Lets see some tunze skimmate!

[Melbourne]

Honda2sk, I haven't had this problem. My moded Tunzes are still running great. Did you dose anything or did anything spawn in tank? Those are two things that can cause a skimmer to overflow without any adjustments. The worst offender in my experience has been 2 part epoxy, the stuff will make all my skimmers go crazy.

 

[Fliger]

Do I win a prize?

The dark skimmate came as the the result of user error. I didn't put the bottom plate in correctly so my water was lower than usual. So I was able to run the air wide open with no mods. I got this skimmate all the time, and it was actually a low nutrient tank. Its been a while since I used it but I wouldn't hesitate to use it agan - IIRC what would create the same result would be cutting the standpipe down a couple inches.

 

[trmiv]

Wow, that's nuts. How long did it take to generate that much? I may go get some PVC and give that standpipe idea a try..

 

[Fliger]

Truly not long. I wouldn't post this if it weren't true, the last thing I need is a bunch of RC people hating me for wasting their money. That was on my barebottom 120XL and it rocked. I might be able to dig up more pix in my iPhoto. One thing I notice looking at other people's pix is that my "sludge" starts down the neck further. My water level must have been quite low and the pump supposedly drew ~600LPH. So no surprise the skimmate was so dark for such a tight little body.

One great thing is the cup lifts right off and is a breeze to clean. I loved that skimmer.

With that skimmer and 2x150W lights (and some T5) - the results were pretty nice!

 

[skimmy]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10127750#post10127750 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Melbourne
Honda,

The mods are simple - one is the replace the standpipe that comes stock with the sump kit with one made with parts from Home Depot. I used a 1" to 3/4" elbow reducing fitting and some 3/4" PVC and a 3/4" PVC T and a 3/4" ball valve to make this. The elbow goes into the hole on the DOC skimmer where your old stand pipe elbow went. The PVC you cut to length, a short piece to the 3/4" T. The top has another piece of 3/4" PVC that is slightly higher than the blue line on the skimmer body. The ball valve or gate valve is attached to the other part of the T with a small piece of 3/4" PVC. Everything is done with slip fittings and nothing needs to be glued. If you can find a nice gate valve I would use that instead since it is easier to adjust.

This will allow you to adjust the water height inside the skimmer. This is only required for additional tuning since the mesh mod generates so much air, too much actually for the DOC skimmer body.

The mesh mod is pretty popular and draws a ton of air. I have a meshwheel skimmer also and a bunch of regular Aquabee needlewheel's and the meshwheel really pulls in the air. In the case of the Tunze, I don't modify the stock impeller at all, I just add a single layer of Enkamat secured with fishing line. Trim it to fit.

Here is one of the threads on meshwheels.

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=966407&perpage=25&pagenumber=1

The combination allows you to generate so much foam that it will literally shoot out the top of the skimmer, obviously this is not desirable so you tune it down through the use of the air valve on the skimmer and the adjustable valve on the output pipe you make.

uuummm, please someone correct me if im wrong, as i've never actually owned a 9010, but i have sold and set up a couple...
i just dont see how mesh mod will do a damn thing to this skimmer...
look at the diagram, the air is injected into a venturi that is on the pump outlet,
now, unless you are moving the air injector to the pump intake somehow,
your enkamat never comes into contact with any air, correct?

you also mentioned that you reduced the plumbing on the outlet from 1" to 3/4" AND added a ball valve,
even with that valve wide open you have still reduced the outlet size enough to increase the water level in the skimmer
and produce the occasional overflowing effect.
mabye we can get roger to chime in here, as im just speculating...

 

[rvitko]

Not having tried this I am not an authority, I would speculate that the restriction causes a portion of the water to bypass the exit and be recirculated through the pump. Or the Enkamat is simply increasing the flow volume.

 

[honda2sk]

restricting the output is similar to the "performance ring" that is an option on the master doc skimmer outputs, it increases the water height on the exit pipe hence inside the skimmer allowing you to skim wetter.

 

[saltygeek]

9002

9002

Not alot of skimmate because there was only one fish in the tank when I took the photo.

[/IMG]

 

[gillies]

Here's mine today. This is 24 hours production. Been running this skimmer over a year now and this is what I get daily - just like clockwork. Extremely small footprint, super easy to clean, silent, and trouble free. Perfection for me and my 90.

 

[The Grim Reefer]

I am having a problem with my 9010. The collection cup smells like ****

That is a weeks worth after swapping the 9010 in place of a Octopus 110 recirculating skimmer. Took about 3 days and 5 turns out for it to start skimming.

I did make an unintended mod to the skimmer which I assume accounts for the ultra dark skimmate. It is mounted in my sump but I needed to raise the skimmer up because the water level was too deep. So being the Mr. Wizzard of the Ghetto type I decided to mount it on top of a inverted tubberware bowl. Thought "well let us not halfazz this" so I drilled a couple 1/4" holes in the bottom plate so I could zip tie the skimmer to the Hi Tech riser stand. About 5 minutes after I fired it up I got hit up side the head with the magical power of DOH!!! I figured as long as water was coming out of the riser tube and the hole on the back the water level wasn't too far off so I just let it go. Seems to have paid off.

 

[Emster]

This is 36 hours. I love this thing, so easy and it skims circles around my Euro reef. Grim reefer does yours pull more skim then your octo?

Yes that is a gallon jug but its just temp. till I can build one out of acrylic.

 

[The Grim Reefer]

Yes but to be fair one of the reasons I got rid of the octo is I had a hard time getting to the gate valve to tweak in the Octo.

 

[glalderman]

Here is 48hrs worth of thick smelly crap on my 9015...

I also was using an Octopus 110 NW before the Tunze purchase and never had this kind of crap pulled out in 48hrs.

I just replaced the 9015 cup with the foam extractor yesterday and had to turn in the airscrew as it was foaming way too much! Interested to see the results when I get home from work tonight!

Greg

 

[Husky_1]

BTW, last week I decided to try the gate valve mod, except I did it a little different. I took a 1" -> 3/4" PVC elbow and attached it to an expansion valve. A little cutting to make it shorter, and a little dremeling the 1" elbow, and now I am pulling 450ml of wet skimmate per day. This is not clear liquid, but not really dark. Basically exactly what I was looking for...

I am now running the air all the way open, where in the past if i did this, it would cause the cup to overflow with virtually clear saltwater.

I think it really has to do with the restriction, since even when I keep the expansion at the same level as the stock, the performance is much, much better.

For S&G's I will try the enkamat mod, even though I do understand that it wont necessarily pull in more air. Worse case, I take it off.

 

[Emster]

Anybody want to update on how their tunze is skimming? For those that have done the mods how are those working out for you? I think I might try and mod mine.

 

[smatter]

This is a couple days worth on a bare bottom Oceanic 37 with no fish or corals. There are just a few snails and an urchin so nothing is added to the tank except fresh Tunze Reef Excel mixed in RO/DI water. Once all the phosphate is done leaching out of my phos rocks from Reefer Madness I'll add some frags. The in-tank 9005 coupled with two Nanostream 6055s are helping me defeat the algae once and for all.

 

[ClownReef®]

I just filled up my new tank today. How long before i fire up my Tunze 9005???

 

[smatter]

Fire it up now to break it in.

 

[ClownReef®]

I don't mean to hijack..but it fills only half way. Is this normal Tunze skimmer behavior on a BRAND NEW system?

 

[smatter]

What only fills halfway, the reaction chamber or the skimmer body? Make sure the bottom plate is on correctly and that the pump nozzle is firmly seated into the pipe inside. Also check that the air hose is connected properly.