Please help adjusting Bubble Magus Skimmer

[chopper320]

I bought a used bubble magus nac 3.5 skimmer about 5 months ago and still cannot get it dialed in to a consistent quality. It is in a 40 breeder with 20 gallon sump. Before I added this skimmer I had an old HOB BakPak II skimmer and it actually seemed to collect better skim than this one.

The only adjustment besides water level I can make is the flow tube. It seems that I either get very little skimmate over a week period or I am skimming very wet sometimes almost clear. It also doesn't seem consistent. It seems like I have to adjust the flow quite often to keep it skimming at all.

It is supposed to have a water depth between 8-10". I originally had it at 10" and now have built a pvc/eggcrate platform to get it to 9". I didn't notice much difference with this change though.

Also, from the research I have done, it seems like most people have the flow setting on the dial of 1-5 set to somewhere between 3.5-4.5. If I set it there, I get almost no skim. I have mine set to around 2.5 but it is a very wet skim.

I do get a lot of thick gunk build up quickly on the inside of the collection cup tube and the lid to the cup but the rest is a very light colored liquid.

Any advice?

 

[phish96]

i suggest raising it up about 5-6" of water. Then skim dry for a few days. Once you have it consistent, start ramping it half a notch each day until you get the skim you want. Keep it running at this process until you know your sweet spot.

 

[chopper320]

Even though it is supposed to be between 8-10"? What does raising it do? It seems like if I raised it more it would just make it even harder for the foam to get to the top of the collection cup but I don't know exactly how that works.

 

[chopper320]

Anyone else have suggestions?

 

[Crusinjimbo]

Chopper, how old is your tank and your bio load? My BM6 idles with almost every change in the tank. Feeding kills the "head", sock change brings on volcanic reactions, and the like. I still fill a 1/2 gallon container with muck on a weekly basis. Sounds like a new skimmer and it takes a bit of time to get it dialed in. Make minor adjustments slowly and watch for a sweet spot.

 

[fishgate]

I suggest putting this in the trash where it belongs or send it back if you can and getting a new one (different brand). I too bought one of these and hate it. It is impossible to consistently tune it. I started as well in 10" like they suggest and then raised it another 4 when it would constantly overflow even at the lowest setting. Raising it helped with that but it is still totally inconsistent. It will skim for a week or two and then decide to go crazy and flush all the skimmate back in the tank. I usually keep the dial around 3 but that can vary as much as a full # in each direction. No rhyme or reason to it!

BTW: It has been running now close to 6 months!

 

[chopper320]

My tank is over a year old and I have had this running for about 5 months so it should be well past a break in period.

That doesn't sound good fishgate. If I can't get it tuned any better than it is now, I may have to find something different.

 

[phish96]

it will definitely be skimming a lot drier but more consistent. I'm just going by what you said that it sometimes overflow quite rapidly. So with that, I got a feeling you can still raise it to about 5-7" of water. Skim dry then bring it up a notch every day until you get a consistent flow. You also have to understand that certain fish food/solvents causes the skimmer to skim more/less. I too have a BM but a NAC7 and I solved this issue by raising it.

 

[fishgate]

After 3 weeks of perfect skimming it went crazy last night for some unknown reason and flushed everything back into the tank again. I am ready to throw this POS out. I will never again buy a Bubble Magus!

 

[chopper320]

Anyone else have any suggestions. I've tried every water height I can and I still can't get this to skim right. I can get a light tea colored skin to fill the cup in about a week but if I go any thicker, it would probably take me 4 weeks to fill it.

I wouldn't be worried but a consistently have an algae issue. I run gfo and feed very lightly. My nitrates and phosphates test 0 but I'm assuming that its being consumed by the algae.

I keep an sps tank and all corals are healthy and growing except for my birdsnest that keeps getting algae growth on the tips.

 

[moondoggy4]

It is hard to believe but maybe the skimmer is over sized for that tank. Is it possible to borrow someone else skimmer and run it in your tank and see if you have any better success. When a skimmer is over sized you keep raising the water level chasing the nutrients and when all of sudden you get a lot waste the skimmer overflows.

 

[chopper320]

Well I had an old HOB BakPak II skimmer on this tank previously and it would pull much thicker junk out at a much faster pace.

I've gotten to the point that I don't really get much overflow now. It just seems like the only way to get near a cup of skim a week is to skim very wet and light tea colored.

 

[chopper320]

Sorry wrong post. Still looking for help though.

 

[Spyderturbo007]

I have the same skimmer and hate the freakin' thing. I think it just likes to mess with me.

If you find a fix that doesn't involve a hammer and a trash can, I'm all ears.

 

[drew930]

I had a NAC 3.5 on my 40 breeder with 20 long sump. I tried it on 8" first because thats how deep the section was . It worked very well. I would suggest raising with something simple to see where you want it. Maybe some egg crate . I would try 1" at a time