EuroReef Club
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hahnmeister
In Memoriam
You could try the silicone paste/gel that they sell at a hardware/home improvement store for faucets. Its amazing what rubbing a little bit of that on an o-ring can solve.
I have an RS135. My tank has been cycling for about two and a half weeks and the skimmer has been working fine. This morning I noticed the water level in the skimmer was very high. I have opened the air valve all the way and the outflow tube is adjusted to wide open.
When I came home from work the water level was still high, above the connection where the collection cup attaches to the body. I emptied the cup, made sure the pipe was set to open, and made sure the air tube was not obstructed.
What could be causing the high water level? The foam seems very dry and not much is collecting in the cup. I have an auto top off so the water level in the sump is consistent.
When I came home from work the water level was still high, above the connection where the collection cup attaches to the body. I emptied the cup, made sure the pipe was set to open, and made sure the air tube was not obstructed.
What could be causing the high water level? The foam seems very dry and not much is collecting in the cup. I have an auto top off so the water level in the sump is consistent.
Steve1714
New member
A few experiments I thought I would share
A few experiments I thought I would share
This may be helpful to some to show the difference my version of the mesh-mod makes to bubble production.
I set this up using a total of 6 pumps, 3 pumps with 6 layers of mesh pushed through the pins verses 3 pumps without mesh. The water flow into the skimmer from the tank stayed constant and the out flow was opened all the way. I used a kill a watt meter to show the watts being used by the pumps.
For the 3 pumps without the mesh my skimmer requires 129watts and looks like this:
Then i switched off those pumps and turned on the 3 pumps with the 6 layered mesh and my skimmer was using 151watts and looked like this:
So that is an increase of 22 watts to get some improvement to bubble production. I'll haft to see what bubble production looks like with 4 normal NW pumps to quantify the improvement in relation to the increased wattage.
(My interpretation of the results), If you only had one pump on your skimmer and you wanted more bubble production without adding another pump or up grading to a larger pump and you didn't want to cut the pins on the impeller to do the other mesh-mod you should try this mesh application first to see if it works for you.
For skimmers with 2 or more pumps you could use this method to fine tune the foam production, so if 2 pumps on is too dry of skimmate and 3 pumps is too wet of skimmate then 2 pumps with the mesh should produce what you are looking for. This would be a more efficient way than cutting back the air intake to the venturi which increases the wattage used by the pump substantially.
I'll keep tinkering around and see if i can barrow an air flow meeter from someone and will post my findings....
Steve G
A few experiments I thought I would share
This may be helpful to some to show the difference my version of the mesh-mod makes to bubble production.
I set this up using a total of 6 pumps, 3 pumps with 6 layers of mesh pushed through the pins verses 3 pumps without mesh. The water flow into the skimmer from the tank stayed constant and the out flow was opened all the way. I used a kill a watt meter to show the watts being used by the pumps.
For the 3 pumps without the mesh my skimmer requires 129watts and looks like this:
Then i switched off those pumps and turned on the 3 pumps with the 6 layered mesh and my skimmer was using 151watts and looked like this:
So that is an increase of 22 watts to get some improvement to bubble production. I'll haft to see what bubble production looks like with 4 normal NW pumps to quantify the improvement in relation to the increased wattage.
(My interpretation of the results), If you only had one pump on your skimmer and you wanted more bubble production without adding another pump or up grading to a larger pump and you didn't want to cut the pins on the impeller to do the other mesh-mod you should try this mesh application first to see if it works for you.
For skimmers with 2 or more pumps you could use this method to fine tune the foam production, so if 2 pumps on is too dry of skimmate and 3 pumps is too wet of skimmate then 2 pumps with the mesh should produce what you are looking for. This would be a more efficient way than cutting back the air intake to the venturi which increases the wattage used by the pump substantially.
I'll keep tinkering around and see if i can barrow an air flow meeter from someone and will post my findings....
Steve G
Steve1714
New member
shag26272,
do you have access to a watt meeter? if so i am curious as to how much your pump is using. These Eheim pumps are rated at 80 watts and normally run around 40 watts with the normal NW. I live in CA where Electricity is around .39 a kilowatt hr so efficiency is my bottom line.
I do not believe weight is the factor, I would say that it is the added friction with the water adding resistance.
Steve G
do you have access to a watt meeter? if so i am curious as to how much your pump is using. These Eheim pumps are rated at 80 watts and normally run around 40 watts with the normal NW. I live in CA where Electricity is around .39 a kilowatt hr so efficiency is my bottom line.
I do not believe weight is the factor, I would say that it is the added friction with the water adding resistance.
Steve G
shag26272
New member
yes you may be right , or it could be a little of both, I dont have a KW meter maybe someone else can test it. I know its a pretty popular mod. I have only seen people measure the air differences the skimmers are taking in. I would also be interested to see if more air means more power used.
