MRC Club

[RGibson]

MdM31 what kind of a pump are you using?

 

[RGibson]

Take the lid off the cup then start the pump.

 

[wrz0170]

wrx0170 since ur set up is new it's going to take a bit to kick in cuz u have no bio load just u'r L/R give it a couple of day's, what i did when my MR-2 was new i just closed the gate valve some more & kept my water leve 1/2 way up the neck .

wrz you will have to wait until the chemicals from your new PVC are gone before you see any type of real bubbles.

I forgot to say thanks for the replys guys. Definitely appreciated. I guess my only remaining question is how or when will I know when the skimmer is ready for adjustment? Makes perfect sense that there is hardly a bio load and there is a break in period, so little foam.

I guess I don't know if it will foam up on it's own into the cup or if I adjust the gate valve to cause it to go into the cup?

 

[samsfishnchips]

wrz0170,

just give it time, good suggestion on the instruction sheets

let it run for 24hrs with air valve open all the way and water level low,

and most skimmers, take about a range of about a week, to get stable, some kind of residue is on the acrylic that affects the skimmer, and so forth,

and when its ready, it will foam up to the cup, and this of skimate is the dry one, wet is when you keep water level at the very top,

it will foam up just like this

on previous page is the wet one, as with all things in reefkeeping patience is of essence

I have learn some of that

sam

 

[jasonstr8up]

Hey, anyone know if the MR-1 or MR2 will fit in a sump 14"x12" with a pump? I was reading and I could not find the foot print size for this skimmer with the pumps. I know...... I know...... It's there but I could not find it.

 

[wrz0170]

Thanks Sam!

Thats what I needed to know. That it will foam up on it's own after time.

thanks again and I will keep everyone posted on how it goes.

 

[Hop]

Hey, anyone know if the MR-1 or MR2 will fit in a sump 14"x12" with a pump? I was reading and I could not find the foot print size for this skimmer with the pumps. I know...... I know...... It's there but I could not find it.

The foot print size is right here on the MRC site. At the top under box dimentions I overlooked it like five times myself!

 

[jasonstr8up]

The foot print size is right here on the MRC site. At the top under box dimentions I overlooked it like five times myself!

Thanks:thumbsup:

 

[MdM31]

ok will do.

-Mike

 

[MdM31]

it worked! thanks everyone!

-Mike

 

[Ninja120]

Just wondering how are the maintenance for MRC skimmers? I was reading this forum and saw parts cracking, does this happen often with MRC skimmers? If so is it replacable and a cheap fix?

 

[cmhollis]

Ok,

I have a couple of quick questions about my MR-3. I have the dual Beckett version driven by a Blueline HD70 pump. I filled my system today to do a wet test. The skimmer sits on a shelf about 2' above the pump. Anyhow, the bubbles in the skimmer were rather large, I was expecting very small bubbles. Also, the level in the skimmer was varying widely, from up to the neck all the down to the drain pipe level.

Is it possible that the pump can't pump against the 2' discharge head, or do I just need to be patient and wait for the thing to break-in?

 

[samsfishnchips]

Just wondering how are the maintenance for MRC skimmers? I was reading this forum and saw parts cracking, does this happen often with MRC skimmers? If so is it replacable and a cheap fix?

Ninja,

first of all, maintenance as of cleaning the skimmer, is personal preference, and which type of skimate is being produce, I run skimmer wet and clean it once a week

about parts, MRC units are well built and with any well built skimmer, with taking care and not droping it, it will last for ever

you mention "parts cracking", I will assume you are talking about a "john" 1/4" elbow, the only reason that crack was because the user was running ozone through it, and even "ozone" safe tubing must be replace once in a while, ozone is very strong stuff

that piece goes for about a few dollars, and that piece is being use on all skimmers I have seem, so is not a MRC issue,

if you have any more ? just shoot our way

Ok,

I have a couple of quick questions about my MR-3. I have the dual Beckett version driven by a Blueline HD70 pump. I filled my system today to do a wet test. The skimmer sits on a shelf about 2' above the pump. Anyhow, the bubbles in the skimmer were rather large, I was expecting very small bubbles. Also, the level in the skimmer was varying widely, from up to the neck all the down to the drain pipe level.

Is it possible that the pump can't pump against the 2' discharge head, or do I just need to be patient and wait for the thing to break-in?

