Bubble Magus Curve 7 PROBLEMS

[JPH19946]

so i upgraded from a nano 70l tank to a 400 litre tank and sump i bought it from another reefer and it had been running for about 4 years, I decided that while moving the tank i would upgrade a few of the bits and pieces to make it better for the future so i decided to get the bm curve 7 protein skimmer.

i set it up in the sump in the second chamber and it wasn't working very well so i raised it up an inch and BINGO it started working straight away and pulling a good skim!! i was really pleased with it. so about two weeks past and i cleaned out the cup, i gave it a really good clean so it was all tidy but now i can't get it too work anywhere near how it was

I've tried moving it to another chamber I've raised it another inch so its in about 8 inches of water, I've tried lowering it again i have tried everything and i just can't seem to pull a dry skim anymore and its driving me mad it just allways overflows and fills with water on every setting

Can any one help me please lol

 

[Bent]

I have the same skimmer, you have to do a couple things to it every week to make sure it performs well.

1: pull the cup off and rinse it, get the gunk out of the neck, that's the biggest thing.
2: the white, round attachment that the air hose goes onto, pull that off, and pull the air tubing off as well. Rinse it out and make sure it's not clogged up. The attachment point on the white thing gets especially gunked up. I usually use a finishing nail and poke it into the nipple until it's clear.

Those two things will make it work like new.

I usually do both every Sunday.

Bubble magus makes a automatic neck cleaner for the curve 7, so that might be something you may want.

 

[reefteaser]

Mine usually takes a day after cleaning the cup to build up some film. After that, it works great. I set mine to keep water about half to two thirds high in the cup and get a nice semi-wet stinky skim.

 

[JPH19946]

It doesn't matter where i set the flow tho and it over flows i can't even get it to sit at one constant level in the cup, if its still not woking tomorrow i think i will take it apart and clean everything out like you said! what level of water do you keep yours in?

 

[Bent]

Is it new? If it's brand new your going to have to leave it sit and overflow for a couple days. It took mine about a week to break in.

 

[JPH19946]

well I've had the tank 2 weeks the skimmer was running great getting great dry skim and then friday i cleaned it out and then it stopped working:/

 

[azjohnny]

remove and inspect the volute for salt deposits, to keep that from happening I will submerge the airline into a cup of hot RO/DI water

 

[Recon66]

Clean the air inlet were the small white hose connects near the pump.

 

[JPH19946]

so i tried everything you have said and today i thought it had started working but now its doing the same again! when cleaning it i realised that one of the o-rings on the adjustable pipe is damaged.

and i also wonder if because i had been putting in some white spot treatment would that have affected it?

does anyone know where you can get replacement parts from?

 

[reefteaser]

I did a quick search for parts and found everything BUT o-rings. I'd email the manufacturer next, or start looking for a good hardware store that carries an assortment of silicone o-rings.
If you can measure the diameter and width of the ring, you could probably find it on line.
For later reference, mine sits in 9-1/4 inches of water and produces a good skim just under the "1" setting.

 

[azjohnny]

In a pinch I have repaired o rings with silicone

 

[Mike de Leon]

and i also wonder if because i had been putting in some white spot treatment would that have affected it?

does anyone know where you can get replacement parts from?

The treatment in the tank is your only culprit. Soon as you're done with that run carbon and will be back to normal, guaranteed.

 

[Skim]

The treatment in the tank is your only culprit. Soon as you're done with that run carbon and will be back to normal, guaranteed.

I would have to agree with the above as the Curve 7 is no slouch. As for the O ring try wrapping some Teflon tape around it for now tell you can find one it should work, just don't over do it. Put some Carbon in the tank and for the Ick I would pick up some High quality food like NorthFin or NSL Ick food I think you will find that a High Quality food will cure it faster and also stop it from coming back.

 

[JPH19946]

well i managed to get an o ring from a local shop so that isn't the reason for the overflowing i believe the ich may be gone none of my fish have signs and the one fish i had with it i removed from the tank very quickly and it all seems okay touch wood!! I've got a bag of carbon running at the moment and i am going to add a carbon reactor at the weekend and hopefully a big water change and the reactor will do the job!