BB skimmer help,.....

[Wiskey]

Ok, I currently have a 50 gallon BB tank, although my nitrates are 5-10 my phospate is undetectable.

I blame the nitrates on my skimmer, I have a turbofloater 1000 in sump model with the ocean runner pump. I was talking to sombody about this problem and he said that I am not giving my skimmer a chance, I need at least a 2 min dwell time, (means less than 1 gallon per MIN passed throught the skimmer) I tried that and my nitrates went up.

He said beckett skimmers are a bad design because of the power draw, and bad contact time. But most people with great BB tanks run them?,...

Could somebody please tell me if I NEED a bekett skimmer to make this tank work? (I won't buy one right away but I will put it on the top of the list)

Keep in mind, I am only overflowing 600gph right now (and my overflow is maxed), so what ever skimmer I buy must to process less than that.

Thanks,
Whiskey

 

[J_Geisinger000]

Im running my 90 gall bb with an asm g-3 and its working great for me
nitrates 0
nitrites 0
ammonia 0

There is a variaty of skimmers you could get to work

 

[thereefmaster]

That turboflotor is a great skimmer. Maybe someone whohas one will chime in.

-Nate

 

[Wiskey]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6675247#post6675247 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by thereefmaster
That turboflotor is a great skimmer. Maybe someone whohas one will chime in.

-Nate

By diffrent people I have been told diffrent things, I have heard that the turbofloater is the best skimmer out there, and I have also been told that it is worse than a seaclone,.... Now I don't know what to beleave,.....

Thanks for your replys,
Whiskey

 

[NoSchwag]

Re: BB skimmer help,.....

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6675024#post6675024 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Wiskey
I was talking to sombody about this problem and he said that I am not giving my skimmer a chance, I need at least a 2 min dwell time, (means less than 1 gallon per MIN passed throught the skimmer) I tried that and my nitrates went up.

LOL, you should talk to different people. Correct me if I'm wrong but when people talk about dwell time, they are talking about the time it takes to remove dissolved things. I have about a 10 sec dwell time and my tank stays very very clean. The clean bubbles in my skimmer removes things better than dirty bubbles.

He said beckett skimmers are a bad design because of the power draw, and bad contact time. But most people with great BB tanks run them?,...

Tell that to my salifert test kits.. My tank stays particle free and my nitrates hover around .02 without anything but a skimmer (and a uv) Let me ask you, does the person who said that run one of those great BB tanks? I will agree, they are not power or noise friendly, but power and noise were 2 things I was willing to give up for a clean tank.

Could somebody please tell me if I NEED a bekett skimmer to make this tank work? (I won't buy one right away but I will put it on the top of the list)

I think needing a becket skimmer depends on what you want to keep. I think there are people who make BB tanks work without becket skimmer.

I personally couldn't make mine work without one.

I can tell you this, your water will be much cleaner if you use a becket skimmer correclty.

 

[clkwrk]

Most BB tanks I know of have needle wheel skimmers . Actually the majority IMO. Including mine and I think I am sucessful with BB without a doubt.

A turbo floater isn't a bad skimmer at all . I have own both the t1000 and the multi . Both can work awesome if dialed in right.

Which model do you have?

Also are you sure nitrates aren't coming from detritus settleing in the sump or around rubble rock ?

Also I doubt your po4 is 0 also . Especially if you are relying on salifert for an accurate low range reading .

 

[MiddletonMark]

What's your fish stocking?
[always ask, when nutrient levels come up ...]

IMO, I'd work with the skimmer you got.

I might really like my beckett, but noise + efficiency as mentioned before aren't it's high points. Then again, I'll take a noisy, powerhog reef if it looks good

I'm sure you can run with different skimmers - key IMO is getting the skimmer to work great for you. Find folks who have had luck with this skimmer - and ignore those who find it bad [doubt they got it working, maybe their prob with the skimmer was the person running it ].

A new skimmer might be good, might work better for you and your skimmer-tweaking. Seems like some folks can get any skimmer working well, some seem to have luck with only certain ones.

 

[Wiskey]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6678107#post6678107 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by clkwrk
Most BB tanks I know of have needle wheel skimmers . Actually the majority IMO. Including mine and I think I am sucessful with BB without a doubt.

A turbo floater isn't a bad skimmer at all . I have own both the t1000 and the multi . Both can work awesome if dialed in right.

Which model do you have?

I have the turbofloater 1000, in sump model, and have upgraded it to the ocean runner 2700 pump. It is fed by a quiet one pump, dialed back to run about 100GPH through it right now.

Also are you sure nitrates aren't coming from detritus settleing in the sump or around rubble rock ?

No, but I syphon this weekly with my 7 gallon water change, and blast off my lr at least twice per week.

Also I doubt your po4 is 0 also . Especially if you are relying on salifert for an accurate low range reading .

I am using a salifert test kit, but I said undetectable not 0 . I am sure I have PO4 but I can't monitor how these levels have changed due to the range of the kit.

Any help on setting up this skimmer would be greatly appreated, I had it running 300GPH through it and the air dialed back with a needle valve, and Skip said this was a really bad way to set this up. He said I need to run the air full open and turn the water back as much as nessessary to make that happen (so the skimmer does not overflow).

Thanks,
Whiskey

 

[Wiskey]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6678202#post6678202 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by MiddletonMark
What's your fish stocking?
[always ask, when nutrient levels come up ...]

IMO, I'd work with the skimmer you got.

