please help/Bullet 1 skimmer

J

jgb21_98

New member
I recently upgraded from the coral life 125 skimmer to a bullet 1 with a mag12. I've follow the instructions but I cant dial it in. It tells me to close the air valve prior to starting it up but it seems to have two air inserts, one controled and the other not. does anyone know about this and can you please help me? I'm 3 days in and haven't produced any skim and I'm afraid of what's building up in my reef tank.

Thank you !!
 
the one not controlled should have a red cap on it. its for ozone if you ever wanted to use it. plug it if you didnt get a red cap. tape or something works.
 
thank you, it didn't come with that and it's not explained in the directions. I blocked it and it seems to be producing a much finer bubble. I really appreciate the help.
 
ok, so i'm now 4 days in and no build up being produced. I have the water level about 2 inch's above the gray box into the first tube with good, small fine bubbles. should I be more patient or is this not normal?
 
give it a few more days. try and get the water level about an inch into the tube. the higher you make the water the wetter you will skim.


also are you using a filter sock at all? i would look into it if i were you. helps keep big crap out of the beckett. if you notice a huge drop off in production. or even a change in the water level in your riser. clean your beckett.
 
I have a filter sock on the water coming into the sump, the skimmer is in the middle section of the sump and drawing water from there with the mag12. it returns out in the same section. I'm not getting any skim but by water tests have been great.
0 nitrate/nitrite/Amonioa/Phosphate
8 Alk
400 Cal
1300mg

you reassured me with the water level in the skimmer, thank you. I'll just chalk it up to a low bio load for now and will lower it more to the inch you and the manual recommend and will continue keeping an eye on it.
 
I am leaning toward giving it time to break-in. If you washed it well with vinegar before installing then you should be collecting some waste by now. Otherwise, just give it more time.
 
Just out of curiosity, is the Mag 12 submersed or are you running it externally? Also, how far is it from the output of the pump to the intake of the skimmer in distance and height?
 
mag 12 is submeresed, it's 5" away from the outlet, 6" below the water line and it's running up 18" to the inlet elbow.
 
OK, should be plenty of pump to run the skimmer. Why I was asking is because the mag pumps arent really pressure rated pumps and they lose quite a bit to head height. But at only 18" of vertical run to the input it will be fine.
Its usually better to run pressure rated pumps to beckett and venturi skimmers because its not all about flow, it's about psi capability of the pump which impacts the ability of the pump to push the water through the Beckett and Venturi injectors. For example, a 900 GPH pressure rated pump will actually push more water through my Venturi skimmer than a 1300 GPH flow/circulation pump because of the higher PSI capability of the presure rated pump. More water through the venturi or beckett equals more air injected into the skimmer. Of course, it's a balancing act with the flow through rate / contact time and the air and the skimmer design as a whole ... but you get the idea I think.

Regardless, you should have plenty of pump to run your skimmer with the Mag 12 so I agree with some of the others in that it is probably just a matter of being patient. Give it some more time, it will skim.
 
thank you, I had the filter sponge on the inlet to the mag12, I just took it off and suddenly it's producing a dryer foam, maybe that was it?
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13750518#post13750518 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by jgb21_98
thank you, I had the filter sponge on the inlet to the mag12, I just took it off and suddenly it's producing a dryer foam, maybe that was it?
Click to expand...

Whatever works. You shouldnt need the sponge if you are using a filter sock. The sock should keep the sump water debris free so nothing will get sucked up in the mag and clog the beckett.
 
i'm getting discouraged and I might just hook the Coral life super skimmer back up...I'm at a loss with this... producing a very fine bubble action, water level is one inch into first tube but still no build up of dry foam, it's been a week now.
 
Check the beckett for any restriction and Up your water level . Mine dies whenever I get a snail in it. You can see in the pic where I had my foam head set on my DIY knockoff. I now run the water level there without air.

10_24_0.jpg
 
you mention you have no air at that level now, should I assume you mean I should have the air intake toward the lesser side? I've had it set at 3/4 open or so, is that too much?
 
I've tried uploading pics to this site but I don't know how to format them to a smaller size to accomodate the limitations.
 
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