tangtang clown
New member
opps. guess I better break out my reading glasses. HAHA
MSX skimmer club
- Thread starter JohnL
- Start date
boret
Premium Member
You shouldn't have a problem. What is it that you are concerned about?
You can always run it outside for a few weeks and once you feel comfortable place it underneath the tank.
I can move mine and I haven't had to since I got it over 4 months ago. The only things I messed around with where the half pipe to skim wet or dry (dry is working great -- meaning the bubbles barely break at the neck of the collection cup) and I moved around the output pipe... eventually removing the "B" pipe altogether.
Well, I also changed the position of the pumps, from horizontal to vertical, when we had a discussion a few pages back about the best orientation. I have it horizontal now and pretty happy with it.
I am also using the pin wheel that came with it, I have the mess wheel in storage until I decide to play with it.
Good luck and feel free to ask here. I did and I got great advice.
Thank you, thank you, thank you, Boret. I'll be sure to return your favor when I can. Thats what I love about this pace - give a little, get a little.
Anyway, my concern is that somehow the skimmer I got might be defective. I guess I am overly paranoid, but I just wanted to make sure the 200 was working and that I set it up right before I went through my installation process (which is gonna be a pita!).
Can't wait to skim!!!! Gunna be a helluva upgrade over by Remora HOB!
Anyway, my concern is that somehow the skimmer I got might be defective. I guess I am overly paranoid, but I just wanted to make sure the 200 was working and that I set it up right before I went through my installation process (which is gonna be a pita!).
Can't wait to skim!!!! Gunna be a helluva upgrade over by Remora HOB!
Aquarist007
New member
Well after a year I decided to completely clean the 250msx.
It did not go well at first----when I was removing the unit the neck got caught on the lip of my sump and I was covered with a week of nice smelling skimmate--the neck ended up in a 20 gal pail of ro/di water so that was toast. That has to be the grossest bone headed mistake I have made in this hobby.
The cleaning went well---I ran both scicci pumps in a pail of vinegar for 15 min and then a couple of min in ro water. Both air lines were really clogged with salt so I used a thin brush to clean them out.
I let the whole unit sit in vinegar for about 15 min and then was able to scrub all the salt creep and the algae on the inside of the body. I then rinsed it out good with water.
Hooked it all back up and let it rock---what a difference-- well worth the skimmate bath I guess
It did not go well at first----when I was removing the unit the neck got caught on the lip of my sump and I was covered with a week of nice smelling skimmate--the neck ended up in a 20 gal pail of ro/di water so that was toast. That has to be the grossest bone headed mistake I have made in this hobby.
The cleaning went well---I ran both scicci pumps in a pail of vinegar for 15 min and then a couple of min in ro water. Both air lines were really clogged with salt so I used a thin brush to clean them out.
I let the whole unit sit in vinegar for about 15 min and then was able to scrub all the salt creep and the algae on the inside of the body. I then rinsed it out good with water.
Hooked it all back up and let it rock---what a difference-- well worth the skimmate bath I guess
tangtang clown
New member
Hey Capn, skimmin aint easy.
NyReefNoob
skimmer freak
well i guess i can join now, had a er cs 8-2 on my 60g cube sps dominated and heavily loaded with fish, i was running the sicce pump on the skimmer, but the skimer was just way overkill on my system, so i got a msx 160, seeing i had a new sicce i put it on with the atb large pin wheel which is just too much for the body of the skimmer couldnt get it dialed in so i put the factory needle wheel on, havent tried the mesh on it and doubt i will as this is doing the job, nice littl skimmer so far, but do plan to add a gate valve later
boret
Premium Member
It won't create bubbles in fresh water.
// Begin RANT
You guys really don't take the time to read the thread, do you?
All you needed to do was to go back one page and the same question was posted and answered. It probably has been asked and answered about 30 times throughout the whole thread.
If you have an MSX/SWC/Octo skimmer chances are most of the questions you might have about it have already been answered. You don't need to read the whole thing but you can at least scan through it.
Oh well.....
I am the first to try to help people (i need help all the time) but it sucks if I have to waste time writing something that has been written several times just because you didn't want to waste your time reading the thread!!
