sellout007
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tripple post. :eek1:
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sellout007:
You don't have to have your return completely out of the water. 1/2 or 3/4 submerged is fine. Use a 90 to help flow the water smoothly into the sump.
If you have not removed the cotton inside the air injector silencer as mentioned before, do it now
In fact you may want to add some hose to your air intake and suck air in from outside, or somewhere other than in your tank's cabinet. I did this and it helped immensely...
Make sure you clean the inside of the beckett housing every two weeks or when you realize that the ability to control the air seems hampered.
In reading your posts over the past few weeks, my impression is that you are trying mod after mod, without learning the skimmer. Start with one problem at a time. The best suggestions I can make are:
1. Eliminate the back pressure and get a steady water level in the skimmer. Set it and mark it with tape, check it every five minutes for 30 minutes and make sure it doesn't fluctuate. An 1/8" of fluctuation can cause major adjustment issues when you add air!
2. Learn the adjustments that work for you. It takes easily 30 minutes after cleaning or at a new start up to set the water level and let it sit, get the air adjusted and finally have it set and skimming. Moving too fast in this step can cause fluctuations that are hard to figure out down the road
3. Learn the injector knob, it is your friend. I have one injector that it takes a whole 360 turn to make a difference in the air intake and one that a 32nd of a turn will send it from dry foam to overflowing.
4. After you get this figured out, then do one mod at a time
I too was very frustrated when I first got mine. But now nine months later, I think I can finally give a little advice here and there. Am I thinking of a skimmer upgrade... Sure in a few years I may get an oversized Deltec... Or maybe not, who knows.
But anyways good luck!
You don't have to have your return completely out of the water. 1/2 or 3/4 submerged is fine. Use a 90 to help flow the water smoothly into the sump.
If you have not removed the cotton inside the air injector silencer as mentioned before, do it now
In fact you may want to add some hose to your air intake and suck air in from outside, or somewhere other than in your tank's cabinet. I did this and it helped immensely...Make sure you clean the inside of the beckett housing every two weeks or when you realize that the ability to control the air seems hampered.
In reading your posts over the past few weeks, my impression is that you are trying mod after mod, without learning the skimmer. Start with one problem at a time. The best suggestions I can make are:
1. Eliminate the back pressure and get a steady water level in the skimmer. Set it and mark it with tape, check it every five minutes for 30 minutes and make sure it doesn't fluctuate. An 1/8" of fluctuation can cause major adjustment issues when you add air!
2. Learn the adjustments that work for you. It takes easily 30 minutes after cleaning or at a new start up to set the water level and let it sit, get the air adjusted and finally have it set and skimming. Moving too fast in this step can cause fluctuations that are hard to figure out down the road
3. Learn the injector knob, it is your friend. I have one injector that it takes a whole 360 turn to make a difference in the air intake and one that a 32nd of a turn will send it from dry foam to overflowing.
4. After you get this figured out, then do one mod at a time
I too was very frustrated when I first got mine. But now nine months later, I think I can finally give a little advice here and there. Am I thinking of a skimmer upgrade... Sure in a few years I may get an oversized Deltec... Or maybe not, who knows.
But anyways good luck!
sellout007
New member
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7548887#post7548887 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Hop
sellout007:
You don't have to have your return completely out of the water. 1/2 or 3/4 submerged is fine. Use a 90 to help flow the water smoothly into the sump.
If you have not removed the cotton inside the air injector silencer as mentioned before, do it now
Make sure you clean the inside of the beckett housing every two weeks or when you realize that the ability to control the air seems hampered.
In reading your posts over the past few weeks, my impression is that you are trying mod after mod, without learning the skimmer. Start with one problem at a time. The best suggestions I can make are:
1. Eliminate the back pressure and get a steady water level in the skimmer. Set it and mark it with tape, check it every five minutes for 30 minutes and make sure it doesn't fluctuate. An 1/8" of fluctuation can cause major adjustment issues when you add air!
2. Learn the adjustments that work for you. It takes easily 30 minutes after cleaning or at a new start up to set the water level and let it sit, get the air adjusted and finally have it set and skimming. Moving too fast in this step can cause fluctuations that are hard to figure out down the road
3. Learn the injector knob, it is your friend. I have one injector that it takes a whole 360 turn to make a difference in the air intake and one that a 32nd of a turn will send it from dry foam to overflowing.
4. After you get this figured out, then do one mod at a time
I too was very frustrated when I first got mine. But now nine months later, I think I can finally give a little advice here and there. Am I thinking of a skimmer upgrade... Sure in a few years I may get an oversized Deltec... Or maybe not, who knows.
