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

[slief]

Have mini 160 in 9” of water, 22” of fish, adjustment is very sensitive between wet and low vol skimmate, will setting skimmer 1/2” shallower help with sensitivity?

Ideally, you would want to adjust the sump level so that the line where bubbles turn to foam is about 2” below the white collar that supports the collection cup and do that with the wedge pipe wide open. Doing that way will make it a bit less sensitive to wedge pipe adjustments meaning you will need to close the wedge more to raise the level up compared to if the wedge pipe is 40-50% or more closed at which point it becomes more sensitive to those adjustments. That said, a tiny bit of a turn with the wedge pipe can make a big difference so turning it a fraction of an inch at a time is always best. If you lower the level in the sump or raise the skimmer, you will need to close the wedge pipe more which might actually make it more sensitive to adjustments.

 

[drtrash]

Wedge is 3/4 closed, skimmate is a tea color so doc may be lower than anticipated with over 20” of fish. Bubble/foam are approx 1-1.5” below clear skimmer body

 

[slief]

Wedge is 3/4 closed, skimmate is a tea color so doc may be lower than anticipated with over 20" of fish. Bubble/foam are approx 1-1.5" below clear skimmer body

With the wedge being 3/4 closed, that will make it very sensitive to adjustments. I would open the wedge all the way and raise the sump level a little bit at a time until you get the line where bubbles turn to foam down about 2" from the white collar. That would be your driest set point. From there you will only need to close the wedge a small amount and it will be less sensitive to adjustment.

The tea colored skim is likely the result of wet skimming and a light load relative to the skimmers capabilities.

 

[drtrash]

Skimmer is at bottom of sump, not sure if pulling off rubber feet for 1/4” would matter, think the skimmer is too much for a 65 gallon. Would a 130 be any better in sizing?

 

[slief]

Skimmer is at bottom of sump, not sure if pulling off rubber feet for 1/4" would matter, think the skimmer is too much for a 65 gallon. Would a 130 be any better in sizing?

Just raise your water level in the sump. While the Double Cone 130 would be more appropriately sized, the Mini 160 is an easier skimmer to tune. I would stick with the 160. maybe add a few more fish and raise your sump level up about a 1/2". That or just leave it the way it is and let it run. As long as its consistent which it should be, then you are fine even if the skimmate is tea colored. You certainly aren't doing your system any harm.

 

[drtrash]

Very happy with skimmer, so will enjoy tea THX

 

[slief]

Very happy with skimmer, so will enjoy tea THX

If you want the skim darker, just open the wedge pipe a fraction of a turn.

 

[biecacka]

if you want to skim darker.....feed more!!! :lol:


corey

 

[drtrash]

Already feed 2x a day with 22" of fish, these skimmers a beasts underestimated its sizing

 

[biecacka]

I know! My DC handles 30 fish or so in my 240 super easy

Corey

 

[docwells]

I would suggest a sump depth of 6.75" and a nozzle setting of 4.5 turns out from fully closed. It will take some fine tuning of the nozzle to find the sweet spot for your system. Generally, the skimmer will find stability between 4 and 5.5 turns out on the nozzle. When the nozzle is set properly, the line where bubbles turn to foam will be around 2" or a bit more below the white collar where the cup attaches to the body with the wedge pipe fully open. From there, you use the wedge pipe to adjust from wet to dry. Keep in mind that it will take several days for the skimmer to fully break in so you will likely need to do your final tuning after a week or so. Also, it's best to use gloves when making the nozzle adjustments so the oils from your skin to impact the skimmer forcing you to wait hours before the skimmer settles back down in order to see the results from your adjustments.

I have a question about my DC 150 also. I just moved my tank and reset the system. Prior to move, the skimmer was in 7 inches of water and nozzle open 4.25 runs. I cleaned my skimmer, pumps and dreambox since I was moving. I set it up the skimmer like prior. The skimmer is overflowed which I expected and is still overflowing 4 days later. I did put collection cup on it and pull the drain plug. I experimented with the set up and lowered water to 6 inches and closed nozzle to 1 turn. I was trying to see if I could stop the overflowing and start producing good foam. That only seemed to decrease some of the overflowing but nothing else. The only difference between the 2 systems is I added some more cured rock.