// End Rant
// Begin RANT
You guys really don't take the time to read the thread, do you?
All you needed to do was to go back one page and the same question was posted and answered. It probably has been asked and answered about 30 times throughout the whole thread.
If you have an MSX/SWC/Octo skimmer chances are most of the questions you might have about it have already been answered. You don't need to read the whole thing but you can at least scan through it.
Oh well.....
I am the first to try to help people (i need help all the time) but it sucks if I have to waste time writing something that has been written several times just because you didn't want to waste your time reading the thread!!
// End Rant
someone had to say it boret
the sad part is i read all the way from the ORIGINAL thread and each closed/locked thread after the first till this one.. darn near every post made. it took a while but i had to make sure this was the skimmer for my system..
so far it has been doing great, i haven't found the correct tub to keep my level constant so it hates me sometimes but
lol running the stock PW's as well on a 300gal+ system (total)
the sad part is i read all the way from the ORIGINAL thread and each closed/locked thread after the first till this one.. darn near every post made. it took a while but i had to make sure this was the skimmer for my system..
so far it has been doing great, i haven't found the correct tub to keep my level constant so it hates me sometimes but
lol running the stock PW's as well on a 300gal+ system (total)
BigJay
New member
PPW produces a ton of skimmate in my system, let it break in and adjust the water level a bit.
I ran the meshwheel and had to re-do the thing three or four times before I got it right. One time I got it wrong, the meshwheel was unbalanced just a tiny bit, and I broke two different ceramic shafts in the sicce pump. I will admit though, nothing performs as well as a mesh wheel, but you have to be good at the whole handy/DIY sort of thing. That's not me.
I switched to the PPW, and it produces around 30-32 SCFH, which is admittedly 5-10 SCFH less than mesh, but still much better than the stock pinwheel. Good performance, no startup problems, and no fiddling with zipties, fishing line, scissors, and mesh material.
PS: I'll also admit that $40.00 (shippied) is ridiculous, but I've spent more on dumber things in this hobby. I can make a list longer than the RC post limit.
A.VOID
Premium Member
I've been running my 160 for a couple weeks, and I have a little concern with my skimmate production. I bought this used, so I shouldn't have too much of a "break-in" issue.
I have it dialed about a 3/4" past closed. I got the big bubbles just breaking where the body starts to taper (per rec's in the posts). I'm not getting the skimmate I'm used to from my ol' Euroreef. After 3 days, it's just above the drain plug. I'm not seeing the heavy foaming that others get.
That being said, I have zero nitrates, zero phosphates, low-med bio-load (5 fish in a 75 DT) and I vodka dose.
Am I fine where I'm at and quit worrying?
Should I dial it a little more closed to try and get higher/ more foam?
or other?
I have it dialed about a 3/4" past closed. I got the big bubbles just breaking where the body starts to taper (per rec's in the posts). I'm not getting the skimmate I'm used to from my ol' Euroreef. After 3 days, it's just above the drain plug. I'm not seeing the heavy foaming that others get.
That being said, I have zero nitrates, zero phosphates, low-med bio-load (5 fish in a 75 DT) and I vodka dose.
Am I fine where I'm at and quit worrying?
Should I dial it a little more closed to try and get higher/ more foam?
or other?
boret
Premium Member
No problem Penney02, you're not the first and probably won't be the last. You are fairly new and I shouldn't have jumped on your throat like that but, somehow it rubbed me the wrong way.
No problem kstallbe as long as the question is only asked every 5 pages we should be ok, LOL.
I wish there was an easier way to browse, scan, search these threads. I tried to get some info out of the "T5 Q&A" and it took me forever even to find the first page of the thread. So I can understand why it is easier to just post the question that reading the whole thing. But it does pay off if you take the time.
When I was reading the BETA Firmware update thread for the Aqua Controller 3 I was able to read the different problems people where having and how the first iterations of the firmware were buggy. I didn't download and install it until I was fairly sure. So it took me maybe 1 hour to go through the whole thing, but it was worth it not having to spend 3 or 4 trying to figure out why the controller failed or calling tech support.
