Bubble King Setup, Tuning and trouble shooting thread. Post your questions here!

[slief]

Just to be clear.. The smaller gray fitting in your finger tips is not used on this skimmer. It's included because the pump is also used with larger skimmers and is designed to slip over the output on the pump and adapts it to larger diameter tubing. Set that aside as it will not be used.

 

[ReefKeeper64]

Just to be clear.. The smaller gray fitting in your finger tips is not used on this skimmer. It's included because the pump is also used with larger skimmers and is designed to slip over the output on the pump and adapts it to larger diameter tubing. Set that aside as it will not be used.

Thanks for confirming this. I appreciate it.

I'm happy to report that the skimmer is up and running working wonderfully. Thanks again to you (and Vincent) for all of your help!

 

[slief]

Just to be clear.. The smaller gray fitting in your finger tips is not used on this skimmer. It's included because the pump is also used with larger skimmers and is designed to slip over the output on the pump and adapts it to larger diameter tubing. Set that aside as it will not be used.

Thanks for confirming this. I appreciate it.

I'm happy to report that the skimmer is up and running working wonderfully. Thanks again to you (and Vincent) for all of your help!

Great to hear! You will love that skimmer!

 

[Sanghee]

They are called micro bubbles. The skimmer is breaking in. Also, from the sounds of it, your tank is new and you don't have any load in the tank to generate proteins. The proteins allow the bubbles in the skimmer to stick together and when they do that, more bubbles end up at the top of the skimmer instead of going out the effluent pipe. As such, the skimmer will tend to create more micro bubbles until your load increases. You likely also still need to fine tune the nozzle more once you export whatever was causing the overflowing issues which I suspect may have been from the rocks and your cleaning process. Just give it some time.

ok thank you.

the skimmer is still overflowing

I will give it more time.

 

[slief]

ok thank you.

the skimmer is still overflowing

I will give it more time.

You will need to adjust the nozzle more. There should be a point that the skimmer will stop overflowing if you continue to make adjustments with the nozzle. Also, make sure the wedge pipe is fully open.

You could also raise the skimmer or lower the sump level about 1/2" so the sump depth is about 19.5cm or around 7.5". I would suggest using something removable like egg crate that way if it is something in your water, you could remove the egg crate from under the skimmer down the line. Lowering the sump levela may also be easy depending on your sump design. If the skimmate it's producing is somewhat colored and not clear, try you could also try collecting it and dumping it out that way if it's something in the water from the rocks that was causing the overflow, you would be exporting it.

 

[ReefKeeper64]

ok thank you.

the skimmer is still overflowing

I will give it more time.

I've experienced the overflow situation you are having. Either lower the water level or raise the skimmer up higher out of the water and your overflow condition will stop right away. If your sump doesn't allow an easy way to adjust the water level, then you can place ceramic tiles under your skimmer as an easy and safe way to incrementally raise your skimmer up higher out if the water. Ceramic tile is reef safe. Another option is plastic egg crate. Anything inert will do.

As your system matures and epoxy or whatever is pulled out of your system, your water level will need to be gradually adjusted back to the normal height.

 

[Sanghee]

You will need to adjust the nozzle more. There should be a point that the skimmer will stop overflowing if you continue to make adjustments with the nozzle. Also, make sure the wedge pipe is fully open.

You could also raise the skimmer or lower the sump level about 1/2" so the sump depth is about 19.5cm or around 7.5". I would suggest using something removable like egg crate that way if it is something in your water, you could remove the egg crate from under the skimmer down the line. Lowering the sump levela may also be easy depending on your sump design. If the skimmate it's producing is somewhat colored and not clear, try you could also try collecting it and dumping it out that way if it's something in the water from the rocks that was causing the overflow, you would be exporting it.

ok I will raise the skimmer level 19.5cm and to make adjustments with nozzle.

and one more question is how to make the nozzle enough turn.

if overflow the bubble, then should I close the nozzle?

 

[slief]

ok I will raise the skimmer level 19.5cm and to make adjustments with nozzle.

and one more question is how to make the nozzle enough turn.

if overflow the bubble, then should I close the nozzle?

If it's overflowing, you will likely need to open the nozzle but there are a number of factors there including the amount of dissolved organics in the water, the sump level, surface agitation etc. Best bet would be to go to one extreme and then another and take notes of how it responds. Once you find a spot that it's not overflowing, then make tiny adjustments or raise the skimmer a bit more.

 

[Koestby86]

Ok, I think I need some help. I got a Double Cone 200 in my 210g tank, and Im not sure it´s performing to its max. The tank holds 16 fish atm, so I would assume the load is decent, couple of tangs, wrasse`s, chromis and blenny. I do also have a decent CUC.

The skimmer sits in 22 cm of water, the rd3 pump runs at 28w and the wedge pipe is on the third mark.

My feeding routine is very light actually as I'm having issues with no3/po4.

What do U guys think.

 

[slief]

Ok, I think I need some help. I got a Double Cone 200 in my 210g tank, and Im not sure it´s performing to its max. The tank holds 16 fish atm, so I would assume the load is decent, couple of tangs, wrasse`s, chromis and blenny. I do also have a decent CUC.

The skimmer sits in 22 cm of water, the rd3 pump runs at 28w and the wedge pipe is on the third mark.

My feeding routine is very light actually as I'm having issues with no3/po4.

What do U guys think.

I think 13 fish is a very small/light load. You're not going to have a lot of dissolved organics in the water for the skimmer to remove. You will want to adjust the skimmer so that the line where bubbles turn to foam is up just above the white collar where the collection cup attaches to the body. You may even need to raise it a bit further for best consistency since you have a very light load relative to the skimmer size. Increase the sump depth or closing the wedge pipe more will accomplish that.

No3 issues are more a function of the tanks bacterias ability to convert the nutrients in the water. While the skimmer will remove some of the organics that contribute to No3, it won't remove all of it. In fact, a skimmer can only remove about 30% of the dissolved organics in the water. As a tank matures, the bacteria becomes more diverse. The more bacterial surface you have such as live rock, sand etc, the better you can process No3. Po4 won't be removed by the skimmer. That is where GFO, Macro Algae etc come into play. How old is this system? What are your nitrates at? What is your Po4 level? What are you using to test No3 and Po4?

 

[Koestby86]

Its 16 fish

The tank got started cycling in the start of March so its relative new yet..
No3 is at 25ppm Salifert and po4 at 0.24ppm with Hanna Checker and 0.20 with Nyos Reefer.

I just cleaned the collection cup today so I will pay attention to how fast it gets dirty. With the settings i posted in the earlier post of the skimmer I think i am skimming just at the start of the neck of the cup if U get me ?

I`ve set the pump to 30w with rest as it was. And now I can see that the line from fine to bigger bubbles/foam is at the start of the cup, above the neck.

I think 13 fish is a very small/light load. You're not going to have a lot of dissolved organics in the water for the skimmer to remove. You will want to adjust the skimmer so that the line where bubbles turn to foam is up just above the white collar where the collection cup attaches to the body. You may even need to raise it a bit further for best consistency since you have a very light load relative to the skimmer size. Increase the sump depth or closing the wedge pipe more will accomplish that.

No3 issues are more a function of the tanks bacterias ability to convert the nutrients in the water. While the skimmer will remove some of the organics that contribute to No3, it won't remove all of it. In fact, a skimmer can only remove about 30% of the dissolved organics in the water. As a tank matures, the bacteria becomes more diverse. The more bacterial surface you have such as live rock, sand etc, the better you can process No3. Po4 won't be removed by the skimmer. That is where GFO, Macro Algae etc come into play. How old is this system? What are your nitrates at? What is your Po4 level? What are you using to test No3 and Po4?