I might really like my beckett, but noise + efficiency as mentioned before aren't it's high points. Then again, I'll take a noisy, powerhog reef if it looks good

I'm sure you can run with different skimmers - key IMO is getting the skimmer to work great for you. Find folks who have had luck with this skimmer - and ignore those who find it bad [doubt they got it working, maybe their prob with the skimmer was the person running it ].

A new skimmer might be good, might work better for you and your skimmer-tweaking. Seems like some folks can get any skimmer working well, some seem to have luck with only certain ones.

My fish stalking is 1 false perc, 1 yellow tang, and one 6-line wrasse in a 4 foot 50 gallon tank, I also have a 10 gal sump, and I have about 50-60 LBS of LR.

Do you have any suggestions to start with the skimmer tweeking? It is not really pulling out particulats, although it is skimming wet.

Thanks,
Whiskey

 

[Wiskey]

Re: Re: BB skimmer help,.....

Re: Re: BB skimmer help,.....

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6677297#post6677297 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by NoSchwag
LOL, you should talk to different people. Correct me if I'm wrong but when people talk about dwell time, they are talking about the time it takes to remove dissolved things. I have about a 10 sec dwell time and my tank stays very very clean. The clean bubbles in my skimmer removes things better than dirty bubbles.



Tell that to my salifert test kits.. My tank stays particle free and my nitrates hover around .02 without anything but a skimmer (and a uv) Let me ask you, does the person who said that run one of those great BB tanks? I will agree, they are not power or noise friendly, but power and noise were 2 things I was willing to give up for a clean tank.



I think needing a becket skimmer depends on what you want to keep. I think there are people who make BB tanks work without becket skimmer.

I personally couldn't make mine work without one.

I can tell you this, your water will be much cleaner if you use a becket skimmer correclty.

Thanks for your opinion, I would like to keep getting a bekett a last resort, because it would cost about $22 per month to run the pump that feeds the bullet 2, and I would have to buy a new tank, or tear mine down and redrill it because my overflows are not capable of overflowing as much water as that skimmer can process. Which means a new stand, hood and other equiptment.

The person I was talking to runs a DSB tank, so his goals in skimming may be diffrent than mine. He didn't compair the turbofloater to a seaclone, he compaired it to a berlin, but somebody online had made the comparison to a seaclone.

Thanks,
Whiskey

 

[MiddletonMark]

Never ran a turbofloater, so can't help tweaking.

This won't be popular ... but any chance on finding another home for the Tang? That's quite a big poop machine for only 50 gallons ... a lot of bioload IMO.

 

[SeanT]

Re: BB skimmer help,.....

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6675024#post6675024 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Wiskey
Could somebody please tell me if I NEED a bekett skimmer to make this tank work?

You don't need a beckett skimmer.
I don't use one.
They are beasts but do use a lot of power and require more maintenance.

Sean

 

[Wiskey]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6678419#post6678419 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by MiddletonMark
Never ran a turbofloater, so can't help tweaking.

This won't be popular ... but any chance on finding another home for the Tang? That's quite a big poop machine for only 50 gallons ... a lot of bioload IMO.

I know, I literly saved him from an old neighbor's toilet, had it been my choice I would not have bought one, but now I really like him. I would just hate to give him back to an LFS because I have had him for years, but if a friend with a bigger tank wanted him, I would probably give him away.

Whiskey

 

[Wiskey]

Re: Re: BB skimmer help,.....

Re: Re: BB skimmer help,.....

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6678431#post6678431 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by SeanT
You don't need a beckett skimmer.
I don't use one.
They are beasts but do use a lot of power and require more maintenance.

Sean

Could I ask what kind of skimmer you do use?

Clkwrk what kind of skimmer do you currently use?

Mark and Noschwag, I know what you use.

Thanks,
Whiskey

 

[SeanT]

Deltec AP-702, needlewheel.

 

[Wiskey]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6678694#post6678694 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by SeanT
Deltec AP-702, needlewheel.

I looked that up, that is quite the skimmer.

Does it take out perticulate deatris? Do you set it so the bubbles are poping at the top of the uplift tube in the cup? Are you able to do that without it overflowing?

Thanks,
Whiskey

 

[SeanT]

Yes, it takes out particulate detritus.
You have the ability to control bubble size with these skimmers by opening/closing the air valves.
By "poping at the top of the uplift tube" are you asking if I wet skim? If so the answer is yes.
And after getting it dialed in I have no overflow problems.

Sean

 

[Weatherman]

If you want an energy-efficient skimmer, EuroReef is another good choice. I have an old ES5-3 on my 180. I think EuroReef came out with new model numbers, so I'm not sure what an equivalent model is now.

About the only modifications I had to make were adding some PVC extensions to the output riser pipe to make the skimmer skim wet and drill a hole in the collection cup to add a drain. It does a very good job in producing about 1/2 gallon of skimmate a day.

I got a new Salifert nitrate test kit this past weekend (haven't bought a new nitrate test kit in years). The test water remained clear.

 

[Wiskey]

This is running on a 180 gallon tank, with a 125 gallon sump correct? Would you say you have about 200 gal water volume? How many GPH are you putting through your skimmer?

Would you say it is better to have less air and smaller bubbbles, or more air and larger bubbles?

Would you say that it is better to process more water and have less dwell time, or do you think it is better to process less water and have a longer dwell time for pulling out particulate deatris?

These questions are for everybody who reads this of course.

Thanks,
Whiskey

 

[clkwrk]

I use 2 euro reefs a 6-1 and 8-2 .Also run a g3 and g2 by ASM.

All in my sig except the g2 recirc.

As for the turbo floater you want to run it full air and with the adjusters out . The adjust your incoming flow to raise the water level to where you want it .