AquaC CLUB!

[CaptainCoral]

So I guess I can't do anything else with the skimmer for improvement?

There is always something that can be done, and many ways to skin a cat. Let's keep our chins up.

Being in a position to control all possible variables is very important for the best performance. This means using a pump that can be turned down if needed, and even AquaC recommends if you use a larger pump, you should use a gate valve on the pump. However, this also allows the user to see what could be done with whichever larger pump, if they exercised certain other variables in the equation without turning down the pump. The largest benefit is that you can get the same amount or more air as the recommended pump with the air choked harder leading to smaller bubbles and darker skimmate. The harder you drive the skimmer, the harder the air valve is to deal with. It is rather inefficient in it's application, and a good gate valve would be far more effective.

Don't give up before aligning the variables to suit your needs. It's a good position to be in to have all of them to choose from.

 

[CaptainCoral]

chopsuey....

That's the (roughly) position of the air valve my ev models usually end up. Pointing strait up is maximum air (short of removing the valve) and all the way down is off. Choking it that hard with a AquaC recommended pump will lead to gating the skimmers exit flow to get the skimmate to the cup. It will also lead to less skimmate than a larger than recommended pump and why some don't choke it so hard. Which pump and skimmer are you using?

 

[chopsuey]

I have the EV180 with a Rio 3100. And I have turned the blue valve both all the way up and all the way down. neither seem to have any effect on the the production of air/bubbles. I do have the gate valve all the way open. It seems like if I start to close it and let the bubbles rise into the clear lift tube the bubbling seems to die off and I'm left with just the water level raising. I have had it going on 3 weeks so it should be good and broke in. So far I have not gotten more than 3/4" of skimmite. What am I doing wrong at this point.

 

[OliverM3]

chopsuey,
The rio is the same GPH as my Eheim.
I run the pump wide open and choke off the air valve till I have the smallest bubbles I can get in the throat.
Also my gate exit valve is I think 3/4 to one full turn closed.

I try to shoot for this and then leave it:

Once left alone it starts to look like this:

It drove me nuts for the first 2 or 3 weeks but I think I've really got the hang of it now. I can get the skimmate exactly how I want it.
There’s some more shots of my sump in my gallery.

I've since marked everything with whiteout so that if I ever feel like playing with the settings I can quickly go back.

 

[ScottL4619]

Oliver, why do you have a weight on top of your collection cup?

 

[OliverM3]

Paranoid I guess and to minimize salt creep.
easy enough to keep a 5lb weight on there.

 

[chris4869]

I thought your skimmer is working out.

 

[ScottL4619]

Does the weight help prevent salt creep where the riser and collection cup meet, or down around where the riser comes out of the mixing box or both?

 

[OliverM3]

where the riser and collection cup meet.

my mixing box to riser is sealed.

If yours is getting salt creep at the mixing box you could probably just use some aquarium glue or acrylic glue to seal it.

 

[ScottL4619]

I have the EV150, and I don't think they sealed the area around the connection of the mixing box and riser, so I do get a ton of salt creep through that little crack. Maybe I will try to seal it off, I suspect it is harder to dial in the air supply with that problem.

I do not get any salt creep where the riser and collection cup meet, but I also do not have a gasket there like I have heard some people say. I have often wondered if there is air leaking from there that affects how the foam rises. It would seem that the design would work better if 100% of the airflow through the skimmer went all the way up to the top and out of the collection cup as opposed to leaking in between the two pieces.

 

[OliverM3]

Yeah I would think it would be easier to control if it were sealed.

I wonder if a waste container shutoff would even work in a flood situation? Since air is allowed to escape at the riser.

I have the gasket on my 180 but when I skim wet I was still getting a little salt creep.

 

[ScottL4619]

I don't think the waste container shutoff would work at all if any air is leaking out. I have 3 holes in the top of my collection cup also, so I would have to seal those and also seal (tightly) where the collection cup and riser meet.

 

[pangea]

My ev120 stops foaming [shuts down] when the waste container water hits the bottom of the cup drain hose. Waste container is open "bucket" and not sealed, but enough back pressure to shut down foam production IME.

 

[ScottL4619]

Ha, when you said that I thought to myself "my skimmer shuts down on its own at least 2 days for every 7. Drives me nuts. Nothing changes in the water or the house, and the foam just collapses for days at a time. It's kind of stupid actually. Anyone else have this problem? I never seem to get more than 4 or 5 consecutive days out of this thing. And, it's not when I put food in either. I can put my hand in the tank, or feed and it will continue working just fine. But, I'll come home from work randomly and it just won't be working. And then, a couple of days later, I'll come home and it will be cranking. I really don't get it

 

[CaptainCoral]

Shape.... Did you order that gate valve from McMaster-Carr? I may order one as well, just to find out if fine tuning the air intake is easier.

Pangea.... I may end up modifying the cup drain fitting on my ev180 since I'm running a mag12 through it to keep it from clogging with dry foam so easily.

Scott... There may be some chemical reactions taking place in the tank itself causing that reaction. (I know when anemones get killed in powerheads the skimmer shuts down), but this is just speculation and I agree it is a curious situation. Maybe the tank has too little to skim, but then, I guess it shouldn't appear to be shut down, just not producing much.

 

[CaptainCoral]

Ok, I'm going to try to lay off the posts for a while. I do like to help, and have too much spare time on my hands, but I don't want to feel overbearing.

Feel free to pm me folks, if you wish.

 

[pelochas]

i got a eheim 1262. move my mag 5 out.
problem 1, eheim a bit larger and would not fit in the sump where the mag 5 was with the aquac ev150. so i had to move the eheim to the pump section where the return pump is at. i dont see a problem since the skimmer is in the skimmer section of the sump which is always at a constant level.
problem 2, eheim pump puts way too much flow, the gate valve is wide open as before but the water level is still up there in the skimmer. see pic below where the air valve is completly closed to see where the water level is at a fully open gate valve

problem 3, the pump puts too much flow that now my baffles are water falls.

should i add a piece of the squared screen to raise the skimmer so that the water level be where it needs to be?

or buy a valve to reduce the flow, which will lower the water level and stop that water fall effect of my baffels?

 

[chris4869]

You might need to do both.

The Eheim 1262 might be too much for your EV150. I use the Eheim 1262 for my EV180 and I had to install a ball valve to throttle back the flow.

I see that your exit valve is submerged under water in the second picture. It'll affect the skimmer's performance. Raising it won't lower the water level in the skimmer, but it'll reduce the back pressure from the exit valve.

 

[pelochas]

when i had a mag 5 on this, it was right under the gate valve. i did pretty good skimming, every two-three days i had to clean the cup and the neck area so that i will skim some more. the gate valve was still under water and it had no effect on its skimming performance.

i know my skimmer pretty well but this increase of flow but everything out of order. right now it still skims some gunk out but its nothing like before. the air bubbles are just too big. i tried my best to get the smallest air openning to get the tiniest bubbles but the flow is just making it really difficult.

im going to just try the ball valve since its definately going to reduce the flow and hopefully lower the water level in the neck area. its too much flow now and its backing up the water in the skimmer.

the ev150 is the same size as the ev180, its just a different design before the newer improved model ev180 replaced the ev150.

 

[chris4869]

You're right. The EV150 was replaced by the EV180. For some reason I was thinking of the EV120. I think it was the smaller foam tower.

I ran my skimmer with the (exit) gate valve submerged under water for a while too. I got better performance when I raised it above the water, but at the time I was willing to sacrafice a little performace for a little less splashing.

The ball valve will definately help you though. :strooper: