MRC Mr-1 Skimmer

McLaughlin4

New member
I cannot for the life of me get this skimmer tuned in to a good steady foam. Its either way to wet or to dry when its to dry the bubble seem to dwindle over time , and if its to wet you dont get a true skim just big wet bubbles that fill and drain into the cup filling it with a light green water .. I want sludge and I'm getting pretty frustrated . Pretty soon there is going to be a MRC skimmer offered for sale in a different forum.:mad: Anyone have any ideas on how to get this skimmer working properly ?
 
McLaughlin-

I used to run an MR-2; it was fantastic... So, a few questions....

1. How long have you had it?

2. How high is the water over the black box? (No Air)

3. How many turns out is the air screw?

4. How are you adjusting the skimmate quality?

5. How long do you let it "settle" before you do further adjustments?

You may also want to try posing in the MRC users forum.

-Andy
 
Its been running for a month . Water level is about half way between black box and chamber bulkhead, air screw is opened about 1 1/2 turns . Question number 4 I dont understand , About 2 days .
 
McLaughlin-

Alright, here are a couple of starting points...

Turn off the air; lower the water level unit it's about 2" up from the black box, in the tube. Leave the air off for about 30 minutes, and re-check to make sure it's about 2" up.

Turn your air on. I recommend about 3-3 1/2 turns. Tweak 1/8 turn at a time until you see the finest bubbles.

Leave it alone for a while (Unless it begins to overflow, of course.).

Question 4 was how do you adjust between wet or dry? You should set, and forget the air. If your pump is maintaining pressure, other than cleaning the Beckett and the air passage, you should never have to monkey with it.

The ONLY thing to touch, other than above maintnence is the gate valve, and never turn it more than 1/8 turn at a shot.

It will take a day or two of methodical adjusting, but once it's dialed in, they're fantastic.

Next, what type of pump are you running with it? If it's a submersible, that's another piece of the problem...

-Andy
 
Ok I will try it tonight . My pump is an external blueline hd 40 . Thanks for the help . I will let you know what happens .
 
One thing I would add to the info given, make the adjustments as far away from feeding time as possible. Depending on what food you add to the tank, the foam head/bubble size can be SERIOUSLY affected....

For example, when you wake up in the morning.
 
McLaughlin-

The pump is good, and honesltly, SDGuy is very right... Should have mentioned that.

Good luck, and reach out if you're still having issues!

-Andy
 
I have an MR3 on my 90gallon with about 20 gallons and change in the sump/refuge. I run both my return and one injector (I have 2 but only run one) with an Iwaki 70. I get a steady dry foam with plenty of "sludge". I have my water a little above half way up the column (slightly above the 6" from the top of the black box the manufacturer recommends.). I keep my air dialed out about 4 turns. My skimmer is obviously grossly over-rated for my tank and therefore tends to "idle" a lot. I do get about 2.5 gallons of thick nasty skimmate a month. Don't get disgruntled, once you get it tuned this is a great skimmer and one of the best I've ever owned.
 
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