EuroReef Tec1
Registered Member
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hahnmeister
In Memoriam
Well then you should be looking at a different skimmer all together rather than a Euroreef. The smaller needlewheel pumps are fine when its just one or two of them, but when you get bigger, and you end up with four or five of them... you might as well be running a beckett!
If electrical efficiency is a big concern, then Red Dragon fed Bubblekings should be high on your list (or fauna-marins which use Red Dragons). ATI bubblemasters as well.
OR DIY something. I get 120scfh with 85watts on a 4' tall body with a single Laguna Max-Flo 2400 pond pump. Thats better numbers than a Needlewheel Dart, and for $150. Perhaps Euroreef should consider getting pumps from Askoll like Royal Exclusiv does... make their own volutes, and needlewheels, and have their own version of a Red Dragon for less than $400 per pump (easily possible). In fact, on some pumps, all you really need is to redo the impeller, as the impeller well on the 2400 is large enough as is (its just that they are not threaded input/outputs because they are pond pumps).... so thats a $150 pump that needs a $100 needlewheel impeller redo, if that. And it will waste three eheim needlewheels in comparison, or a single needlewheel dart... at about half the wattage.
Steve1714
New member
Your right about using a different style of pump for the larger skimmers as far as efficiency goes, and Jeff at ER did suggest this option to me. I believe they are running tests with some models using the dart type pump. So i can't argue i have the most efficient skimmer, but i believe that i got the perfect skimmer for my personal situation. The "experiment" post i did basically only benefits those people who have only one or two pumps and want to see if just pushing mesh through the pins is effective at producing more air bubbles and i would say it is, but there is a trade off as far as electrical usage. Also, I would rather see more people doing the non-destructive mesh modification.
Steve G
Steve G
mkarston
New member
If I could butt in for just a second... I am considering the Euro-Reef RS250 to run my 265 gal reef (total water volume). Would this skimmer perform well if in a sump of 14" of water? If not I may have to consider the RS180 which is a little shorter (would this be able to support my tank?)
Thanks for the info!
Thanks for the info!
EuroReef Tec1
Registered Member
MKARSTON: PM sent
Tennsquire
New member
I've seen different opinions on this. Wondering if I can put a Sedra 5000 on a CS 6-1. I think the pump it originally came with (Sedra 3500) is kinda weak, truth be told, and would like to try and get more performance out of what is otherwise a well-built skimmer.
rs100 water level
rs100 water level
I followed the recommended water level range of 7" but it seems the bubbles don't have enough reaction time in the shorter height of this skimmer as the recommendations are the same for the for the taller RS80. What level are you guys running your RS100s?
Thanks
rs100 water level
I followed the recommended water level range of 7" but it seems the bubbles don't have enough reaction time in the shorter height of this skimmer as the recommendations are the same for the for the taller RS80. What level are you guys running your RS100s?
Thanks
I just wanted share with everyone that I've found that the air control valve must be used on the RS100. This may also hold true on other RS series skimmers. My new RS100 has been running for about 2 weeks with very poor performance producing very little skimmate, I assumed it was still breaking in. Today I began experimenting with the valve and found that if you close it about 3/4 way, the skimmer will start creating very dry foam. The difference is night and day.
Kayak_Guy
New member
Hey everyone.
Just received my RS80, I must say it looks sweet, I can't wait to get it running.
I'm still building my sump, and I have several questions.
1. Is there a min depth I need to run the skimmer? I know the pump needs to be fully submerged.
2. If I'm reading things right (newb here) I should put a wall under the bend in the outlet? To separate the water entering and exiting the skimmer?
3. I assembled the skimmer tonight, and I'm left with a part. It's a little tube with 2 little tubes sticking out of it. Looks like it's for an air tube to connect to.
Any help with these Q's would be great.
Just received my RS80, I must say it looks sweet, I can't wait to get it running.
I'm still building my sump, and I have several questions.
1. Is there a min depth I need to run the skimmer? I know the pump needs to be fully submerged.
2. If I'm reading things right (newb here) I should put a wall under the bend in the outlet? To separate the water entering and exiting the skimmer?
3. I assembled the skimmer tonight, and I'm left with a part. It's a little tube with 2 little tubes sticking out of it. Looks like it's for an air tube to connect to.
Any help with these Q's would be great.
i had a cs6-2 that had a sedra 5000 on it, and i liked it pretty well.. it was nowhere near overpowered though. if thats what your worried about then dont worry at all. i now have a cs8-2 that had a sedra 5000 on it that i just sold. i took that sedra off there, and put a modded octo 3000 on it, and OMG!! i loved it. then i did the recirc mod on it, and i now have the skimmer i have been waiting for.
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