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

[m0jjen]

Your fish load isn't all that high for that skimmer and the Clarisea is removing solids before they become dissolved which the skimmer would use to generate the foam head. between the relatively light load for the skimmer size and the clarisea, there isn't going to all that much dissolved organics for that skimmer to keep a good foam head. I would suggest running the skimmer at 10" and maybe bump the pump to 32 watts if closing the wedge pipe more than 1/2 way is needed to get the line where bubbles turn to foam is up to the base of the neck if not a little bit higher. Cleaning the pump might help but it's hard to say as I don't know how clean your pump is to begin with.

Unfortinatly it wont make much of a difference. When opening the wedge i get this:

10" deep
1/2 open
32w

Any suggestions?

 

[slief]

Unfortinatly it wont make much of a difference. When opening the wedge i get this:

10" deep
1/2 open
32w

Any suggestions?

You are closing the wedge pipe to raise the level inside the skimmer. You may need to close it more. Still, you also need to give it time to settle in after making those adjustments. Without enough dissolved organics in the system, the skimmer will not be able to build good foam. Instead it just makes bubbles that burst at the surface instead of thicker foam. I would give it a day. You can try closing the wedge pipe a bit more or increasing the sump depth or increasing the wattage. It would also be worth taking the pump apart and doing a deep cleaning on it. Make sure there isn't any salt build up in the nozzles venturi port where the hose connects to the pump. Make sure the ozone port on the skimmer pump is capped off as well so it's not sucking water in through the 2nd venturi port (ozone port). Either way, your definitely lacking on dissolved organics.

 

[m0jjen]

You are closing the wedge pipe to raise the level inside the skimmer. You may need to close it more. Still, you also need to give it time to settle in after making those adjustments. Without enough dissolved organics in the system, the skimmer will not be able to build good foam. Instead it just makes bubbles that burst at the surface instead of thicker foam. I would give it a day. You can try closing the wedge pipe a bit more or increasing the sump depth or increasing the wattage. It would also be worth taking the pump apart and doing a deep cleaning on it. Make sure there isn't any salt build up in the nozzles venturi port where the hose connects to the pump. Make sure the ozone port on the skimmer pump is capped off as well so it's not sucking water in through the 2nd venturi port (ozone port). Either way, your definitely lacking on dissolved organics.

Was salt buildup in the venturi instantly started skimming at 32w halfway at 9" after cleaning

 

[broadwave]

So I've had my Double Cone 200 on my 190 gallon display reef (225 gal total volume) running for about a week... and it's produced some really gross smelling skimmate even running wide open at at 50 watts.

After reading this thread, I'm now running at 30 Watts, 1/2 closed and in 8" of water. bubbles breaking right at bottom of skimmer cup connection.

Will let it run over the weekend and post results at some point next week after the new setting has run a few days.

For fish, I have the following...

Large Blond Naso
(2) large purple tangs ... yes they get along.
(4) 3 stripe damsels
(4) Fiji Blue devils
Fairy Wrasse
(2) true Percula clowns
Flame Angel
Aptaisia File Fish

 

[slief]

So I've had my Double Cone 200 on my 190 gallon display reef (225 gal total volume) running for about a week... and it's produced some really gross smelling skimmate even running wide open at at 50 watts.

After reading this thread, I'm now running at 30 Watts, 1/2 closed and in 8" of water. bubbles breaking right at bottom of skimmer cup connection.

Will let it run over the weekend and post results at some point next week after the new setting has run a few days.

For fish, I have the following...

Large Blond Naso
(2) large purple tangs ... yes they get along.
(4) 3 stripe damsels
(4) Fiji Blue devils
Fairy Wrasse
(2) true Percula clowns
Flame Angel
Aptaisia File Fish

30w is better. 50w reduces contact time substantially and creates more turbulence. Contact time is important as it will result in more dense foam and better skimming efficiency. We don’t even run 50w in the 250 sized skimmers. Your load is relatively light for that skimmer so the skimmate output will likely taper off a bit once the skimmer catches up at which point you will likely want to raise the level inside the skimmer a tad to wetten the skim up for better consistency. Raising the sump depth to 8.5” will help with tuning from wet to dry so you don’t have to close the wedge pipe to much. It will also be less sensitive to wedge pipe adjustments with the sump depth a bit higher. Especially at your lighter load. Having it less sensitive will make it eaier to do subtle adjustments via the wedge.

 

[BAJA272]

Im not sure if this is the correct place to post this question, My supermarin 250 pump (speedy RD3 50) pump controller will not turn on. The controller started to take longer to light up after plugging in for about two months now. The electrical outlet is fine and there is no blockages and the impeller turns freely. do you have any suggestions?

 

[BAJA272]

By the way, I live in the Ft. Myers area.

 

[slief]

Im not sure if this is the correct place to post this question, My supermarin 250 pump (speedy RD3 50) pump controller will not turn on. The controller started to take longer to light up after plugging in for about two months now. The electrical outlet is fine and there is no blockages and the impeller turns freely. do you have any suggestions?

PM sent.

 

[BAJA272]

PM responded to.

 

[longsunnosea]

Hi all ,
I have a 100L-110L LPS tank with 12 small fish.
Is dc130 a good choice?

