Really Frustrated with EShopps S-150. Please help.

[Marchillo]

Also you may have better luck posting here and searching through this thread.

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1708524&highlight=eshopps+skimmer+club

 

[jsharp13]

I heard that a lot of people who having issues did not assemble them properly. If you did assembly your self I would go and check everything with a manual.

Ha...you obviously haven't seen the "manual". Don't get me wrong. The intention of this thread was absolutely not to bash EShopps. The skimmer has good reviews. Just seems like there are more of these problems with those skimmers than any others. It very well may be something dumb I'm doing, but this is the only part of my setup that I have had constant trouble with, and that frustrates me.

That is the next step though, taking it apart, giving it a clean, and putting it back together. Going to run it overnight at 6" and see if that makes a difference and will go from there.

 

[Marchillo]

I don't think you are doing anything wrong. Mine was so bad at first I never thought it would work. Once it was up and running My wife was shocked. It just happened suddenly and it was dialed in. Id run it at the 6" depth for a few days before you throw in the towel.

 

[DocHogan]

Just out of curiosity what additives are you using in the water?

 

[jsharp13]

Just out of curiosity what additives are you using in the water?

2 weeks ago, I treated with PraziPro. Have done 2 25% water changes since then. Other than that, nothing. Plan on dosing, but haven't started yet.

I think some of the big bubbles you see in the sump are from the Prazi, but I should still get a water line.

 

[DocHogan]

What kind of water are you using? Is it RO with no conditioners? I only ask because before I started making my own RO and salt mix I got some water from a fish store and for whatever reason they had mixed RO water in a huge vat with salt mix and prime...... My skimmer went nuts for a week like yours. I also wonder if you can run a air tube from the top of the intake with a regulator on it so you can adjust how much air is being drawn in?

 

[jsharp13]

What kind of water are you using? Is it RO with no conditioners? I only ask because before I started making my own RO and salt mix I got some water from a fish store and for whatever reason they had mixed RO water in a huge vat with salt mix and prime...... My skimmer went nuts for a week like yours. I also wonder if you can run a air tube from the top of the intake with a regulator on it so you can adjust how much air is being drawn in?

RO with Red Sea Reef Salt.

I think I am going to take the advice to wait a few more days. I tested last night, and nitrates are around 2, so I am a little less worried than when they were 20. It is still doing the same thing it was yesterday, but I'll give it through the weekend and see what happens.

 

[oldbones]

I started mine shallow (6-7") and have slowly lowered it to increase skimmate production. Mine will only overflow of something funny gets introduced to the tank like epoxy.

 

[oldbones]

Looking at your pic again, you've got something in the water causing all that foaming.

I would start dumping the cup when it gets to half full and replenish with new SW. Check RODI output for high TDS. You need to get that junk out of the system (get your water 'normal') before you're skimmer will perform correctly. Letting it overflow is just recirculating the foaming agent back into the system.

 

[jsharp13]

Looking at your pic again, you've got something in the water causing all that foaming.

I would start dumping the cup when it gets to half full and replenish with new SW. Check RODI output for high TDS. You need to get that junk out of the system (get your water 'normal') before you're skimmer will perform correctly. Letting it overflow is just recirculating the foaming agent back into the system.

The thing in the water is just a biowheel from a power filter that I will be using in my QT. Was fresh out of the box, so shouldn't be causing any foaming.

The cup fills with water within 10 seconds of turning the skimmer on. Starting yesterday, I am emptying it once an hour or so (minus after I go to bed). The water really just seems clear though, and the foam is only in the top 1/2" of the cup.

 

[oldbones]

The cup fill with water in 10 seconds?

Take some more pieces of egg crate and raise the skimmer until the foam is barely reaching the middle of the cup, let it run at that depth for a while and see what happens.

 

[Cymonous]

The thing in the water is just a biowheel from a power filter that I will be using in my QT. Was fresh out of the box, so shouldn't be causing any foaming.

The cup fills with water within 10 seconds of turning the skimmer on. Starting yesterday, I am emptying it once an hour or so (minus after I go to bed). The water really just seems clear though, and the foam is only in the top 1/2" of the cup.

Did taking it apart, cleaning, re-assembling and running it again help at all?

 

[Cymonous]

Covering the air intake with your finger should make less bubbles. I don't understand why you are saying it should do the opposite... IAm I misreading something?

You would think so. I believe it causes a type of vacuum when you cover the air tube/silencer. The pump then starts sucking in more water, causing an overflow.

 

[jsharp13]

I didn't do the full take-apart. Decided to give it a few days at the higher level to see if it would fix itself.

Like I said this morning, I hadn't seen any difference from last night. So, I lifted it up as far as it could go (so that the water level was just above the water intake. There is no longer any water flowing into the cup, but a lot of bubbles, some big and some small.

Also, I am starting to get some skimmate! Gunky brown stuff on the bottom of the cup. Here is a pic.

Will continue to update. Going to let it run like this for a bit, and see. As long as it isn't sucking air and I am getting skimmate, I guess I can leave it like this for a bit. Right now, it is sitting up on some tupperware bowls because I didn't have egg crate (don't tell my wife!). Once it settles, I will see what level it want to live on and make a more permanent solution.

 

[oldbones]

Wow, can't believe it's pulling foam that high! Must be some serious gunk in that water. Empty/clean the collection cup often until it stops pulling skim, then lower it an inch and repeat.

Does the skim smell like soap or chemicals?

 

[jsharp13]

So I emptied it and it was more or less 1" of dark brown water. Not the serious gunk that I have seen other skimmers pull off. I assume that is because I have it up so high.

Yes, probably is some serious gunk in the water. It was live rock and live sand, and there was no skimmer on it for the first 4 weeks of operation. I'll lower it a little at a time now, and see where it ends up.

 

[oldbones]

If you pulled an inch of brown water in only a couple hours with it at that height, you should probably leave it at that height for at least a day and let it work.

 

[platypusklr]

Had a BM Curve 5 that the bubbleplate was installed backwards on do the same thing. After a number of inquiries and a picture showing the position of the plate, was an easy fix. I was happy with it until i bought a used lifereef svs24. My advise: Sell the Eshopps, buy a lifereef venturi skimmer, and never worry about skinmate production again. That thing was king. Easily pulled skim at twice the rate of my BM5 within 24 hours of hitting the sump.

 

[jsharp13]

After weekend update:

It is down around 7" now and pulling out an inch of brown water about every 6-8 hours. Seems to really be working now. I think I finally have it settled down. Thank you to everyone for their help and advice.

 

[Marchillo]

After weekend update:

It is down around 7" now and pulling out an inch of brown water about every 6-8 hours. Seems to really be working now. I think I finally have it settled down. Thank you to everyone for their help and advice.

Yup I found once it's locked in it's pretty good to go. I think I had one overflow after I got it dialed in. It's amazing that it seems it will never work and then boom.... It's locked in.