Hi cmhollis

lets see

you have the correct pump for that skimmer size and number of becketts, so thats fine

did you use salt water?

and if so

big bubbles causes

1. oils in the water, like from your hand, feeding, ect.
2. skimmer needs a break in period, so residues from acrylic, are remove, ect.
3. too much air.

varying widely level

1. plum incorrectly
2. oils in the water, needs time for the oils to be ate by the bacteria or by skimmer

oils and break in period affect all skimmer, they break up the formation of fine bubbles, and don't let them foam

can you provide us with a pic? describe how you plum it?

sam

 

[cmhollis]

Well,

I was using fresh water (I did not want to waste the salt and RO/DI). I just filled the system from the tap to check for leaks. I guess I won't bother messing with the skimmer until I drain, clean, and refill with RO/DI & salt.

Thanks for the help,

Mike

 

[samsfishnchips]

cmhollis,

lol that was easy

no problem we are here to help, remember if you need any help tuning, or any other questions, just shot our way

sam

 

[cmhollis]

I will,

Thanks.

 

[Bryan89]

Ok,

I have a couple of quick questions about my MR-3. I have the dual Beckett version driven by a Blueline HD70 pump. I filled my system today to do a wet test. The skimmer sits on a shelf about 2' above the pump. Anyhow, the bubbles in the skimmer were rather large, I was expecting very small bubbles. Also, the level in the skimmer was varying widely, from up to the neck all the down to the drain pipe level.

Is it possible that the pump can't pump against the 2' discharge head, or do I just need to be patient and wait for the thing to break-in?

Wow, that setup is so identical to mine that it is scary. Amazingly enough, my fresh water wet test results were identical to yours!

Yes, I would say that is how it is supposed to work with fresh water. I was able to stabilize the level with the gate valve and the Dwyer flowmeters I use to control air flow. 35 scfh of air for each beckett and the system runs great with fresh water.

Bryan

 

[HookedOnReefing]

Ahhh, no worries my fried It's really fair, nor does it make any sense to judge skimmer performance based on a fresh water wet test. There is no skimmer that produces small bubbles in fresh water or comes even close as to how it would perform when used with saltwater for which they're made.

Honestly, I wouldn't worry about it till you have it running in saltwater, has had ample time to break in, and you have learned how to fine tune it.

 

[Hop]

OK so for the MRC veterans, maybe this is common knowledge and maybe I'm a stupid newbie

But I knew that my MR3 was not performing up to what all the hype has been. Tuning this thing has been an absolute nightmare. I've cruised this thread and even asked for help. Some tried to help, but nothing worked. Lets just say that I have been thinking about going to another brand of skimmer. This thing would not stay tuned and needed adjustment every day, sometimes several times a day. It was driving me nuts. I could either get good dark skimmate or get a good wet skim going only to find that a few hours later, I either skimmed good salt water, or was back to cranking the stupid air valve more.

I thought and thought and decided that I was going to re-vamp the intake and try that. I did notice that the cotton filter was needing replacement every few days to get a good air supply.

Tonight I tore the skimmer apart as I had to e-mail Andy about the most horrendous clicking noise coming from inside the beckett housing. He told me what to fix, so I tore is apart to fix what I belive is officially called the "watchamagizmo"

So while I had this thing tore apart, I thought I would quickly make some type of prototype for a new intake and see what happened. And you know what... I found my problem... It was called AIR. Turns out I wasn't getting too much.

Here is what I started with:

I came home to this about 50% of the time. I would set it to be wet, but then it would back itself off and look like this

So tonight I roughed this together:

I just adapted a 1" 90 and a piece of 1.5" with holes drilled in it. Then I filled it with carbon and covered it with pantyhose, just to keep the carbon in and aid in keeping dirt out. I still have the cotton filter at the mouth of the injector.

It's not pretty as this is just a prototype... But wow what a difference in performance. Before to skim wet, I had to have the water level up and into the second riser before I opened the air valve to get it to skim wet. Now I have the water level a tad above the half-way point of the first riser... All I can say is what a difference. It sounds funny, but after running this thing for seven weeks the way it was, you can feel the power of the upgrade. it's like going from a family car to a hemi

I'm going to make something a little better looking and permanent soon, but I hope that someone else having problems finds this post helpful.

Now I can start getting thing put away in the wetroom. I have had to do so much tweaking with this thing and thought I was going to replace it, I was apprehensive about permanently mounting anything and cleaning up

 

[Ixthys]

Hop,
So I assume you have the air running wide-open and are only adjusting the gate valve?
Thanks!