 

[slief]

Ok, I think I need some help. I got a Double Cone 200 in my 210g tank, and Im not sure it´s performing to its max. The tank holds 16 fish atm, so I would assume the load is decent, couple of tangs, wrasse`s, chromis and blenny. I do also have a decent CUC.

The skimmer sits in 22 cm of water, the rd3 pump runs at 28w and the wedge pipe is on the third mark.

My feeding routine is very light actually as I'm having issues with no3/po4.

What do U guys think.

I just read your build thread. Very nice setup. You set your tank up in March of this year. As such, it's just over 3 months old and not even close to mature. You also started with dead/dry rock which unlike live rock, lacks bacterial diversity. This is one of the reasons why I am a fan of using live rock and live sand. You get to start with a much broader range of bacterial diversity which goes a long way in helping the tank with maturity. In your case, you are still building up bacterial diversity that is critical to denitrification. It typically takes a tank 12 months or more to fully mature. You might consider adding some bacteria to the system. There are a number of products on the market that will help with this. Fauna Marin Bacto Balls is one such product that comes to mind.

As for Po4, I suspect the rock you started with had a lot of Po4 embedded in it. Many people will soak new dry rock like that in RODI water and use Lanthanum Chloride to draw out embedded phosphates before adding the rocks to the system. Since you are cycling your tank with that rock, you might consider adding GFO and testing the effluent. When you see the Po4 in the effluent of the GFO reactor going up, swap your GFO. This process will help lower Po4 levels over time. You can also consider adding a refugium or cheato reactor to your system and using macro algae such as chaeto to export the Po4 and Nutrients. Food that we feed our fish also contains phosphate and will contribute to phosphate levels going up. I feed a lot of Mysis and always rinse the mysis with salt water or RODI water using a very fine net before feeding the tank. The water we add to the tank can also contribute to Po4 in the tank. RODI water is very important as tap water will often have phosphates. You might try testing your new water both fresh and new salt water that you are putting into your tank to see if you are adding phosphates there as well.

 

[slief]

Its 16 fish

The tank got started cycling in the start of March so its relative new yet..
No3 is at 25ppm Salifert and po4 at 0.24ppm with Hanna Checker and 0.20 with Nyos Reefer.

I just cleaned the collection cup today so I will pay attention to how fast it gets dirty. With the settings i posted in the earlier post of the skimmer I think i am skimming just at the start of the neck of the cup if U get me ?

I`ve set the pump to 30w with rest as it was. And now I can see that the line from fine to bigger bubbles/foam is at the start of the cup, above the neck.

Sounds like a good setting at 30 watts then. You really want to use the watts to get the most dense foam and not use it for adjusting the level. The most dense foam will be the result of a speed that offers the most balance between air and water coupled with the best contact time. That said, with such a light load (even 16 fish is light), 30 watts is a good setting.

Keep in mind that our skimmer sizing is based on theoretical loads. At the low end of the tank rating range a very high load is expected. When we talk high loads, think of 1/2" (1.4 cm) of fish per display gallon. You aren't anywhere near that. The minimum display size for the Double Cone 200 is around 180 gallons or about 90" of fish to maximize it's performance and keep it very consistent without having to adjust the skimmer very wet. Raising the water level up into the neck like you are doing will help reduce the neck volume which will make it more consistent because not as much foam will be needed to fill the neck in order to spill into the collection cup. Keep in mind that in the absence of enough dissolved organics, the skimmer can't generate enough foam to fill the neck. It's the dissolved organics or proteins from the fish waste and fish food that allow the bubbles to stick together to make foam. Without that, you just end up with bubbles that burst at the surface instead of nice consistent foam.

Obviously your tank is new and you are still working your way up in fish population so give it time.. As you add more fish and feed more, the skimmer will work better and better. As the tank matures, the tanks ability to process nitrates will improve.