But anyways good luck!
Hey Hop, thanks for the info. Let me address some of your points real quick.
1) The sump lvl is constant. The skimmer draws water from the left side of sump and returns it in the left side of the sump. The right side is the side that fluctuates and where the return pump is. That is where the water evaporates from.
2) I may have made it sound like I make an adjustment every 2 minutes to the skimmer, but I do wait to see how things play out. Ill make an adjustment then come back and see what it did. Then make another one.
3) I just now started using the second injector (its currently drying). So I have only been using one. I realized a while ago that the directions everyone gives are very very VERY basic and that it really all depends on how your skimmer is set up. For example howmuch cotton you have in the silencer.
4) I really only have two mods on it. The raised injectors and dual becketts. If that second one is even a mod.
5) I havent checked your thread in a while! How are things going with that? Did your wife blow the tank up while you were away?
Good to hear. As far as the water level being constant I was referring to the skimmer body
I hope it works out for you, Believe me, I know how frustrating it is at first. I was ready to make mine a lawn ornament for the first three months (OK up until last month really)...
My wife did OK on the tank while I was gone... In fact I think better than when I'm manning the tank! Not much has changed, just added a few more corals here and there. Maybe by December it will look different as I'm only putting a few in a month
I hope it works out for you, Believe me, I know how frustrating it is at first. I was ready to make mine a lawn ornament for the first three months
(OK up until last month really)...My wife did OK on the tank while I was gone... In fact I think better than when I'm manning the tank! Not much has changed, just added a few more corals here and there. Maybe by December it will look different as I'm only putting a few in a month
sellout007
New member
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7549101#post7549101 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Hop
Good to hear. As far as the water level being constant I was referring to the skimmer body
I hope it works out for you, Believe me, I know how frustrating it is at first. I was ready to make mine a lawn ornament for the first three months
My wife did OK on the tank while I was gone... In fact I think better than when I'm manning the tank! Not much has changed, just added a few more corals here and there. Maybe by December it will look different as I'm only putting a few in a month
I just turned the skimmer back on, and I have more problems now then when I was running one beckett.
The drain for the skimmer is out of the water completely, and NOW the damn water lvl wont stay constant. So *** is going on now???? It keeps fluctuating up and down. Why? I also get gurgles comming from the drain now. I didnt change a thing in the skimmer or the plumbing. *sigh*
If anyone told me that there were this many issues with this skimmer I wouldnt have looked twice at it. I see these Lifereefs set up and they are SO SIMPLE and pull out SO MUCH *black* gunk. Its ridiculous. Im so frustarted, I dont even want to make it an ornament, i want to smach it into ****ing pieces.
And thats good to hear about the tank! That thing was a beast, im glad you decided to stick with it. o)
HippieSmell
Occupy Reef Central
Is it normal for dry foam to build up in the "middle" neck over the course of a couple minutes, then go crazy and shoot wet skimmate up into the collection cup? That's what mine does over and over, but it never used too. I have an MRC-2, Iwaki MD55RLT, skimmer above the sump, siphon break, blah blah. It does skim, in fact I get about 5 gallons a week of light yellow skimmate, but it just seems sporadic. Thanks for the help.
sellout007
New member
Tonight was my last draw. Im done with this skimmer. I quadrupled my problems tonight. This thing isnt worth the headaches. I just want to enjoy my tank and not have to **** with something this much to get it to do its job.
Im so upset right now I dont even want the tank, I have the mindset right now that I could be using that money for a dozen different things.
Im so upset right now I dont even want the tank, I have the mindset right now that I could be using that money for a dozen different things.
Sellout,before you trash the whole setup, here's what I Finally figured out and got My MR-2 to work.
1.Remove the cotton ball.
2.Remove the second injector (for now). Learn the skimmer BEFORE you change it. It will make life SOOOOO much easier.
3.Set your water level above the box and below the Union. Doesn't matter where....just set it with the air off and leave the gate valve set at that.
4.Close your air valve off and open it about 1 turn. Then Leave the skimmer alone for a few days...no messing with it.This skimmer works great , but from what I have seen adusting it after 30 mins..or an hour or so left alone is not enuff. leave it set at one setting for a day or so.
5. If you are not getting any skimmate after ...say 2 days...open the air valve a 1/4 turn..then leave it alone for 2 days.Keep this up untill you start getting some skimmate out , then you can adjust it 1/4 turn or less untill you get it set where you want it.
I know from what I have seen , I can set mine and it will be running fine after 5-6 hours..but when I get up in the morning my waste container will be full.
