New skimmer

rcmike

rcmike

Active member
Hey guys, I finally found a great deal on a skimmer that I couldn't pass up. I bought an Aerofoamer 830 from Zoom here on RC last week. Maybe my tank will start doing better now, I don't think my Aqua C was quite doing the job. Here is a picture of it beside the recently taken off EV-180. Oddly enough the Aqua C skimmer started skimming pretty well the night before as you can see by the skimmate. It would do that from time to time and then not do anything for a week or so.
9520Aerofoamer.jpg


Here it is working.

9520Aerofoamer2.jpg


I have it hooked up to a Mag 24 and it started forming a good, thick foam within about 15 min. It didn't want to rise though and was almost at the same place this morning. I raised the water level up pretty high and it started pushing it over the edge but I think a pressure rated pump would be better. Something like an MD 55 or similar. Does anyone know where I can get a pump for a good price? Or does anyone have a used one sitting around they would like to sell? Just though I would check here before I ordered one.
 
Yeah, I have it going into a 5 gal. bucket now just in case. I just checked on it and after cleaning out the neck the foam is rising much better. It was like it was sticking to the sides before and wasn't able to rise. Now it is sliding up the sides better. It is working pretty well but I bet it would shine with a better pump.
 
Well, now that you mention it it is a little bit higher than usual this time of the day. It is 8.3 and usually the highest it gets is 8.2 during the day. I guess it is sucking in more air. duh.
 
I ordered a gen X pcx70 this morning for it. I know it is a little overkill but I can always put a valve on it. I don't know how many times I have ordered the recommended pump and wished I had had a little bigger one. The one on my Aqua C is a perfect example. The funny thing is that I noticed the skimmer was a tad tilted. You could barely tell it but I leveled it up anyway. I didn't think it would do anything but now the foam is rising much better. I guess with that big of a riser it could make a difference. Before the foam was trying to rise on one side and would fall down on the other.
 
Yeah, and you'll be able to get a lot more air into it. It looks a bit starved for air at the moment. On my Beckett, the air/water interface is about where the blue label is on yours.

Dave
 
I have had the new pump on it for a couple of days and I have about a 1/3 of a gallon of nasty, brownish-greenish gunk. It is very thick and stinky. I like it! I haven't seen such nasty skimmate come out of that tank in a long time.
 
what's the short answer as to why the Ph goes up with a more effective skimmer? I only ask because ever since I've put in my auto-topoff my skimmer has been able to skim more consistently without me haveing to adjust the riser tube and sometimes forgetting to empty the skimmate daily which would sometimes overflow right back into the system. My Ph has been between 8.3 and 8.4 consistently, but this is also coincided with using Randy's recipe (still having trouble keeping my alk up with out bringing my Ph up too much also with Randy's recipe #1).
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6824491#post6824491 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by greystreet41
what's the short answer as to why the Ph goes up with a more effective skimmer? I only ask because ever since I've put in my auto-topoff my skimmer has been able to skim more consistently without me haveing to adjust the riser tube and sometimes forgetting to empty the skimmate daily which would sometimes overflow right back into the system. My Ph has been between 8.3 and 8.4 consistently, but this is also coincided with using Randy's recipe (still having trouble keeping my alk up with out bringing my Ph up too much also with Randy's recipe #1).
Click to expand...

More air = more oxygen and less CO2 in the aquarium water.
 
If you want to avoid the hassles of an Auto-Shutoff, do what I do; let it run into a 35 gallon container :D, hey it works, and has only overflowed once. Oh the advantages of a crawl space pump room.
 
Mike,

What are you planning on doing with your EV-180?

I may be in the market since I am planning a 90gal tank after I move.
 
Oh, BTW, I put a "T" on the input tube to diffuse it so it wouldn't be as turbulent. More of the bubbles are going up through the skimmer and less back into the sump. I think it is skimming a little better than without the "T".
 
Have you cut the air valve back to get smaller bubbles? With that big of a pump you should be able to get shaving cream:)
Should make it more stable as well.
 
Oh yeah, I had to put a tube on the intake to muffle it a little since it sounded like a jet with all the suction noise.
 
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