slief
RC Sponsor
got it plugged up and closed that wedge just a tad to see how it pans out
corey
Sounds good.
got it plugged up and closed that wedge just a tad to see how it pans out
corey
Sure. You could bump the power and see what it does.. You could even drop the power and close the wedge a bit more. Ideal sump depth is normally around 8-8.5" but since you are a really low load, you could go 9" without an issue and lower the pump speed a tiny bit. That will reduce bubble size further which is always a good thing. Keep in mind, you are still breaking in. While you can settle at a sump depth, once the skimmer breaks in, you will still need to find the sweet spot which you should be getting close to.Ok Scott, no real change and nothing in the cup. Wedge is about 30-40% closed and power is on 30. So should I lower the skimmer and if so how much? Or is it okay to just bump up the power to maybe 32 or so and see what that does.
Corey
Ok. Break in time is about a week or so? How will I know when it's broken in?
I have 10 fish going into the display next week possibly. Taking my count to 30. I can leave it where it is for now. I'm just curious about it is all.
Corey
Guys I have jyst bought double cone 200 with rd3 pump for my 180g reef. Previous to this i was running an atb 840 and its absolutely fantastic skimmer. But I treated myself this Christmas.
Skimmer is now 2 weeks old. After 1 week it started skimming, but it was in shalliw water of 16cm, running at 34w with wedge pipe 75-80% closed. But it then stopped skimming.
Following advice I have relocated the skimmer to deeper water.i found it was simply not producing consistant skimmate like me previous skimmer. This Produced little to none and very wet.
It now sits in 24cm of water. Royal exclusiv rec 20-25cm for this skimmer.
At this depth with wedge pipe FULLY OPEN i can achive a head of foam midway in the neck at 34w on pump. It still is not producing good skim and it's very watery. Howrver the height ofbthe foam head is like my previous skimmer, halfway up the neck.
In order to improve and make more consistent do you:
Do you advise closing the pipe and reducing air?
Or increasing power and let it skim wet in a hope it darkens up later?
Leaving it to run as it is?
Is there really a big differdnce at each setting?
I still cannot understand the concept of wantjnb to restrict skimmer air and water, i always was told bigger is better.
Could somebody please explain what I should do and why?
Thanks slief
I just noticed when you said my "display size"
My total nett volume is 176G (including display and sump and fuge)
Not just display volume.
Display tanks holds probably 125G Nett water after displacement (150G gross)
Does that affect things?
In this case as the double cone 180 is same size as my ATB 840,do you think im undersized currently with my ATB?
Sorry for all the questions, at this price I just want to get it right first time
That does effect things. With high end skimmers like the Bubble Kings that are properly rated, you should base the skimmer size on the display size since that is where the livestock/bio load is concentrated. As such, I change my recommendation to the Double Cone 180. The 180 will be perfect for your system.
Corals don't really contribute to the load much unless you feed them a lot where as fish do because they eat and poop. You have a decent fish load but the skimmer is a bit oversized. I would reduce the pump speed as I suggested above. Try 28 watts. That will reduce the bubble size and increase the contact time which will create better foam. Then increase the water level in the sump to raise the level inside the skimmer. Start by raising the water level 1/4" and see where that gets you. From there, you can try to use the wedge pipe to raise it further but try not to go past 1/2 closed. If you need to go past 1/2 closed then raise the water level in the sump further. You want the water to transition to foam inside the neck. I would aim for the transition point to be about 1/4" an inch above the point were the neck attaches to the body. That would be your starting point with a moderately light load for this skimmer. You may have to go higher but I would start there.Hi slief
You correct that was me before and my system and display size has stayed the same.
You recommended the 180 but jeremy b said to go for 200.
He said as coral mass increased it would increase bio load etc. And the 200 would be better suited in the long run.
So 1 year later with bigger corals here I am.
Reef runs at s.g of 1.025 with a refractometer.
Fish load
1 medium achilles tang
1 small kole tang
1 small convict tang
1 medium bkueface angel
1 royal gramma
1 flame angel
1 longnose butteffly
2 clownfish
2 emporer cardinals
3 green chromis
3 bicolour chromis
3 medium wrasse
Thanks
Thanks for the help slief
Im a little disappointed I was advised by both jeremy and royal exclusiv to go for the 200. Have I bought a very expensive paperweight?
I will try the setting you have suggested.
So to clarify the lower the wattage the smaller the bubbles (better) but less water is processed (bad) so its a case of balancing the 2. Is that right?
I didn't want to make a whole thread about this, so I hope it's somewhat relevant to this one day...
I cleaned out my skimmer today and I noticed three of my impeller teeth were broken off. I then remembered a while back I had a snail slipped in and got caught in the intake, but took it out. It was probably this instance that broke it.
Anyways, I was wondering if there was any kind of snail guard available that could prevent this.
Thanks in advance!
Snails and hermits will do that. They are working on some titanium inlet protectors but those are primarily for the flow pumps right now though there're may be something for the skimmer pumps coming as well. Snails in the sump are one of the reasons why I like my filter socks. One thing you could do is create a small acrylic box with lots of little slots in it and a hole at one end for the volute to slip into. I've often though of making something like that myself but in my case, the socks prevent that for the most part. With the Red Dragon 1 pumps that have the adjustable volute, something like that would be a bit of a pain if you needed to adjust the volute but for the RD3's, it certainly could work well.
Thanks. My sump etiquette was pretty poor, but I am now dedicated to keeping a filter sock, so maybe that'll minimize this. I have to shamefully admit that I didn't clean the RD3 for two years since I've had it running and it ran like a champ for that entire time.
Disassembly was a breeze and I got a load of the giant impeller and titanium shaft that makes this skimmer tick. It was quite impressive to say the least. These things are built solid! Wish I would have taken a picture!
One week of running http://i333.photobucket.com/albums/m377/biecacka/A4B4CCE6-3EC0-4BB8-A43C-CA9FEAEACA76.mp4]![]()
How's this look?!
Corey