MRC Club

[sacremon]

Pitching in 2 cents of experience here, if it might be of use to anyone:

I got an MRC-1 back in August along with a PCX-30. I didn't start it up till my 125g was cycled, as I was expecting to get fish soon. That didn't happen, but in the meantime we got tired of the sound of the PCX-30, which was loud enough to be annoying in the family room. I was getting all sorts of inconsistent behavior in terms of the height of the water/foam as well.

About two months ago I replaced it with a MAG 12, running the pump in the sump (the skimmer is outside of the sump). Same problems with the height. I broke down the beckett and backflushed it well, which dislodged a lot of macroalgae fragments. I put the sponge filter on the pump and since then it has been rock solid.

I have a real light bioload in the tank at the moment (a 3" volitans and a 4" metallic rabbit, couple dozen hermits and about 40 snails) but I pull almost a quart of dark foam a week. Now, once a week, I clean out the collection tank, the top part of the skimmer, the beckett and the sponge on the pump. I have a MAG 24 in case I need to move up to a larger skimmer (Danner is no longer making MAG 24's).

 

[Gtstricky]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12673000#post12673000 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by tusco
I had water come out of the silencers when I **** the power off.I assume this is where having extensions on the Becketts comes in handy.Can I just use parts from HD or do I have to buy them from MRC.I just got my R3R Sunday so any help from youall would be very much appreciated.

No there is nothing special there. Just use your home depot or lowes pipes.

And welcome to the club!

 

[tusco]

Thanks.I should have asked if there is a certain length of extension to make 6in. or 12 in. and do most of you run the skimmer for dry or wet foam.thanks again.

 

[tusco]

I saw a pic on pg.16 of a setup with extensions on the becketts and someone replied that you get better bubbles if the becketts are right on the box .I wanted to raise them so the beckett would be above the water level in the skimmer.Like everyone else I want to get the best performance possible..what should I do.I'm going to do the utube mod as well.Thanks any help is much appreciated.

 

[Gtstricky]

Most seem to run them wet but everyone runs them dry at one point just to see the gunk.

The nice thing about the extension is that it might cost you $3 in supplies. Therefor, try it and see how you like it. Try it without...

In theory the riser will give you more contact time between the water and bubbles and hence, better skimming.

 

[Holyreefer]

gtSTRICKY,
dUDE you aviatar is really bothering me... like lil man is staring me down or something... Funny Picture!

 

[Evolley1]

I have the MR3R and I've done the u tube mod for the becketts. It's definitely an improvement! As for the beckett extension...now that I've seen someone do the air line extension I also may follow suit. I had a power outage a few days ago and when the power kicked back on...my beckett pump remained off while the feed pump kicked on. The biggest problem was that the water column raised above the airline beckett hole and the airline started leaking. As it continued to leak it eventually made contact with an electrical cord that was leading to a live socket. Fortunately for me I got home in time to find a smoking outlet as the plug was slowly starting to melt. If I was any later than I was in finding the problem it could've turned out worse. I believe my becketts should remain at the same height however I like the idea of combining the airlines into one and raising it above the water column just in case. This problem seems to happen a lot to me if and when I turn off the beckett pump or the power goes out. The water column just does not drop quick enough for the water not to flow out of the airline from the beckett. Anyone else experience this as well?

 

[Holyreefer]

gtSTRICKY,
dUDE you aviatar is really bothering me...Everytime i read one of your post i feel like lil man is staring me down or something... Funny Picture!

 

[tusco]

It sounds like you do not have a GFI on the circuit.I have a ground fault on every circuit that powers my equipment.
Do the ends of your utubes stick straight up or angled to increase turbulance.

 

[prime311]

Does anyone know if the utube mod would reduce bubbles coming out of an MR1 skimmer or have a good way to reduce it? Also how do your becketts fill up with water in a power outage? Do you have your gate valves below the water line?

 

[Gtstricky]

Yes my gate valve is below water line.

This should answer the MR-1 mod question.

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9783181#post9783181 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by drstupid
hey, welcome to the MR1 club! the utube mod basically directs the input up towards the tower so you get fewer bubbles exiting the skimmer. you should definitely do it, i'm sort of surprised andy doesn't sell them configured like this to start with.

i think it's 1 1/4" fittings involved, but don't remember and am disinclined to take things apart right now to figure it out. a tape measure should make it obvious what you need. the slip fitting snugs over the (threaded) bulkhead, no glue.

with my MR1, i used a street 90 (female part goes over the bulkhead, male to the next fitting) and a 45. the best way to describe how to do the mod is: buy those parts and stick them in your skimmer and turn in back on. you'll figure it out pretty quickly. be careful, too; the acrylic edges inside are not sanded, and you can skin your knuckles pretty easily futzing around in there.

oh and MRC has a new website up. www.myreefcreations.com

 

[prime311]

Cool, thanks. I was told to keep my gate valve above the water line by guy at MRC, but I'm also using a Mag 12 pump. Do you know if that just a performance thing? TBH I'd prefer it under the water line.

 

[Gtstricky]

You have much better control of the water level if it is above the water line and since you are not using a pressure rated pump it might be best to keep it up. But hey... give it a shot. If it is a pain to adjust you might have to rethink the pump or move it up.

I had an MR-1 in a tub for my curing live rock and I moved it out onto a crate and it was much easier to adjust and tweak.

 

[prime311]

Ya I originally moved it up because the skimmer was barely working. Since then I replaced the old injector with their new version and switched my 1/2" tubing to 1" and its worked a lot better since. Guess it's time to try lowering it again and cross my fingers

 

[sacremon]

Is the U-tube trick solely for reducing microbubbles in the DT, or does it provide in some fashion better skimming as well? I don't have a big MB problem as I have a fairly low flow to/from the sump - I use a Mag 5, and there is a 4' rise to the top of the return. I figure that gives the skimmer plenty of time to draw in the water a few times over and get out what it can. I have a couple Koralia 4s to supply circulation in the DT itself.

 

[Gtstricky]

It will improve the skimming a little but only if you are loosing a lot of bubbles. I did not loose many on my MR-1 but my MR-2 dumps a lot of bubbles into my sump. Enough that my sump works like a mini skimmer meaning I get some skimmate around the edges of my sump. I will be doing the mod here in the next couple of weeks.

 

[Evolley1]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12677792#post12677792 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by tusco
It sounds like you do not have a GFI on the circuit.I have a ground fault on every circuit that powers my equipment.
Do the ends of your utubes stick straight up or angled to increase turbulance.

Untortunately I did not have GFI outlets...I will now. The U tube mod sitcks straight up. The reason why I use it is to have more bubbles in the column than in the box since I am using a Iwaki 55. If i were to upgrade my pump to a Iwaki 70 I wouldn't need to U tube mod. I'm just trying to save electricity.

The reason why my becketts fill up is due to the recirculating feed pump. When the beckett pump doesn't turn on with the feed pump the skimmer tends to fill up with water past the point of where my becketts are.

 

[prime311]

Just to make sure I have this right, these are the pieces I need for the utube fitting for my mr1?


2 - 1.5" 45 degree slip elbows
2 small pieces of 1.5" PVC

 

[Gtstricky]

I think for the mr-1 you need a street 90 and a 45. I would get them in 1 1/4 and 1 1/2 and see what size works. All 4 pieces might cost $1 total so just get all 4 and save yourself a trip back.

 

[prime311]

If I get both I'll have to take a trip back to return the extras anyway cuz I'm cheap Thats what I'll do tho Don't I need any PVC to connect them? I haven't used the street 90 before so I'm not sure what it looks like. Also, the 45 goes over the bulkhead then or the street 90?