I run the pump wide open the water level in the tube goes up about 3". It has tons of tiny bubbles in it I would like to run the pump wide open if possible. Does anyone have any suggestions on what I could do to achieve this?
When I dial the ball valve back so the water level is at the top of the black box and adjust the air intake to produce bubble I get no skimmate at all.
Any help you geniuses could provide would be greatly appreciate.
Thanks!
Heres a couple of pictures...
Plumbing.
Water level at the top of the black box.
Pump wide open and air dialed in to make fine bubbles. Its hard to see but there is a discernable line in which you can see the water level a little bit. (Notice the super wet skim that it pushed through)
Your skimmate jar looks like it has an issue. Air can get into the jar through the tube, but it can't easily get out. You need another hole in the jar at least as large as the tube that goes into the jar. Your tube is blocking almost the entire opening. Though perhaps it is just an illusion of the picture.
Also, if you aren't getting any skimmate, and your water level is good, I'd give it a little more air.
Also, if you aren't getting any skimmate, and your water level is good, I'd give it a little more air.
OliverM3
New member
It looks like the foam is at the top of the box but not the water level.
I left my gate valve on so that I could get my water level up to the top of the box.
I'm running the 1262 but a 3/4 hose.
and i'm running the 1262 wide open and just adjusting the air valve and water level.
I left my gate valve on so that I could get my water level up to the top of the box.
I'm running the 1262 but a 3/4 hose.
and i'm running the 1262 wide open and just adjusting the air valve and water level.
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10597239#post10597239 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by OliverM3
It looks like the foam is at the top of the box but not the water level.
I left my gate valve on so that I could get my water level up to the top of the box.
I'm running the 1262 but a 3/4 hose.
and i'm running the 1262 wide open and just adjusting the air valve and water level.
Problem for me is that the water level is too high. Even with the gate valve on it was to high. I will move the waste jar and see what affect that has.
I run a 180 with a mag 9 wide open. I have no valve on my skimmer, I let the water level run where it will. I then adjust the skimmate with the air valve. I try to get the bubbles high enough so the gunk builds up in the cup portion instead of the tower part. When the air valve is all the way open I know I need to clean the injector or the pump. Wish you the best of luck.
OliverM3
New member
It really is a pain to get it going.
What I did was adjust the air and water level so that the foam was in the middle of the riser with the smallest bubbles I could get. Then I left it for a day.
You can tell that you need to leave it alone if at 1/2 way up it's not creeping up the sides of the riser.
Once it kicked in the foam was filling the riser so I just adjusted the water level and air to give me about 1" or so space before it hits the collection cup.
I really need to replace the air ball valve with a gate valve. Like someone had suggested.
It's just to touchy to get the air just right.
What I did was adjust the air and water level so that the foam was in the middle of the riser with the smallest bubbles I could get. Then I left it for a day.
You can tell that you need to leave it alone if at 1/2 way up it's not creeping up the sides of the riser.
Once it kicked in the foam was filling the riser so I just adjusted the water level and air to give me about 1" or so space before it hits the collection cup.
I really need to replace the air ball valve with a gate valve. Like someone had suggested.
It's just to touchy to get the air just right.
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