Any questions about break in period/method, pin Wheels, mesh, bubble height, pump positioning, air tubing replacement, skimmate production, pump start up issues, etc... has been debated and discussed to great length in here so it pays to read the whole thread if you have a question related to those.
boret
Premium Member
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15331740#post15331740 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by capn_hylinur
Well after a year I decided to completely clean the 250msx.
It did not go well at first----when I was removing the unit the neck got caught on the lip of my sump and I was covered with a week of nice smelling skimmate--the neck ended up in a 20 gal pail of ro/di water so that was toast. That has to be the grossest bone headed mistake I have made in this hobby.
The cleaning went well---I ran both scicci pumps in a pail of vinegar for 15 min and then a couple of min in ro water. Both air lines were really clogged with salt so I used a thin brush to clean them out.
I let the whole unit sit in vinegar for about 15 min and then was able to scrub all the salt creep and the algae on the inside of the body. I then rinsed it out good with water.
Hooked it all back up and let it rock---what a difference-- well worth the skimmate bath I guess
How the heck did you manage that mess? I am trying to figure out how do you take the collection cup and end up dumping it in yourself and the RODI pail!!! At least you didn't dump it back in the sump
You cleaned it after a year. Seeing the performance gain... How often do you think we should clean the pumps? Every 6 months?
drummereef
Team RC
8-10" but 9" being optimal from what I've seen.
So I got my MSX200 set up with the help of my brother this weekend. I had to drain most of my tank so that I could slide it out from the wall.
The rubbermaid for the 200 would not fit within my 46g bowfront stand as designed. It was just larger than half of the open rear space and the center vertical support was in my way. So, time for more hobbyist ingenuity!
I cut two 2x4's and placed one just to the side of the center vertical brace. After some screws, I knocked out the center brace. Eeek! No calamities resulted! Then I had to do the same for another piece on the side. With the two 2x4s in place, the bank of the stand was wide open, with my current fuge next to the rubbermaid.
I jerry-rigged the rubbermaid inline with the sump using a u-tube. So, now my overflow runs into the rubbermaid where the skimmer is, which then overflows via the u-tube to my fuge. The fuge then dumps into a second area for return.
As a result, my rubbermaid and fuge level will both always be at the same water height.
Then I slid it all back to the wall (well, a little further from the wall than before because of the new rubbermaid), added water (had to add a new additional 15g of water because of the rubbermaid), and cranked her up.
Viola! Bubble magic. this is what I got after 24 hours, almost all the way closed. It's probably sitting in about 10" of water. I mat make a stand for it to raise it up.
The rubbermaid for the 200 would not fit within my 46g bowfront stand as designed. It was just larger than half of the open rear space and the center vertical support was in my way. So, time for more hobbyist ingenuity!
I cut two 2x4's and placed one just to the side of the center vertical brace. After some screws, I knocked out the center brace. Eeek! No calamities resulted! Then I had to do the same for another piece on the side. With the two 2x4s in place, the bank of the stand was wide open, with my current fuge next to the rubbermaid.
I jerry-rigged the rubbermaid inline with the sump using a u-tube. So, now my overflow runs into the rubbermaid where the skimmer is, which then overflows via the u-tube to my fuge. The fuge then dumps into a second area for return.
As a result, my rubbermaid and fuge level will both always be at the same water height.
Then I slid it all back to the wall (well, a little further from the wall than before because of the new rubbermaid), added water (had to add a new additional 15g of water because of the rubbermaid), and cranked her up.
Viola! Bubble magic. this is what I got after 24 hours, almost all the way closed. It's probably sitting in about 10" of water. I mat make a stand for it to raise it up.
Aquarist007
New member
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15336651#post15336651 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by boret
How the heck did you manage that mess? I am trying to figure out how do you take the collection cup and end up dumping it in yourself and the RODI pail!!! At least you didn't dump it back in the sump
You cleaned it after a year. Seeing the performance gain... How often do you think we should clean the pumps? Every 6 months?
Quite easily and really quick actually. Tilt skimmer body--collection cup catches on side of sump--lid not on ro/water pail beside the sump.
I'm going to inspect the air lines and the venturi on the pumps once a month now. One of them was really clogged with salt creep or carbonate since I add the two part b ionics to the sump area.