 

[slief]

Hi all ,
I have a 100L-110L LPS tank with 12 small fish.
Is dc130 a good choice?

You display is on the small side for that skimmer but you could do the DC 130. You just might need to run it wet for best consistency.

 

[longsunnosea]

Today , I first time open the resonator of bk160 .
Is it normal ?

 

[slief]

Today , I first time open the resonator of bk160 .
Is it normal ?

Don’t know what that is in there but you should definitely remove it as it’s obstructing the air intake.

 

[Jeezy85]

Hi all,

Just recently purchased a bubble king mini 200 vs13 model..

It is currently breaking in but I have ran into a little annoying problem.

Where the skimmer head sits onto the skimmer, every few mins water is dripping out down the side of the skimmer into the sump and makes an annoying dripping nose.

I have checked the o-ring on the skimmer head it appears fine... any suggestions please?

 

[slief]

Hi all,

Just recently purchased a bubble king mini 200 vs13 model..

It is currently breaking in but I have ran into a little annoying problem.

Where the skimmer head sits onto the skimmer, every few mins water is dripping out down the side of the skimmer into the sump and makes an annoying dripping nose.

I have checked the o-ring on the skimmer head it appears fine... any suggestions please?

You need to lower the level inside the skimmer. The line where bubbles turn to foam (break line) should be about 1” below the white collar that the collection cup sits on. You should also put some silicone grease on the o-ring between the body and the collection cup. Also, with that skimmer, you will want to run the pump between 26 and 32 watts.

 

[Jeezy85]

You need to lower the level inside the skimmer. The line where bubbles turn to foam (break line) should be about 1" below the white collar that the collection cup sits on. You should also put some silicone grease on the o-ring between the body and the collection cup. Also, with that skimmer, you will want to run the pump between 26 and 32 watts.

Thanks for the reply.

I will lower the water level to 1inch below the cup. I feel like the foam will never overflow into the cup if I will lower it.. is this part of the breaking that will eventually overflow into the cup?

The skimmer is sitting around 8inches into the water

 

[slief]

Thanks for the reply.

I will lower the water level to 1inch below the cup. I feel like the foam will never overflow into the cup if I will lower it.. is this part of the breaking that will eventually overflow into the cup?

The skimmer is sitting around 8inches into the water

If the skimmer is properly sized for your display and load, the foam will get up there. You can raise it a bit more if you need but don't raise the break line above the bottom of the white base that the cup sits on your you will get a drip. If this skimmer is oversized for your display or load, you are likely to see some inconsistency. Our skimmers are conservatively rated and oversizing them relative to the display size and load will result in some inconsistency. Keep in mind that protein skimmers require dissolved organics (proteins/DOC's) to make foam. It's those DOC's that allow the bubbles to stick together. The larger the skimmer, the larger the neck volume and the more DOC's required to keep the neck consistently filled with foam. If you don't have enough DOC's, the skimmer will skim well for a day or two as it reduces the DOC's and then idle along until the DOC's build back up enough to allow the neck to fill with foam. Our skimmer sizing assumes that at the low end of the sizing range, you will have a heavy load. A heavy load is about 1/2" of fish per display gallon. In the case of the Mini 200, I wouldn't recommend it for anything under a heavily stocked 150 gallon display. So if you're running it on a smaller display or a lightly stocked system, you're going to see some inconsistency unless you run the water well up into the neck and deal with some seepage which I don't recommend because the skimmer will be much more sensitive and prone to overflows.

 

[slief]

Thanks for the reply.

I will lower the water level to 1inch below the cup. I feel like the foam will never overflow into the cup if I will lower it.. is this part of the breaking that will eventually overflow into the cup?

The skimmer is sitting around 8inches into the water

And breaking in will take up to a week during which time, the skimmer will build a better foam head but the skimmer will only produce skimmate based on the load in the tank so if you don't have many fish, you're not going to see much skimmate overflowing into the collection cup.

 

[nly04]

How many generation of the BK mini 200 skimmers out there?
how to tell the difference?

Planning to pick up one for my 150gal DT and 70gal sump. Total about 180gal of water. Planning to put about 6-8 fish.
If not what other skimmer will fit best? Skimmer area available is 24"x12".
Any feedback and recommend are appreciate.

 

[slief]

How many generation of the BK mini 200 skimmers out there?
how to tell the difference?

Planning to pick up one for my 150gal DT and 70gal sump. Total about 180gal of water. Planning to put about 6-8 fish.
If not what other skimmer will fit best? Skimmer area available is 24"x12".
Any feedback and recommend are appreciate.

There are 3 generations of the Mini 200. The latest version has the RD3. The version before that had the Red Dragon pump with AKB. The version before that had the Red Dragoon pump without AKB. The AKB is the antilime bypass and it can be identifed by the red tube that connects from the pressure side of the pump to the back side of the motor. This is the version with the AKB.
https://royalexclusiv.com/Skimmer/B...600-1500/Mini-Bubble-King-1500-VS12::363.html

Given that you will only have 6-8 fish, that is a very light load. The largest I'd recommend would be the Mini 180 but with that low of a load, you could go with a Mini 160 and be just fine unless you plan on really increasing the fish load.