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

[slief]

I have been running my skimmer at 6.5 water depth, 4.5 turns out on the nozzle and the wedge pipe 100% open for the last 36 hours and it still continuously overflows. Do you have any recommendations? Thanks

You may need to lower the sump level more but the next thing I would check is to make sure there isn't salt creep in the Venturi port on the pump where the air line connects to the block. Also, if a snail or any debris made it into the pump impeller area, that could cause the issue too. Pull the airline off and remove the pump and look down into the port where the airline connects to the pump. If you see what build up in there, clean it with a tooth pick. If salt builds up in there, it has the same effect as closing the nozzle which sends more water into the skimmer. Also, look into the intake and make sure there isn't anything that made it into the pump. If there isn't, then open the nozzle a bit more or raise the skimmer 1/4". I'd probably raise the skimmer first. If you have a lot of dissolved organics in the system, that can drive the skimmer nuts until it catches up. The minimum depth for that skimmer is just under 6" and skimmers in general are very sensitive to water level. The smaller the skimmer, the more sensitive they are. As such, finding the right water level is critical. So double check the Venturi for salt creep, if there isn't any and nothing in the pump, then raise the skimmer up 1/4" or lower the sump level 1/4". If you can't raise the skimmer or lower the water level, then open the volute/nozzle 1/4 turn more and let me know what you find.

While I haven't asked this, I figure I might as well. Have you used any red slime removers or epoxy in your system recently or anything else? My guess is no but I figured I would ask.

 

[biecacka]

Slief here is mine now. How's it look to you? It's on 31 according to the pump. In about 9.25 inches of water. Skim is good, could maybe be a little darker tho maybe?? I'm not sure.
http://i333.photobucket.com/albums/m377/biecacka/5EF8F2D3-156B-4E62-A340-CC1A6F6F1523.mp4]

Corey

 

[slief]

Slief here is mine now. How's it look to you? It's on 31 according to the pump. In about 9.25 inches of water. Skim is good, could maybe be a little darker tho maybe?? I'm not sure.
http://i333.photobucket.com/albums/m377/biecacka/5EF8F2D3-156B-4E62-A340-CC1A6F6F1523.mp4]

Corey

It looks OK.. Bubbles looking like I would expect from the higher pump speed. That said, my guess is that the skimmer has caught up with the load so you are probably just fine there though I prefer the lower speeds as I mentioned to you earlier but that may necessitate the higher sump level.

 

[autodave]

After making that adjustment on the nozzle and seeing how much it overflowed, I actually disassembled the pump and inspected the volute, which was clean. I will double check it again tonight. I am sure my DOC's are rising since this skimmer really hasn't done much in the last 5 weeks.
The only thing I have added to my tank other than food and 2-part, is a frag glued down with superglue about 4 weeks ago. I do not use filter socks, GFO, carbon or biopellets. I have not done any painting in my house or anything similar. Trust me, I have been reefkeeping for over 20 yrs., I know what will set a skimmer off, lol. That's not to say I know it all, so I was considering putting my old skimmer back in and see how it reacts.
I understand what you are saying with the height but I feel I would need to raise the skimmer well more than a inch above what I have already done to get some control, so I am thinking that the water height is not the problem. I am thinking either it is a contaminate in the water or a air intake issue on the skimmer??... And I really do appreciate all of your help!

 

[biecacka]

Could I have went with the dc180?
For the most part, I've reached my limit of fish-30. Now once my ATS gets growing, I can feed more which should increase some doc.
Some of my fish will eventually be larger tho, so I'm sure that'll help too.

Corey

 

[slief]

After making that adjustment on the nozzle and seeing how much it overflowed, I actually disassembled the pump and inspected the volute, which was clean. I will double check it again tonight. I am sure my DOC's are rising since this skimmer really hasn't done much in the last 5 weeks.
The only thing I have added to my tank other than food and 2-part, is a frag glued down with superglue about 4 weeks ago. I do not use filter socks, GFO, carbon or biopellets. I have not done any painting in my house or anything similar. Trust me, I have been reefkeeping for over 20 yrs., I know what will set a skimmer off, lol. That's not to say I know it all, so I was considering putting my old skimmer back in and see how it reacts.
I understand what you are saying with the height but I feel I would need to raise the skimmer well more than a inch above what I have already done to get some control, so I am thinking that the water height is not the problem. I am thinking either it is a contaminate in the water or a air intake issue on the skimmer??... And I really do appreciate all of your help!

An air intake issue would be directly related to salt creep in the intake nozzle but as I told you, 6" sump depth isn't out of the realm of what is normal for that skimmer and 1/2" of depth can make a HUGE difference. If your dissolved organics are really high, you might need it even shallower until the organics are reduced. Check the air intake where it meets the pump and make sure there isn't any salt creep in there. Also make sure the venturi hose isn't getting pinched. The only time I have seen that is on one skimmer where the customer cut some tubing off and had the wedge pipe closed 75% or more.

If you have some egg crate laying around then place some under the skimmer to raise it up and give it a try. Given how much I have successfully helped others with this model skimmer, I am pretty certain that if salt creep isn't your issue then the sump level is.

 

[slief]

Could I have went with the dc180?
For the most part, I've reached my limit of fish-30. Now once my ATS gets growing, I can feed more which should increase some doc.
Some of my fish will eventually be larger tho, so I'm sure that'll help too.

Corey

You were right at the minimum for this skimmer and right at the end for the other skimmer. You could have gone either way. Still, I think your skimmer is working. I just think it could be doing so more efficiently. The lower pump speeds work pretty well with that model which is why I suggested it in the first place. The lower pump speed will decrease power usage and create better contact time which will remove more DOC's as water passes through it. At the end of the day, the skimmer will still end up removing the same level of DOC's its just that the lower pump speed will do a better job of it and do so a bit drier since the bubbles won't be bursting as fast. There is however a direct correlation to sump levels and pump speeds and while there isn't a finite level based on pump speed, the lower the speed, the higher the sump level or more closed you need the wedge pipe to get the water up higher in the neck. If your reasonably happy with the way it's performing and want it drier, you could also lower the level in the neck slightly by opening the wedge pipe up a fraction or go back to the lower pump speeds. It's up to you.

 

[biecacka]

When I first shopped around I thought the 180 would be out of the question and even asked a few retailers for my 240 gallon tank with that many fish in it. The wedge is 60% closed now, I could set it lower in the sump I suppose. If that will help. I would love to have it working more efficiently if possible. I'm all ears...

Corey

 

[slief]

When I first shopped around I thought the 180 would be out of the question and even asked a few retailers for my 240 gallon tank with that many fish in it. The wedge is 60% closed now, I could set it lower in the sump I suppose. If that will help. I would love to have it working more efficiently if possible. I'm all ears...

Corey

I wouldn't close the wedge anymore. I would lower the skimmer in the sump and drop the power down some.

 

[biecacka]

Ok. I dropped the speed down to 31 for tonight. I measured the water depth is 10.2inches. So I will find some couplings or something to lower it a tad bit more possibly. At least until my fish get larger and I start feeding 3-4 cubes a day for the larger fish.
Could the fact I run filter socks also be part of the reason for less solids to the skimmer. I'm changing them about 2-3 times a week keeping them fresh and trying to blow the rocks off to stir up debris.
Corey

 

[autodave]

I dropped my water level to 6.25in. yesterday and it is still overflowing today. Should I go to 6in.? I also was planning to do a water change tonight, should I hold off or shouldn't it matter. Thanks

 

[slief]

I dropped my water level to 6.25in. yesterday and it is still overflowing today. Should I go to 6in.? I also was planning to do a water change tonight, should I hold off or shouldn't it matter. Thanks

Yes. If you are absolutely certain that you don't have salt creep in your Venturi intake at the pump, then keep dropping it until the overflowing subsides. You can also try opening the volute up a little more but I would drop it first as you really shouldn't need to go past 4.5 turns.

 

[UWUALineman]

If I may jump in Slief. I started adjusting my 150 pretty much from the volute closed and slowly worked my way out while leaving the wedge pipe wide open. I struggled immensely trying to dial mine in until I really choked off the air supply due to overflows. Surging. No performance etc.
The past few months have been nothing but solid performance since.

 

[slief]

If I may jump in Slief. I started adjusting my 150 pretty much from the volute closed and slowly worked my way out while leaving the wedge pipe wide open. I struggled immensely trying to dial mine in until I really choked off the air supply due to overflows. Surging. No performance etc.
The past few months have been nothing but solid performance since.

Great to know and your contribution is more than welcome and very much appreciated. Any idea what you have the volute set to terms of how many full turns out? From my tests, the surging issue typically occurs when the volute is too closed. My testing here was done in a closed and controlled setup which I did some months back as I wanted to learn this particular skimmer. I found best results between 4 and 4.5 turns out. I also gathered that from some other people's results. In my tests, I setup a small tank with new salt water and added about 1/2 cup of skimmate to the water to insure there was sufficient DOC's. On the other hand, I don't know what the condition of the other peoples water was let alone the salinity but it seemed that around 4.5 turns was a starting point. That said, it would be really good to know approximately where you are set to but I'd hate to have you whack your skimmer out. On the flip side, every tank is different so adjusting the volute to find the sweet spot and best stability will be critical as no two tanks are alike. That is after all why the volute is adjustable.

Please feel free to share any tips you have. It's greatly appreciated. My hands on experience with the DC was kind of limited and like I said, it was in a very controlled enviornment.

 

[UWUALineman]

I have my DC150 sitting in 7 3/4" of water depth right now. I'm guessing my volute is somewhere around 3 turns out with the wedge pipe wide open. I was able to manipulate my skimmer chamber depth and this was where I found my particular setup to be most effective without closing the wedge. I chose this route due to the surging issue I struggled with nonstop months back. I am using it on a 60 gallon cube with 4 fish so my bio load is very light. Salinity runs 1.025 to 1.026 consistently.

 

[autodave]

Hi Slief, Last night I dropped my water level to 6" and it was still overflowing this morning so I dropped it to 5.75 and it stopped overflowing and has been consistent for the rest of the day. My level inside the skimmer is about half way up the cone. I started adjusting the wedge to bring the water level up in the skimmer but I don't think I can accomplish this without closing it more than 50%. I am still at 4.5 turns out.

 

[slief]

Hi Slief, Last night I dropped my water level to 6" and it was still overflowing this morning so I dropped it to 5.75 and it stopped overflowing and has been consistent for the rest of the day. My level inside the skimmer is about half way up the cone. I started adjusting the wedge to bring the water level up in the skimmer but I don't think I can accomplish this without closing it more than 50%. I am still at 4.5 turns out.

That's good news. Sounds like you are really close. I would probably drain your collection cup and let it run for 24 hours and see if it starts collecting. If it doesn't you have a couple options as the level will likely need to be raised in the skimmer. Assuming you would have to close the wedge pipe too much, you could start turning the volute/nozzle inward (closing it) or raise the sump level ever so slightly. At this point, given the sump depth, I would probably opt for raising the sump level slightly as it accomplishes the same thing as closing the wedge pipe. The good thing is that I think you are close. If it were me, I would probably raise the sump level slightly. Then again, I do like to tinker and the volute can also have a big impact not only on the density of the foam but also on the level inside the skimmers. A slightl turn inward can have a big impact on the performance and level just as a slight turn out. That volute/nozzle is your tool to really fine tune the foam quality inside the skimmer and also has a direct impact on the water level. Your water level in the sump is your tool for getting the transition to foam level inside the skimmer into the ball park (base of the neck) while the wedge pipe is your tool for fine tuning the level in the skimmer.

When it was overflowing at 6", was it overflowing foam and what did the foam look like? Was it dense and thick? The kind of foam that will come out the collection cup lid vents and not turn to liquid? I ask because in some cases where there are a lot of organics in the water or something driving the skimmer nuts, allowing the skimmer to overflow into something like a 5 gallon bucket to collect the skimmate and switching the ATO water for salt water will allow the skimmer to remove whatever is driving it nuts. Kind of like using the skimmer to do a water change only the skimmer is primarily pulling out nasty stuff from the tank. Albeit really wet stuff. It just depends on how fast it would fill the cup and or bucket though and how watery it would be. If it took 24 hours to remove a few gallons, then that's fine. If it's something in the water that's driving it nuts, the condition will subside within a day or two if you are allowing the skimmer to remove it. I know I am throwing a lot at you right now but I figure the more information you get, the better the tools you have to make informed decisions.

 

[autodave]

At 6" the cup would fill up in less than an hour, so I was leaving the drain plug off so it would drain in my sump. As of now I have a nice billowing foam but it just too low to collect anything. I think I will let it run a day then try 6" again.

 

[slief]

At 6" the cup would fill up in less than an hour, so I was leaving the drain plug off so it would drain in my sump. As of now I have a nice billowing foam but it just too low to collect anything. I think I will let it run a day then try 6" again.

If anything, find a happy medium between 5.75 and 6". Or, if you go to 6" and it overflows which it probably will, let it remove the skim and use some salt water instead of fresh water for your top off so you can allow the skimmer to remove some of the DOC's in case it's something in your water.

 

[autodave]

As of right now I have my skimmer in 5 7/8" of water, the nozzle 3.75 turns out and the wedge closed about 60-70%. I realize the wedge setting isn't ideal but it is producing a good foam head and I can probably start collecting some waste now.
It has been really sensitive about the height...at 6"depth, nozzle at 4.5 turns wedge fully open, it will most likely overflow. At 5 3/4 depth, nozzle at 4.5 turns, I have to just about close the wedge all the way to get the water height in the skimmer to move up.
I have also noticed that when closing the wedge pipe, it doesn't react much until I get to about 50% closed.
Here is a photo how it is looking: