Bubble King Skimmer Club

[slief]

Slief,

I have been trying to adjust the water level on my Super Marine but the tube does not let me do a fine adjustment. I just turn it 2 millimiters and the water level rises 10cm and goes to high and skimmer skims to wet.
I am not sure if the wedge shaped tube needs some maintenence so that I could turn it more without having such a drastic rise in water level?? it is so sensitive that it does not let me higher the water level 3 -4 cms, a minimum turn highers the level around 10cm

can you also tell the me were is the recomended water level in the skimmer??

Thanks

The wedge is sensitive. especially when you have it closed too much. If you have a light load in your system, then you might consider setting your sump level to about 9.5" so you can open the wedge up more. Other things that cause the wedge to me too sensitive is running the pump at too high a wattage or salt creep plugging up the venturi port at the nozzle.

Ideally you want to be between 36-40 watts. Between 9-9.5" sump depth and no more than 1/2 closed on the wedge pipe. If you are closing the wedge more than half way, you should raise your sump level. I normally recommend setting the line where bubbles turn to foam at the base of the neck. If you have a light load relative to the skimmer size than you may want to go 1/2" above the part where the cup attaches to the body.

 

[sensei]

thanks

 

[Fishman UK]

Hi

I have owned a supermarine 200 for around 8 weeks and am having trouble dialling it in.

I have a 1,600 litre mixed reef tank, quite heavily stocked. This was a replacement skimmer for my vertex Alpha which broke, and I ended up running my tank without a skimmer for around 6 weeks. Parameters are all fine, apart from nitrates which are around 50 ppt (worryingly high).

The skimmer is in 9 1/4 inches of water and set to 28 watts.

I have just returned from two weeks holiday to very limited skimmate (see Avast collection cup below):



There was a huge amount of mud like skimmate on the inside surface of the collection cup and top of the lid.

I have cleaned the skimmer and taken the photo below:



Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks

Rob

 

[slief]

Hi

I have owned a supermarine 200 for around 8 weeks and am having trouble dialling it in.

I have a 1,600 litre mixed reef tank, quite heavily stocked. This was a replacement skimmer for my vertex Alpha which broke, and I ended up running my tank without a skimmer for around 6 weeks. Parameters are all fine, apart from nitrates which are around 50 ppt (worryingly high).

The skimmer is in 9 1/4 inches of water and set to 28 watts.

I have just returned from two weeks holiday to very limited skimmate (see Avast collection cup below):

View attachment 395298

There was a huge amount of mud like skimmate on the inside surface of the collection cup and top of the lid.

I have cleaned the skimmer and taken the photo below:

View attachment 395299

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks

Rob

How many fish do you have and what size?

Run it a bit more wet. That will increase the skimmate production. The fact that you had the mud like stuff in the cup and on the lid is a sign that it’s working fairly well. You just may want to run it more wet to reduce the buildup on the lid and increase the liquid in the collection device.

Do you have the ozone port capped off on the pump? If not, I would cap that off so it’s not drawing water through the port. I don’t think that is your issue but it will help generate a bit more air intake though the venturi. That or connect the red ozone tube and zip tie it to the wedge pipe as that will also increase air intake. I think you just need to do some fine tuning. You can increase the pump speed a bit. Bump it to 30 watts and see what that does. Then try 32 watts. That will make it run a bit more wet or close the wedge pipe some which will also make it run a bit more wet. If you bump the speed up, you may need to open the wedge a bit or even lower the sump level depending on how much your wedge pipe is opened or closed.

 

[Fishman UK]

How many fish do you have and what size?

Run it a bit more wet. That will increase the skimmate production. The fact that you had the mud like stuff in the cup and on the lid is a sign that it's working fairly well. You just may want to run it more wet to reduce the buildup on the lid and increase the liquid in the collection device.

Do you have the ozone port capped off on the pump? If not, I would cap that off so it's not drawing water through the port. I don't think that is your issue but it will help generate a bit more air intake though the venturi. That or connect the red ozone tube and zip tie it to the wedge pipe as that will also increase air intake. I think you just need to do some fine tuning. You can increase the pump speed a bit. Bump it to 30 watts and see what that does. Then try 32 watts. That will make it run a bit more wet or close the wedge pipe some which will also make it run a bit more wet. If you bump the speed up, you may need to open the wedge a bit or even lower the sump level depending on how much your wedge pipe is opened or closed.

Thanks for replying to me so quickly.

I have around 40 fish, including 5 large tangs and two triggers. The rest and medium to small sized.

I have taken a picture of the wedge - how far open is this?

I have increased the speed to 40 and will let you know how this goes.

Rob


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[slief]

Thanks for replying to me so quickly.

I have around 40 fish, including 5 large tangs and two triggers. The rest and medium to small sized.

I have taken a picture of the wedge - how far open is this?

I have increased the speed to 40 and will let you know how this goes.

Rob


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Sounds good. One other thing to check is the venturi port where the hose connects to the pumps nozzle. Salt tends to build up in there restricting air intake. I clean mine every month or so by removing the nozzle and and cleaning the salt buildup using a small screw driver to chip the dried salt and calcium out of the venturi port. The first post of this thread shows extreme buildup in the port and discusses routine mainenance on the RD3 pump. Post 2 is not relevant to the RD3 and only applies to the RD1.
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2573406

 

[Jay Ellul]

I have my DC150 about 15mm deeper in the water than max recommended. I seem to get best operation this wat with the pump nozzle screwed out about 10mm

Is this strange? Should I worry about it?


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[slief]

I have my DC150 about 15mm deeper in the water than max recommended. I seem to get best operation this wat with the pump nozzle screwed out about 10mm

Is this strange? Should I worry about it?


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Nothing to worry about there. There is no spot on the nozzle that works for every tank. Each tank is different which is why the nozzle is adjustable. So keep it where it's at if it's working well for you. The deeper the sump, the more the nozzle would need to be opened as well so I'm not surprised that you have it out that far. That just reduces water flow into the skimmer and increase air which in turn lowers the water level inside the skimmer and helps compensate for the deeper sump level.

 

[jackthehat]

Ideal Red Dragon nozzle adjustment.

Ideal Red Dragon nozzle adjustment.

Hi there

apologies if this has been covered before but this a very long thread. I run a BK supermarin 250 with the red dragon 2000 pump.

I'm trying to find out from owners of this skimmer who have done some testing and know what is the "sweet spot" to unwind the nozzle to to achieve best air flow into the skimmer.

Some people seem to say wind it all the way in and then wind out between one to one and half turns for best air intake but line the dots up - I think if you line the dots up you will be either under one turn or over 1.5 turns if that makes sense

The manual seems to say wind it out one to one and half turns and the dots are only there for reference points and doesn't seem to indicate they need to be lined up.

can someone advise who knows what the sweet spot is for best air intake so I can just set the nozzle right and stop playing with it?

I do intend to block up the ozone port this weekend to also help with extra air intake.

thanks in advance for any help!

thanks Jack

 

[slief]

Hi there

apologies if this has been covered before but this a very long thread. I run a BK supermarin 250 with the red dragon 2000 pump.

I'm trying to find out from owners of this skimmer who have done some testing and know what is the "sweet spot" to unwind the nozzle to to achieve best air flow into the skimmer.

Some people seem to say wind it all the way in and then wind out between one to one and half turns for best air intake but line the dots up - I think if you line the dots up you will be either under one turn or over 1.5 turns if that makes sense

The manual seems to say wind it out one to one and half turns and the dots are only there for reference points and doesn't seem to indicate they need to be lined up.

can someone advise who knows what the sweet spot is for best air intake so I can just set the nozzle right and stop playing with it?

I do intend to block up the ozone port this weekend to also help with extra air intake.

thanks in advance for any help!

thanks Jack

Every tank is different. Fish load, dissolved organic levels, surface tension in the water, the amount of dissolved o2 in the water and sump level all play a role in the best setting so what is ideal for one will not be ideal for the next. I always suggest starting at about 1.5 turns out from fully closed. Let it run for a bit than make tiny adjustments to the nozzle opening it a little bit at a time and let it run for a little while to see how the skimmers foam head responds. It helps to take a sharpie pen and mark a line on the top of the nozzle in the fully closed position so you have a visual point of reference as to where the nozzle is in terms of turns out. It also helps to take notes. You want to open it enough that you get the most dense foam possible. Once you get it close, a fraction of a turn can make a big difference. if it's open too little, you won't get a much of a foam head. Open it too much and you will end up with fast rising larger bubbles that continually burst at the surface. You are aiming for as thick and dense of foam as possible but also keep in mind that the skimmer can only produce foam when there is enough dissolved organics to fill the neck with foam. In the absence of enough dissolved organics, you make bubbles and not good foam and you end up with inconsistency. So you need to experiment a bit as you are fine tuning the skimmer for your particular display load. Lastly, since the oils in your skin impact the surface tension of the water, it helps to wear rubber gloves when making those adjustments that way the skimmer doesn't respond adversely to your hands being in the water and instead you will be able to see the response from your adjustments much quicker. Once you find the sweet spot for the nozzle, use the wedge pipe to adjust the level inside the skimmer between wet and dry skimming.

 

[jackthehat]

Thank you very much sir for your quick response I will follow your instructions. I am starting to feel that my beloved BK is now redundant since installing a Clarisea filter roll. It hardly pulls anything and the tank is loaded with fish and coral. How I wish for the dark smelly skimate it used to produce !

 

[slief]

Thank you very much sir for your quick response I will follow your instructions. I am starting to feel that my beloved BK is now redundant since installing a Clarisea filter roll. It hardly pulls anything and the tank is loaded with fish and coral. How I wish for the dark smelly skimate it used to produce !

Fleece filters can have a big impact on the skimmers output since the pull the solids out before they get a chance to breakdown. As such, you should expect to see a decline in skmmate production. Not a bad thing either. Just something that you need to tune the skimmer accordingly for. You will likely need to run it wetter than you are used to in order to maintain consistency. And loaded with fish is kind of relative. A truly heavy load by our standards is about 1/2" of fish per display gallon and Bubble Kings are very conservatively rated in terms of their tank sizing. So if your display is at the low end of the tank size range, that skimmer will want a truly heavy load to maintain best performance. With our fleece based dreambox systems, we normally recommend customers go with a size smaller on their skimmers since the fleece can be so efficient in removing solids that would otherwise become dissolved organics.

 

[sensei]

Slief,,

can I know what is the purpose of the red hose in the red dragon pump?
please see picture



Thanks

 

[slief]

Slief,,

can I know what is the purpose of the red hose in the red dragon pump?
please see picture

View attachment 399252

Thanks

That is for ozone. Either cap it off at the pump or leave it connected so it can pull air.

 

[sensei]

That is for ozone. Either cap it off at the pump or leave it connected so it can pull air.

is there any benefit in leaving it on so it pulls air?
or would it be better to just remove that hose and the opening would be summerged in water ??

thanks

 

[slief]

is there any benefit in leaving it on so it pulls air?
or would it be better to just remove that hose and the opening would be summerged in water ??

thanks

If you remove the tube, it should be capped off like I mentioned above so it doesn’t pull water in there as that will reduce the air intake and cause more salt buildup in the venturi port. Leaving it connected allows it to pull air and possibly a bit more than the venturi port alone. Either capped off or connected so it can pull air is best. Also finding the best pump speed is important which for an SM250 will typically be between 36 and 38. In some cases a bit lower or in others as high as 40w. Sometimes less is more though so I would start out low and find the speed that gets the most dense foam.

 

[sensei]

If you remove the tube, it should be capped off like I mentioned above so it doesn't pull water in there as that will reduce the air intake and cause more salt buildup in the venturi port. Leaving it connected allows it to pull air and possibly a bit more than the venturi port alone. Either capped off or connected so it can pull air is best. Also finding the best pump speed is important which for an SM250 will typically be between 36 and 38. In some cases a bit lower or in others as high as 40w. Sometimes less is more though so I would start out low and find the speed that gets the most dense foam.

understood, thanks a lot

 

[sensei]

one last question.
if you connect the other end of the hose to fitting that is beside the wedge tube it would be an equivalent of being capped off, correct??

according to the manual the other end should be conected to the bottom part of this black fittting

 

[slief]

one last question.
if you connect the other end of the hose to fitting that is beside the wedge tube it would be an equivalent of being capped off, correct??

according to the manual the other end should be conected to the bottom part of this black fittting
View attachment 399253

The other end of the hose can be connected to the nipple on the wedge pipe as shown in the manual. There is already a cap there but that cap comes off and can be placed directly on the pump which if you are going to cap it off, I'd move that cap to the pump and eliminate the red hose completely so its one less thing to disconnect form the pump when you need to do maintenance or remove the nozzle to clean the venturi port.

 

[Galizio]

My mini 180 keep making an air bubble from the pump lately, does mean something? And Is not skimming as usual also.
Unfortunately can add the video


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