question for coral life super skimmer users
- Thread starter gfk
- Start date
Doglover_50
Premium Member
My 125 is not loud either and required no break in period. However, it skims like a mother but is a hassle: if the tube leading into the microbubble box isn't positioned perfectly, then water starts bubbling out of the little hole at the top (overflow/muffler part--sorry I can't recall the real names). And after top offs, this is more likely. It's easy to fix, you just have to remember to keep an eye on it when you first turn it on (I only run mine a few hours per day).
Nathan4Wvu
Do you like Phil Collins?
its still not very quiet mine has been running about 1.5 months now still kinda loud has a wied high pitched rattle
But it pulls out some nice skimate!
Day one
First cup
second cup
Third cup
Has been getting thicker and better every cup
Only thing i have seen with this skimmer besides being the best skimmer in the world for that price is be care full when changing the water sometimes it will produce a crap load of bubbles and overflow the cup. Really thought it can't be touched for the price bust buy i have ever made!
But it pulls out some nice skimate!
Day one
First cup
second cup
Third cup
Has been getting thicker and better every cup
Only thing i have seen with this skimmer besides being the best skimmer in the world for that price is be care full when changing the water sometimes it will produce a crap load of bubbles and overflow the cup. Really thought it can't be touched for the price bust buy i have ever made!
Nathan4Wvu
Do you like Phil Collins?
That third cup was after about a week
masterswimmer
New member
I've done lots of mods on my CSS65 too.
swimmer
swimmer
Nathan4Wvu
Do you like Phil Collins?
Intrested what kind?? got pics??? or a thread on it???
masterswimmer
New member
The thread the mods are in is over 20 pages long. 
I tapped the collection cup to run it to a larger container:
The collection cup flows out to this one gallon container. The extra tube sticking up is just a vent:
I modified the venturi & silencer. The little cylinder they provide as a venturi silencer still hissed and whistled. The venturi also would need cleaning every now and then.
I removed the plastic cylinder and ran the open end of the venturi tubing to the collection cup. This served two purposes, first it completely silenced the venturi. And second (more important actually) it keeps the venturi 100% clean. I do not have to service the venturi at all. It draws the warm, moist air from the collection cup and cleans the venturi itself.
Pic with both collection cup mods:
I tapped the collection cup to run it to a larger container:
The collection cup flows out to this one gallon container. The extra tube sticking up is just a vent:
I modified the venturi & silencer. The little cylinder they provide as a venturi silencer still hissed and whistled. The venturi also would need cleaning every now and then.
I removed the plastic cylinder and ran the open end of the venturi tubing to the collection cup. This served two purposes, first it completely silenced the venturi. And second (more important actually) it keeps the venturi 100% clean. I do not have to service the venturi at all. It draws the warm, moist air from the collection cup and cleans the venturi itself.
Pic with both collection cup mods:
masterswimmer
New member
The next mod I did was the discharge. The plastic bubble trap they provide is worthless. I discarded that and replaced it with this pvc mod. FYI, the pvc is all solvented together EXCEPT the part that attaches it to the CSS discharge sleeve. I left that unglued in case this mod didn't work. Well it works great and there was still no need to glue it, so I left it unglued. It makes it easier to service.
This mod was really the backbone to the skimmer working properly. The way the company mfd this discharge it was too deep in the water. The backpressure it created caused clear water to continually flow into the collection cup. Now you can adjust it.
This is the whole new discharge put together:
Here it is in its stages:
All setup in tank:
This mod was really the backbone to the skimmer working properly. The way the company mfd this discharge it was too deep in the water. The backpressure it created caused clear water to continually flow into the collection cup. Now you can adjust it.
This is the whole new discharge put together:
Here it is in its stages:
All setup in tank:
masterswimmer
New member
The next mod was another necessity IMO. The skimmer pump is situated so that it draws water from about 5" below the surface. Since Coralife doesn't make a surface skimming option I had to figure out a way to remedy this. There was a constant 'oil slick' on the water surface.
Here's my mod in stages:
Completed:
In the tank, looking down from above:
Here's my mod in stages:
Completed:
In the tank, looking down from above:
Nathan4Wvu
Do you like Phil Collins?
Yea but all of those would not affect the overall proformance of the skimmer and also I have heard that routing the air intake from the collection cup can decrease the effectiveness of the skimmer.
masterswimmer
New member
I guess we can each have our own opinion. However, mine is based on testing. Yours is based on hearsay.
Nathan4Wvu
Do you like Phil Collins?
Not hearsay there is thread on RC about it look it up its been awile but im sure its still out there
masterswimmer
New member
If you didn't do any of these mods personally, and you read about it somewhere (here on RC or elsewhere) that is the very essence of hearsay.
I've done multiple modifications that have enhanced performance. A couple of them I've discussed with the R & D team at ESV (Coralife) and they've considered incorporating them into their OEM design. So your claim that they don't enhance performance is completely unfounded.
However, they work for me and quite a few others that have incorporatedd them into their CSS 65's as well. To each his own.
Oh, and I've done the mods, have been successful with them too, why do I need to search RC for those threads? They're meaningless to me.
I've done multiple modifications that have enhanced performance. A couple of them I've discussed with the R & D team at ESV (Coralife) and they've considered incorporating them into their OEM design. So your claim that they don't enhance performance is completely unfounded.
However, they work for me and quite a few others that have incorporatedd them into their CSS 65's as well. To each his own.
Oh, and I've done the mods, have been successful with them too, why do I need to search RC for those threads?
They're meaningless to me.
schristi69
Master of Space and Time
One mod I did to my 120 was to remove all discharge plumbing, including the piece with the nipple. I added a gate 1" gate valve with 1" pvc and a T type discharge similar to yours. Open the red valve on the skimmer all the way and use the gate valve to adjust. Gives you a much finer control of the level.
schristi69
Master of Space and Time
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7805383#post7805383 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by masterswimmer
I guess we can each have our own opinion. However, mine is based on testing. Yours is based on hearsay.
Actually, he is correct. The moist air may be helping keep things clean, but you would be better off routing your tubing outside of your stand to draw in fresh air. You have effectively created a closed system. As the collection cup fills, sulfer dioxide gasses will accumulate in the cup. Since skimming depends on the bonding of the proteins to oxygen molecules, you have decreased this by feeding less oxygen. In addition, the primary method of gas exchange in the marine aquarium is via the skimmer. By decreasing the amount of oxygen going in, you decrease the amount of dissolved oxygen in your water. True, your system does work, but not as efficient as it probably could be. Personally, I prefer to feed as much fresh air as possible to mine so I run the intake outside my stand.
As far as enhancing performance, none of the mods you have described would have affected that. A good overflow would perform the same function as your surface skimmer. Your outflow mod and you collection mod are mearly fixes to flaws in the original design. To enhance the performance you would have to increase the skimming ability of the skimmer or increase the gas exchange by increasing the amount of dissolved oxygen. I doubt any chemical analysis or emperical testing has been done to prove that your mods have done any of this.
I never fail to learn something new from folks in these forums. You never know...someone out there might know a bit more than you no matter how many mods you have done.
http://www.save1004.com/articles/skimming.htm
