Coralife super skimmer pics

[curtisk]

Just got my 220 today and man that collection cup is HUGE!! What's the average break in time for these skimmers? And do I absolutely need to use the bubble diffuser that came with it or can I just let the exhaust tube hang down below the water line? So far it looks to be a pretty good skimmer. I'll keep everybody up to date with pics and feedback. Also might try the mesh mod later on. Has anybody here tried it yet?

 

[dastratt]

curtis,
A lot of people are not using the diffuser. Some of us use a pump prefilter instead. I would not have the exhaust hang much below the water line, less than an inch is recommended, though I never tried it deeper since others recommended not to. I've never had any microbubble issues. Pump issues, though.

 

[Joshua1023]

I've started to use my bubble diffuser as a media tray. I tooke three small media bags, filled them loosely w/ carbon and packed them around the output. Works great. I have to run the output of my skimmer through the carbon because I fun ozone through my skimmer.

If you want top of the line mods for this skimmer at a relatively small cost try this.

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=902721&perpage=25&pagenumber=1

Here is the one I did.

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1076754&highlight=octopus+otp+2000

These work like a champ! I get great skimmate all day long w/ the skimmer level set at lowest possible setting.

 

[curtisk]

Do these powerheads absolutely need to stay between 3-4" below the water line? Can they be run deeper than 4"? Mine hasn't produced much in the time I've had it. Maybe 1/2 cup of skimmate in about 3 days.

 

[Joshua1023]

The deeper you go the less air it pulls.

 

[davocean]

I think I'd go higher rather than lower.
Here's what I get out of mine.
MMM MMM Mountain spring fresh, go on, take a swig!

 

[10" Red Devil]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9751198#post9751198 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by davocean
I think I'd go higher rather than lower.
Here's what I get out of mine.
MMM MMM Mountain spring fresh, go on, take a swig!

For a thousand bucks!!

 

[jacmyoung]

I did my fishing line mod for my CSS65g some time ago, did not notice much improvement. I did hookup my 65g on my new kill-a-watt meter and realized the pump was drawing only 16W under my sump condition. The deeper the pump is placed underwater the more watts it draws. But 16W is where I am at. That wasn't a surprise since water flow mixed with air means less water flow and less resistance. Most NW pumps have power ratings less of there original impeller pump ratings.

But it still got me thinking, the pump is rated 23W, it is badly under-utilized. I then went to my favorite LFS and the owner let me open a CSS125g box, it turned out the needle wheel on the 125g can fit on the 65g magnet, just needed a little trimming here and there. The 125g NW has a larger diameter of course.

With the 125g NW in hand I will test it on my 65g pump tomorrow when I get a chance and report back on the results.

Did anyone ever make such mod before? I don't recall such but this thread is so huge I might have missed it.

 

[carlso63]

I was thinking of using a modded CS220 on my 125g reef (which is just being set up as we speak...er, type?)


I got "lucky" and bid on - and 'won' a very slightly used CSS220NW on e-bay for $82.50 (the pics look like it's brand new)

I will go in-sump with this and definitely mod the impeller...

Questions (in lieu of my reading about 100 pages of posts):

There was a post (or 2) about using fishing line to mod the needlewheel... Did anyone try a "mesh mod" with something like Enkamat?

If so, which impeller mod worked better?


As far as gate valve / ball valve mod; 1 valve each on input and output, right?

Any other mods I missed (besides shortening the pump tube to have it only a few inches into the water) ???

Thanks, guys / gals - Happy to join the CSS "Club" !!!


:rollface:

 

[jacmyoung]

The 125 NW impeller fits on the 65 pump just fine, the NW diameter is bigger. I only needed to trim back the impeller shaft to make it shorter to fit on the 65g magnet driver.

The 65g pump is rated 23W, when no air was injected, the pump was drawing 19W, after the 125 impeller was installed, the pump was drawing 30W and the flow was noticeably stronger.

But when in both cases airline was wide open, they both draw 16W.

In the case of the 125g impeller, I used my needle air gang valve to fine tune the air intake, basically reduced the air intake to the point that the most foam was produced in the skimmer. At that point the pump was drawing 24W, very lose to the rated capacity. The foam rise was much stronger. Only time will tell how much more it can skim compared to the 65g impeller.

I did notice more microbubbles out of the skimmer but they were never a concern with my sump setup.

 

[bj32482]

What should the water level be for a CSS 220 needle wheel?
10 inches?
14 inches?

 

[Mark9]

OK, after having tons of problems getting my coralife skimmer to function (high water levels, macro bubbles, no skimate, etc) basically every issue known to man, i read this whole thread and am listing the simple fix I found that worked for me.
I'm not taking credit for this, but it was in the thread, just summarizing.

- pump depth is critical, as high as possible , i'm using maybe 2" flex hose
- start the skimmer with both valves wide open

That's it, fixed
after doing these simple things, it works.

Skimming, yay!

This shows no macro bubbles in the bottom of the skimmer (no bubbles exiting), and the depth of the pump