You do not want to set the skimmer for what it is skimming at the moment...but for what it will skim in a day or so.Kinda set it for the average.
I know mine will go from hardly no foam, to overrunning the skimmer over the course of a day or so.
The main thing is to step back and let it try to do its job without tooo much fiddleing. Once you have it set, just clean it on a regular schedule.
The more you mess with em, the more aggravated ya get.
1.Remove the cotton ball.
2.Remove the second injector (for now). Learn the skimmer BEFORE you change it. It will make life SOOOOO much easier.
3.Set your water level above the box and below the Union. Doesn't matter where....just set it with the air off and leave the gate valve set at that.
4.Close your air valve off and open it about 1 turn. Then Leave the skimmer alone for a few days...no messing with it.This skimmer works great , but from what I have seen adusting it after 30 mins..or an hour or so left alone is not enuff. leave it set at one setting for a day or so.
5. If you are not getting any skimmate after ...say 2 days...open the air valve a 1/4 turn..then leave it alone for 2 days.Keep this up untill you start getting some skimmate out , then you can adjust it 1/4 turn or less untill you get it set where you want it.
I know from what I have seen , I can set mine and it will be running fine after 5-6 hours..but when I get up in the morning my waste container will be full.
You do not want to set the skimmer for what it is skimming at the moment...but for what it will skim in a day or so.Kinda set it for the average.
I know mine will go from hardly no foam, to overrunning the skimmer over the course of a day or so.
The main thing is to step back and let it try to do its job without tooo much fiddleing. Once you have it set, just clean it on a regular schedule.
The more you mess with em, the more aggravated ya get.
trueblackpercula
New member
I to had a lot of problems until I found two things wrong.
1st the cotton was cloged
2nd set the water level4 inches above the black box and open the air valve 3 full turns and wait a whole day before making adjustments. If the skimate is not reaching the colection cup then turn the gate valve 1/16 th of a turn ane you must wait 2 hours. try this first with out any devation from what i just told you. you will have luck just like i did. this thing is not a toy and it requires a lot of adjusting until you get it down pat. I HOPE IT WORKS OUT FOR YOU AND GOOD LUCK WITH YOUR CHOICE
1st the cotton was cloged
2nd set the water level4 inches above the black box and open the air valve 3 full turns and wait a whole day before making adjustments. If the skimate is not reaching the colection cup then turn the gate valve 1/16 th of a turn ane you must wait 2 hours. try this first with out any devation from what i just told you. you will have luck just like i did. this thing is not a toy and it requires a lot of adjusting until you get it down pat. I HOPE IT WORKS OUT FOR YOU AND GOOD LUCK WITH YOUR CHOICE
sellout007
New member
Meh, I got a new skimmer.
sellout007
New member
A LifeReef. I want something thats quiet, easy and doesnt need constant tinkering. It may not have been that way for everyone else. But Ive tried every which way to adjust that thing. Just wasnt working for me.
Your experience reminds me of mine sellout. I bought an MR1 and set it up on an extra tank in the basement. I tried for a few weeks and couldn't get it to work right(turns out it was an old style injector that was leaking air from what I know now). Andy said he would send me a new injector and I had just had it so he took the skimmer back and gave me a full refund. I bought a Lifereef. I was happy with it for a while. They are very easy to use and it was a good skimmer but I still wanted a little more so I decided to give Andy another chance. I purchased an MR2 and was amazed once I figured it out how much better it worked than the Lifereef...probably 5 times the skimmer the Lifereef is and the Lifereef is 2 times the skimmer my little 6" wide 20" tall Euroreef is.....needeless to say I've never looked back
FWIW, Chris
FWIW, Chris
sellout007
New member
*laughs* That was a good one. o)
I still have the MR2. Im not selling it yet. If I dont like the LifeReef I can always go back. But from what Ive seen this thing pull out on some of our customers tanks. It will make me happy.
jjmatti
Premium Member
Need Advice...
My MR-2 is hooked into my sump/fuge with the usual PVC Flex tubing. I keep getting little snails and crabs sucked up into the pump. I have tried putting a filter floss type cover over the intake but the pumped sucked that in as well. Is there any sort of intake filter that works well without impeding the flow into the skimmer?? Any tips would be helpful.
My MR-2 is hooked into my sump/fuge with the usual PVC Flex tubing. I keep getting little snails and crabs sucked up into the pump. I have tried putting a filter floss type cover over the intake but the pumped sucked that in as well. Is there any sort of intake filter that works well without impeding the flow into the skimmer?? Any tips would be helpful.
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