brandon0350
New member
Just got this skimmer. Can anyone tell me recommended depth and a good starting venturi adjustment?
Bubble King Double Cone 130
- Thread starter brandon0350
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slief
RC Sponsor
I would suggest starting at around 6.75" sump depth. As for the nozzle, it varies with one tank to the next depending load, salinity and a number of other factors. Start at 5 turns out and work your way inward a tiny bit at time. All the skimmer to settle in for a couple hours after making an adjustment. You can try different extremes such as 5 turns out and then 2 turns out to gauge the skimmers performance and see how it responds to the changes. The goal of the volute is to get the most dense foam and most stable head in the skimmer. Then use the sump level and or wedge pipe to get the line where bubbles turn to foam up to the base of the collar in the neck. It's an obvious line that you will see where the foam starts at the top of the bubble column. As a visual aide, I normally suggest closing the volute all the way and then taking a sharpie pen and marking the nozzle with a line across the nozzle and the part it threads into on the volute. This will give you a visual point of view as to where the nozzle is in terms of rotations. Once you get it close to the optimal point, a fraction of a turn can have a pretty big impact on the skimmers performance so go slow with the adjustments. Also keep in mind that it will take a week for the skimmer to break in so what works now will change once the skimmer is broken in which is when the real fine tuning will begin.
brandon0350
New member
I started the skimmer off at 7" depth and it would overflow no matter how many turns I had on the venturi. I raised the skimmer to 6.5", 6" and now 5" and the skimmer is still overflowing. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated
slief
RC Sponsor
Assuming it's been running for a while now and is broken in, you first need to make sure the wedge pipe is wide open. The start with the nozzle fully closed since it's overflowing and slowly work your way out. There will be a sweet spot where the overflowing subsides but as I noted in my previous post, every tank is different so it's going to take some experimenting. What I would do is start fully closed and see what it does. Then go to the opposite extreme and open the volute all the way and see what it does. One of those extremes should result in the skimmer not overflowing but you will be getting too much air. From that point, start working your way in or out of the volute until you find the point at which it starts to overflow. Be sure to note how many turns out you are as you do this so you have a point of reference. Once you find that point where it overflows, then make very small adjustments allow it to settle back down for a couple hours between adjustments until you find the point where you are getting nice dense foam with slow moving bubbles. Don't worry about the water level in the skimmer at this point. Once you find the point where you are getting good dense foam, you can close the wedge pipe to raise the level in the skimmer so that the line where faster moving bubbles turn to foam is right at the base of the collar.
brandon0350
New member
I got the skimmer setup to where it's not overflowing. It's in 5" and the venturi is 2 turns out. The waterline in the skimmer is way below the collar. This skimmer seems to be pulling alot of air. The body, neck and cup are full of bubbles with the waterline being very low. Is this normal?
slief
RC Sponsor
I got the skimmer setup to where it's not overflowing. It's in 5" and the venturi is 2 turns out. The waterline in the skimmer is way below the collar. This skimmer seems to be pulling alot of air. The body, neck and cup are full of bubbles with the waterline being very low. Is this normal?
Looks pretty good for now. You likely have a lot of dissolved organics in your system at the moment which is why you have so much foam. It will take a bit of time for the skimmer to catch up and reduce the amount of organics in the water. I am sure over the course of the next few days, you will see a reduction in the amount of foam being generated. Once it catches up and foam will settles down a bit and you will be able to start raising the level in the skimmer by closing the wedge pipe or raising the sump level. You will only want to make very small adjustments to either though as a small adjustment in the water level can have a big impact on the skimmer. Once the skimmer is fully caught up and the skimmer is fully tuned, you should be able to get the bubble line where fast moving bubbles turn to foam near or at least much closer the base of the collar. You are however heading in the right direction and the skimmer is now making great foam and should start producing good skimmate!
I see you have the red ozone tube connected. Is that capped off or is it pulling air? With it open and pulling air, that will add more air to the skimmer but since you have the adjustable volute/nozzle, it really doesn't matter much as you are using the nozzle to get the best foam and consistency with the skimmer and the nozzle adjustments will compensate for additional air from the ozone port. I normally suggest capping the ozone port off unless ozone is being used but as mentioned above, it really doesn't make a difference. If you don't have it capped and decide to cap it off, you will introduce more water to the skimmer in place of the air and that will impact your nozzle settings and the water level in the skimmer will rise.
brandon0350
New member
Thanks for the help. I'm assuming I have high DOC as well. I've been skimmer less for a few weeks and run a bacteria driven sps tank and dose aminos daily. I'll keep this post updated with my progress. I am still amazed at how quiet this skimmer is! And by the way, the ozone tube is capped.
slief
RC Sponsor
Super! Keep us posted. The little Double Cones are great skimmers but they take some time to figure out and get fine tuned. Fortunately you are getting the hang of it. Between the elevated dissolved organics and the dosing, I am not surprised by the amount of foam. Since you are dosing amino's, you will likely want the water line a bit lower below the collar for your final tuning so it's less sensitive. At least until you get a good feel for the skimmer.
Glad to hear you appreciate how quiet the skimmer is. People don't really understand just how silent these skimmers are.
