protein skimmer

cyclops23

cyclops23

Premium Member
who makes a good protein skimmer? i have a euro reef right now that im thinking of getting rid of. its a little small for the amount of water i have in my system. i also don't know if it's me (i don't think so, i've tried everything) but i can't get the piece of crap to work right. i've had the thing running for a week to the day, and ive been cleaning it out twice a day and adjusting it about 10 times throughout the day. im not talking small adjustments, the things either way too low or overflowing into the cup. im about ready to punt it across the road. i though that these were good skimmers. i know they have a breakin period, but it should have a semblance of working right by now, shouldn't it? one minute its working fine, and within 1 1/2 hours its gone all skewy. anyway, i would like to get a bigger one anyway. tlet this be a lesson to all of you, never type when you're angry:furious:
 
I use Excalibur, Top Fathom and Corralife super skimmers. They all work great. But the Top fathom by all means is the best, out of all of them.

Once skimmers break in they can still fluctuate with organics and proteins that it is being fed. I have that problem once in awhile.

Also if the skimmer is too small for the system you will constantly have fluctuations.
Get a skimmer that can handle twice the volume of your tank
 
Do the gatevalve mod. In addition to that, try not to fiddle with it so much. The more you adjust it, the less it will perform.
 
Amphiprion and smcdonn are right on the money.... do the gatevalve mod. Trust me... this will make your life much easier... the factory adjustment can be real hit or miss. Good luck.
 
i want to get a bigger one anyway. my tank doesn't have much for bioload, even after i add the fish i want in the future. ive tried everything i can possibly do to try and get it to work right, but i think half the problem is it's too small. whats a gatevalve mod.? is that the valve on the end of the airhose? cause ive tried that. thanks for the help. the deltec looks good, but im poor
 
looking at a reef devil. is this a good skimmer? it says its rated for 180g and comes with a CA pump and i can get it for $270. anybody have experience with these?
 
ok, ive narrowed it down to these companies, please help, i can't decide.:( ASM G-2, don't like that it doesn't have a gatevalve, though. Aqua C EV-180, seemed ok. My Reef Creations (MRC) MR-2, has anyone heard of these? and i guess im willing to try another euro-reef (ES6-30) this time WITH a gatevalve. i don't know which one will give me the best bang for my buck, cause none of them are cheap. all are rated for at least 30g above my tank size. any help would be greatly appreciated, i just don't know which one to get.
 
the new tunze master skimmer
self adjusting skimmer .. pure plug and play ( no adjustments ever apparently)


or a tunze doc skimmer ( that what i have)
 
be advised that if you are having a problem dialing in a euro you are going to have the same kind of frustratiions with a beckett. Dont get me wrong becketts are great skimmers but do take a lot of tinkering to get them dialed in...
Is the euro new or used? If used did you take the pump apart and soak it in vinegar? Have you tried cleaning out the air intake on the venturi? set the level to right at the bottom of the collection cup. leave it alone for a while like a day or so. then make small 1 inch or less adjustments to the water level.
By the way a gate valve does NOT improve performance on any skimmer, it just makes it easier to make finer adjustments.
you can put together your own gate valve kit for like 15 bucks, for the euro. I would not give up on the euro the smaller ones have very good reps you just need to make sure its clean and get it set and leave it alone for a while.
http://www.savko.com/partlist.asp?pgid=1&ptid=1&pid=6&part=1165164911
 
PLEASE READ, at certain times wheter it be from spawing activities or a fresh water change there are impurities in the water which the skimmer gets out but very simply let it skim, skim WET ver WET, and empty out the cup a couple tmes
I have been through this 10 times voer and it fills the cup FULLY a coupl etimes in 30 mins and I dump it out each time, after a couple drainings the stuff in the water thats making the ksimmer act up producing alot of skimmate is taken out and everything stabilizes.
 
id like to get a bigger one anyway. the euro reef is brand new, i didn't try cleaning the pump, but i did clean out the venturi.
 
I see you have had it for a week. You are still in the break in period. Stop cleaning it. You need a slime coat if you will to build in the skimmer body. Breaking a skimmer in consist of getting out any of the residues from manufacturing and building a slime coat .
I always recommend running vinegar and water thru a new skimmer, it cuts the break in time in half usually. Check the air line and then just let it go for a few more days and see what happens.
 
ok, my bad. i just left it for a couple days, and its working much better. i lowered it further into the water and is now taking out some pretty gross stuff. still fluctuates quite a bit, but is much better than it was. i didn't mention that the water going through it wasn't the greatest when i hooked it up. there was still remenants of stuff (phyto or algae, can't tell which) on the rock and sand from when i tore the tank down. the waters crystal clear now! i love it! im so happy i can see my fish. sorry about the previous posts, i was up to my a** fixing the planter and i got a little anal about the skimmer, im usually not this impatient. thanks for the help!:)
 
yea chunks of stuff will hinder the performance. How deep is the skimmmer in water. should be about 8 inches deep. When you say it is fluctuating do you mean the water level or the amount of skimmate produced?
 
the level of the foam fluctuated, it went from the top of the collection cup to way low where the skimmer body narrows. isn't fluctuating very much now, i think i was over cleaning (didn't know it needed the slime coating). collecting some awesome (gross, same thing) skimmate now. its about 7 1/2 in. in the water.
 
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