So I would like to know if you think the above settings are where I should start and let it settle down over the next week. Just want to get skimmer back to it normal good skimming

 

[slief]

I have a question about my DC 150 also. I just moved my tank and reset the system. Prior to move, the skimmer was in 7 inches of water and nozzle open 4.25 runs. I cleaned my skimmer, pumps and dreambox since I was moving. I set it up the skimmer like prior. The skimmer is overflowed which I expected and is still overflowing 4 days later. I did put collection cup on it and pull the drain plug. I experimented with the set up and lowered water to 6 inches and closed nozzle to 1 turn. I was trying to see if I could stop the overflowing and start producing good foam. That only seemed to decrease some of the overflowing but nothing else. The only difference between the 2 systems is I added some more cured rock.

So I would like to know if you think the above settings are where I should start and let it settle down over the next week. Just want to get skimmer back to it normal good skimming

The move likely resulted in additional organics in the system. Decrease the depth to the 6.75" or so and then open the nozzle up beyond the 4.25 turns. Continue opening until you find a spot that it no longer overflows. Once the tank settles in, then fine tune.

 

[docwells]

Thanks for the help. I will make adjustments today after work

 

[mike810]

I have a question about my DC 150 also. I just moved my tank and reset the system. Prior to move, the skimmer was in 7 inches of water and nozzle open 4.25 runs. I cleaned my skimmer, pumps and dreambox since I was moving. I set it up the skimmer like prior. The skimmer is overflowed which I expected and is still overflowing 4 days later. I did put collection cup on it and pull the drain plug. I experimented with the set up and lowered water to 6 inches and closed nozzle to 1 turn. I was trying to see if I could stop the overflowing and start producing good foam. That only seemed to decrease some of the overflowing but nothing else. The only difference between the 2 systems is I added some more cured rock.

So I would like to know if you think the above settings are where I should start and let it settle down over the next week. Just want to get skimmer back to it normal good skimming

You could also try letting it overflow into a cup, pull the drain plug and run the overflow into a 5 gallon bucket. This is a trick I always do when I'm trying to pull out any meds/chemicals in the tank that overflows the skimmer after the treatment is done.

 

[docwells]

Can anyone tell me the size of tubing (ID) that will fit over the ozone port of a DC 150? Trying to get my ozone set up this weekend.
Thanks

 

[slief]

Can anyone tell me the size of tubing (ID) that will fit over the ozone port of a DC 150? Trying to get my ozone set up this weekend.
Thanks

8mm. You should be able to use 1/4" ID tubing between the skimmer and Ozone generator..

 

[docwells]

Thanks for the reply

 

[docwells]

I got the ozone generator set up over the weekend. I'm using a Ozotech Posideon 200 ozone generator. My ORP seems to rise slowly and the generator has been running continuously since this weekend. I was thinking it would not have to run continuously as my tank is only 70 gallons.
I know the skimmer pumps pulls in the ozone, but has anyone had to use an air pump on the air dryer to push more ozone. I have used a pump in the past when using an ozone reactor but thought it would not be needed when using the skimmer set up. I would think this would push too much air in the skimmer and cause it not to operate as efficiently.

 

[ReefKeeper64]

I got the ozone generator set up over the weekend. I'm using a Ozotech Posideon 200 ozone generator. My ORP seems to rise slowly and the generator has been running continuously since this weekend. I was thinking it would not have to run continuously as my tank is only 70 gallons.
I know the skimmer pumps pulls in the ozone, but has anyone had to use an air pump on the air dryer to push more ozone. I have used a pump in the past when using an ozone reactor but thought it would not be needed when using the skimmer set up. I would think this would push too much air in the skimmer and cause it not to operate as efficiently.

What was your orp when you started the ozone and what is it now?

 

[docwells]

My ORP was 340 when I started. And this morning it was 378. So looking at increase of 38 points over roughly 2 weeks