Reef Dynamics 180E problem

FishN00b83

FishN00b83

New member
So I've had a 180E running for a few weeks now in a lightly stocked 125. When I first fired it up I was getting bubbles like crazy, I emptied the collection cup once or twice. Lately I haven't been getting anything in the cup, the bubbles arent even making it close to the top. I know after a while the skimmer will catch up to the bioload, but will it stop making bubbles all together?

I took the skimmer apart, cleaned everything out, made sure the Venturi was clear and everything. I put the thing back together and still got the same results.

I remember when I first started the skimmer up, I couldn't see the middle pipe in the chamber because the micro bubbles were so thick. Now I can see clear across the skimmer, only the top quarter of the chamber has any kind of bubbles. What could be the problem?
 
The bottom of the skimmer should be bubble free,You have a large skimmer for a small tank, resist the urge to keep turning it up allow the bubbles to rise like a elevator to the top, if you have another tank, shut down the return pump for a couple of hours and pour just a little of skimmate in your sump and see what happens.
 
Reef Dynamics 180E problem

I don't have another tank, this 125 is more then enough for me haha. So you're saying its completely normal for the bubbles to just stay at the water line? The bubbles aren't climbing at all, they're just staying in the water in the chamber.
 
FishNoob, I would email Jeff at Reef Dynamics and ask him. He may be at MACNA, but I'm sure he would get back to you ASAP. I considering this same skimmer for my 120. Good luck.
 
How deep is the skimmer? Can you post a video of the skimmer running? You should have bubbles from about 3 inches from the bottom all the way up to were the skimmer meets the cup.
 
You just ran out of anything to skim. I have the same skimmer on a 75 and it would do the same thing until I added a large anemone recently. The additional bioload got it started right back up.
 
I had the same issue at my coral farm. I bought the Reef Dynamics skimmer, and waited nearly 4 weeks for its arrival, only to see it do this. The "running out of stuff to skim" is BS. I switched that skimmer out for my bubble magus and eshopps and I was cleaning the collector cups every day...and they were full. As opposed to nothing by the RD skimmer.

Now that RD reactor sits unused in the corner.
 
You have skimmate in the skimmer clean the body of the skimmer with a soft sponge, turn off your return pump, squeeze a little skimmate back in the sump and see what the skimmer will do.
It seems that the pump is surging, do you have a air meter? You definitely have the skimmer turn down enough, like you said not enough air, you could boil some RO water place the air line tube in it and let the pump draw it in.
 
moondoggy4 said:
You have skimmate in the skimmer clean the body of the skimmer with a soft sponge, turn off your return pump, squeeze a little skimmate back in the sump and see what the skimmer will do.
It seems that the pump is surging, do you have a air meter? You definitely have the skimmer turn down enough, like you said not enough air, you could boil some RO water place the air line tube in it and let the pump draw it in.
Click to expand...

I don't have an air meter, but ill give the skimmate a shot when I get home. I cleaned the hell out of everything the other day, idk if the boiling RO will do much more.
 
Boiling the water is just a good idea to do once a month. The skimmate trick will show if the skimmer can handle a higher bio load.
 
Is the wedge pipe open all the way or closed? It looks like you need to close off the wedge pipe and allow the foam level in the skimmer to rise, I would clean the skim off it first.
 
moondoggy4 said:
Aqualand which skimmer did you get from RD? How much water volume? How deep was it?
Click to expand...

I ordered the RD INS400. I chose this model, because at that time, my water volume was approximately 350 Gallons. I would say during most of its operation, I got the best performance when the water level was about an inch below the grey joiner ring, but that's not to say that I didnt try varying levels to see if I could improve the output.

I know everyone praises RD for their customer service and quality of product. I must say, the appearance and the craftsmanship of this skimmer was amazing. To look at it is a thing of beauty. But it only arrived after close to 4 weeks and multiple unanswered emails by their support staff.

So, maybe this is a fluke, and I just got the short end of the stick. But this skimmer rarely produced skimmate, and it seemed to be short of air regardless of my attempted to rectify it...and im not a noob. I cant in my own good conscious sell it used either.

Needless to say, my water volume is pushing 3k now so I have moved on to an MRC venturi skimmer and have been very pleased with its performance, and the customer service I have received.
 
Thanks Aqualund RD has it fan boys, I've have owned two of them one that worked great another not so great. I am glad you found the right skimmer for your operation, you could sell the INS400 do a 30 pay in advance with a 100% refund if not satisfied as long as it is in the same shape as they got it. That way you would be both satisfied with the purchase.
 
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