DOC 9006 help.

[michaelnowill]

I have a tunze 9006 with the extension so it runs in sump. Im also finding it extremely difficult to tune. When i had it in the bath giving it a good clean with water and vinegar i ran it for two days and it seemed to work great. I then placed it in my sump and ran it for two days without any water draining into the sump and it was working fine. i had large bubbles rising to the surface and popping at the top of the cup. Now that ive got the tank running with the overflow draining into the sump the skimmer isn't doing anything. No matter how i try to adjust it, the bubbles don't rise. The bubbles intensity seems to change but they just pop as soon as they get to the waters surface which is well bellow the "half way up the cup" that the manual says. Im thinking it must have something to do with the flow in my sump as that is the only variable which i can see has changed.

Here is the skimmer in the sump.

Being the first skimmer ive owned i am very new to all this, however from the way the manual reads when you adjust the knob the bubbles should rise higher, however in my case the bubble intensity just changes and they still just pop at the surface.
Im assuming i have enough stuff in my tank for it to pull something, as the bottom of my sump is very dirty with a brown almost sooty substance.

Is it normal to have water exiting from the hole in the back of the skimmer, i see no mention of this in the manual.
I took this photo while i had the skimmer moved into the next section of the sump while i was trying to tune the overflow. The overflow now produces no bubbles.

I decided to remove the skimmer from the sump and have fully disassembled it and given it a proper clean out. I ensured nothing was blocked. I have now placed it in the bath with vinegar and water so i can adjust water levels at will and have better access to play with it.

Does anyone have any thoughts or further trouble shooting steps other than what is in the manual?

Thanks
Michael

 

[newyorkerx]

What a timely question! My 9006 has been set up for about 2 weeks in a new tank and is producing very little skimmate. Mine is also in the sump an using the accessory outlet and seems to be very sensitive to immersion depth. I was wondering about the small hole in the back and wasn't sure if it was supposed to be there, or if I broke off the plug (present on the bottom half of the skimmer) while wrestling with the magnet holders.

 

[tyler91913]

I'm having the same problem as you Michael. I was just logging on to ask Roger or one of his colleagues for help.

Your description is dead on. The skimmer is moving some water, but not very much is coming out of the pipe, and the bubbles are not rising into the collection cup--just popping on the surface of the water in the reaction chamber. The only thing that is different about my tank is that it is probably dirtier (yours looks very new), and so there should definitely be skimming more than it is. Hopefully this thread draws somebody with answers--not just more 9006 users with the same problem!

 

[tyler91913]

Searched around and found a handful of other threads with the same issue. The solution in most cases seems to be opening the air intake more (3+ full turns from closed). I'm going to start mine at 3.5 turns and do another 1/2 turn every 72 hours or so until I start seeing foam. Hopefully that'll get things dialed in.

 

[rvitko]

The hole in the back should have water escaping, that is normal. On these skimmers water is the gasket for the cup and this is the height for the water to escape to do its job as a seal.

Water must be exiting the pipe for the skimmer to work, it is a slow trickle. If water does not exit the pipe something is wrong with the installation of the sump kit.

The skimmer should produce with the air open 3-6 full turns. I would start at 3 and open 1/2 turn per day until there is some production.

 

[Timothy57]

Hi my name is Simon, I live in the UK, I am new to this forum,along with..new to reef keeping. I happened to read these messages which are some years ago. I have a custom built 60g saltwater aquaruim which is only twelve weeks old.
I would like to share my experience about the Tunze 9006 which I had to replace my bubblemagus curve 5.
First off like Michael you need the extension kit, I found that mine took nearly three weeks to actually produce some skimmate! The required depth is not important, as long as it's between 3.9 to 11 inches, mine sits in the first section of my sump with the siphon and overflow from the back weir. My Tunze sits around 9inches in depth. The water from the overflow is just a trickle, I set my air valve around three turns to star with, allowing for the running phase for the first week or so, without cleaning the cup! This allowed a skim to form around the neck part.from the second week..instead of doing half turns, I steadily increased the blue screw by a 1/8 of a turn per day for that second week again not cleaning the neck or cup part, I found the production of skimmate increasing. By the end of the third week I have now Managed to have it dailed in to four and a half turns. Now I don't touch it as its skimming very well. I now have cleaned the cup. My bioload is like micheals as my set up is quite new. The only drawback to the Tunze 9006 is DONT do too much aquaruim maintenance as this triggers the skimmer to decrease the skim production.which could take up to six to eight hours to properly skim. On a whole I'm very pleased with the Tunze it as good as any protein skimmer I've found.

 

[rvitko]

Thank you for the feedback. More compact skimmers are more disturbed by skin oils and additives so that is why it reacts negatively to maintenance, but it will recover in a few hours unless a lot of detritus remains suspended.

 

[Timothy57]

Hi Roger,
I do believe in the Tunze Manual,quote me if I am wrong, it clearly states that not to handle the skimmer neck part with your hands as skin oils can prolong the procedure of the skim.
But what I like about the Tunze is that the backup service is excellent here in the UK! And I find that the Docline skimmer is far superior to my bubblemagus! I much prefer the wet skim rather than a dry skim. I now have it dailed in perfectly and just sit back and let the Tunze do its job. I am very pleased with the 9006 which I now know has been discontinued and replaced by the 9012. Yes the dailing part is tricky! But patience is needed here. Thanks for your feed back from across the pond������