Having said that, your nitrates and phosphates are in balance. Having 25ppm nitrates to .24ppm Po4 is a perfect balance (100:1) and not necessarily bad. My nitrates and phosphates are right around the same levels. I don't have algae issues and my corals thrive but my tank is also 20 years running and very mature. Po4 levels on many of the worlds reefs are in the same neighborhood. I have much larger system with a lot more fish and very heavy feeding so for me, those kinds of numbers aren't surprising. Your tank will however go through a number of algae cycles as it matures. Don't panic. It's not necessarily because of nitrates or phosphates. It's just a part of the tank becoming more mature.

 

[biecacka]

Koestby86,
I run the double cone 200 on my tank. It's a 240 with 30+ fish in it. I run it in 9.25 inches of water and on 36. Even then it will run idle at times because the skimmer is such a workhorse that it considers my bioload light. I have my pipe closed 30% or so. I'd run it deeper I could, but then I couldn't use my auto shut off collection cup. These things are underrated! As Slief said, your bioload is VERY light for this skimmer for now.

Corey

 

[Koestby86]

Thanks to both of you.. I have a ARID N24 from Pax Bellum arriving some day to control the No3/po4 issues instead of gfo as I find it difficult at times to figure out the right dosage for not stressing the corals out and dropping it to fast. And its always nice when it can be natural.. Reefbum had a nice video of this on his channel, so fingers crossed for that being the trick to my struggles.

As both of u mentioned, my setup is very "fresh" still and I can relate to the same when I had my first tank running. But its easy to forget, and even now that I got a really good filtration system one would think that problems would be far gone. Learning by doing I guess.

I plan to keep a couple of watanabei angels and at least the pyramid butterfly.. in pairs or trio for the latter. What would be the limit regarding fish in my tank U would say ? And also as the tank get more stocked should i drop the W from 30 and down or go up to keep the skimming consistent, or is it the wedge that needs tweaking ? Or water height in chamber?, a lot of questions but I hope it doesn't set you off..

This is kinda going of track in regards to topic but..


Also @slief, when the tank got started i dosed a range of AF products to seed the tank, the sand was the "live" type. I´ve also continued it until the last 14 days. Then i thought id call quits on it since I wasn't seeing the result I was hoping for so I am going back to more basic reefkeeping. KISS method one can say.

 

[slief]

Thanks to both of you.. I have a ARID N24 from Pax Bellum arriving some day to control the No3/po4 issues instead of gfo as I find it difficult at times to figure out the right dosage for not stressing the corals out and dropping it to fast. And its always nice when it can be natural.. Reefbum had a nice video of this on his channel, so fingers crossed for that being the trick to my struggles.

As both of u mentioned, my setup is very "fresh" still and I can relate to the same when I had my first tank running. But its easy to forget, and even now that I got a really good filtration system one would think that problems would be far gone. Learning by doing I guess.

I plan to keep a couple of watanabei angels and at least the pyramid butterfly.. in pairs or trio for the latter. What would be the limit regarding fish in my tank U would say ? And also as the tank get more stocked should i drop the W from 30 and down or go up to keep the skimming consistent, or is it the wedge that needs tweaking ? Or water height in chamber?, a lot of questions but I hope it doesn't set you off..

This is kinda going of track in regards to topic but..


Also @slief, when the tank got started i dosed a range of AF products to seed the tank, the sand was the "live" type. I´ve also continued it until the last 14 days. Then i thought id call quits on it since I wasn't seeing the result I was hoping for so I am going back to more basic reefkeeping. KISS method one can say.

You have a pretty large tank so the angles and butterfly shouldn't be an issue. You should have no issues keeping 30 decent size fish in there but the size of the fish is always a consideration. Smaller fish, you could do more.

KISS is always a good approach. As these tank mature, they become much more stable and can take care of themselves. As for the wattage, that becomes a question of fine tuning. You use the wattage to get the most dense foam. As your load increases, the skimmer will produce better but again, it's all about fine tuning for what works best in your system. Every system is different and things like the amount of dissolved organics, salinity, surface tension in the sump and amount of dissolve o2 all impact the "ideal" skimmer setting. The wedge pipe is what you use to tune from wet to dry and you can base that adjustment on the skimmers consistency. If it's not consistently producing skimmate, then make it skim wetter by closing the wedge some to raise the level inside the skimmer. If you are seeing really clean skimmate then you can open the wedge up and skim drier. Since you don't really have much of a load right now, don't expect consisten skim anyways until you get more fish going. You can't skim out what you don't have and in this case, there are little dissolved organics to skim.

 

[coral@life]

System Setup for BK200 Deluxe with RD3 Speedy Pump

System Setup for BK200 Deluxe with RD3 Speedy Pump

I just purchased this skimmer and can say it's a beautiful, well made and completely functional skimmer. It's very easy to adjust and water level in the sump has very little impact on the setup. To set this skimmer up all you need to do is set the pump to 30 watts, loosen the screw in the side of the telescopic pipe and adjust the telescopic pipe up until the fine bubble level is at the bottom of the cup/skimmer body transition and you are finished. The wedge pipe should be fully open as well. I set this up on Tuesday evening and Saturday it was about 1/4 full of very dark sludge. The only issue i had was the red hose that connects the air intake to the pump was too short for me to raise the telescopic pipe this high. I really like this skimmer and have not seen any that can compare to it for it's adjustability or build quality.

 

[slief]

I just purchased this skimmer and can say it's a beautiful, well made and completely functional skimmer. It's very easy to adjust and water level in the sump has very little impact on the setup. To set this skimmer up all you need to do is set the pump to 30 watts, loosen the screw in the side of the telescopic pipe and adjust the telescopic pipe up until the fine bubble level is at the bottom of the cup/skimmer body transition and you are finished. The wedge pipe should be fully open as well. I set this up on Tuesday evening and Saturday it was about 1/4 full of very dark sludge. The only issue i had was the red hose that connects the air intake to the pump was too short for me to raise the telescopic pipe this high. I really like this skimmer and have not seen any that can compare to it for it's adjustability or build quality.

Congrats on the Deluxe!! The Deluxe is one of my all time favorite skimmers and would be about the only skimmer model I would consider replacing my SM250 for. With regards to the telescope pipe, the nice thing about the Deluxe design is you can use both the telescope and the wedge for adjusting the water level. You shouldn't have to raise the telescope too high. Once you get it in the ballpark, just use the wedge for fine tuning.

 

[mike810]

Deluxe 250 Internal

Deluxe 250 Internal

I'm just wondering how often you guys are emptying your skimmer cup? My cup gets half full a day after draining the cup that was also half full. I am happy that the skimmer is working like a beast but just curious how often others are cleaning out their cups.

When I drain the cups, the skimmate is a super black, foul smelling piece of work. It smells like sewage which it basically is. I have the skimmer in about 9-10 inches of water, wattage at 48 and wedge pipe fully open. The telescope tube has also been raised quite a bit to raise the water level in the skimmer body and the outlet is sitting just a hair above the water.

Ideally, I would love to have the outlet below the water line to reduce noise but this kills the water level inside the skimmer.

 

[slief]

I'm just wondering how often you guys are emptying your skimmer cup? My cup gets half full a day after draining the cup that was also half full. I am happy that the skimmer is working like a beast but just curious how often others are cleaning out their cups.

When I drain the cups, the skimmate is a super black, foul smelling piece of work. It smells like sewage which it basically is. I have the skimmer in about 9-10 inches of water, wattage at 48 and wedge pipe fully open. The telescope tube has also been raised quite a bit to raise the water level in the skimmer body and the outlet is sitting just a hair above the water.

Ideally, I would love to have the outlet below the water line to reduce noise but this kills the water level inside the skimmer.

You should be able to have the outlet below the waterline without issue. You could either raise the sumps water level or close the wedge pipe some to compensate or extend the drain if it's not reaching the waterline.