Reef Octo NW 200 problem

I

insaneDynamix

Member
Hi - I got a RO nw 200 couple of months ago. Problem is i dont think its pulling out much skimmate as it should be (I think)
i have a 120 gal dt (48x24x24) plus 60 gal sump. Tank is about 3 months old.
about 150 lbs of live rock fully cured (got from a fellow hobbyist) and a ssb ...

inhabitants are a large pair of O clowns, a pink watchman goby, a Yellow tang, blue Hippo tang, azure damsel and a carpenters wrasse

Nitrates are always around 40 ppm

Any thoughts - If i Open the gatevalve fully the water level goes way below the neck. I only get skimmate if i raise the water level well into the neck. So for that matter I cannot skim dry at all (not that I mind wet) but the wet skim does not have as much gunk as it should ... its always colored light.
 
I had a RO nw 110 and had the same problem. I tried everything i could and could never get it to do much finally got a new skimmer,
 
The nwb skimmers are ok at best. The problem is with the pump, they don't have enough air draw, so the best you can hope for is a tea colored skim mate. I have the 110 on my 40 and that's all I can get from it. You can try pouring some rodi water into the air silincer just to be sure there is no salt creep clogging the air line or venturi.
 
You may get more helpful answers in the coralvue forum. Your tank is still fairly new so I would not expect a huge amount of skimmate at first. The key is to adjust your skimmer slowly until ou find the correct water level inside the skimmer.
 
Thanks for all your answers

@heritage - Yes all I get is a tea colored skimmate ... Never the really gunky stuff ... That I have to siphon out on my own

I read about some mods ... but im not too much of a diy person ... Should I just go for maybe a SRO 2000
 
I would get a Diablo before I would spend my money on an sro.
I agree with rosco, your tank is still new so there really won't be much for it to pull out. I would also try lowering the water line in the skimmer to where the collection cup meets the skimmer body and just let it run for a while.
 
Have you checked those readings against another test kit ?
What test kit are you using ?
Did the rock come from an established aquarium ?
How well was the tank kept up ?
What are you using for flow ?
Do you clean the sand bed ?
Any kind of sponges filters ?

Sorry for all the questions.
 
insaneDynamix said:
I tried that and all i got was skimmate accumulating all over the neck ... nothing in the cup
Click to expand...

I would still try opening the valve and let it run for a few days maybe even a week. Then make small adjustments as needed.

By closing the valve off and raising the water line so that its almost to the top of the skimmer neck, your essentially slowing down the amount the skimmer can process, which means its not going to get as much doc to pull from the water, which means less junk.
 
Thanks again Chris

I havent checked my water with another test kit ... but i have checked some other water with mine and it measures correct.
I use API
The rock is from a fellow hobbyists established aquarium
Maintenance is 20% a month spread over 4 weeks so about 5% a week
I got a 800 gph sicce return & 2 x 3200 sicce pumps ... A sicce control box ... but im currently not alternating flows
No other media is in the sump ...
I stir up the sand bed whenever I siphon

What I do feel is that my LR may be holding detritus which is impacting the water quality ... but shouldnt the skimmer be skimming the DOCs out?
 
Ok i see your point on the skimmer front ... when I started the skimmer 3 months ago ... I did as u mentioned ... let it break in for a week or so and then slowly raised it up to the level it currently is at ..

Should I start over again?
 
Sounds to me like your doing everything right.
And I would agree, the live rock could have had a lot of detritus trapped in it. Try using either a small powerhead or turkey baster to blow off the rock on a weekly basis, this will help to insure any detritus or bacterial turgor is removed and keeps the bacterial process within the live rock working properly. If you have never done this before you will be amazed at how much comes out.

Just keep up with what your doing and reset the skimmer. Try setting it so the bubble brake line is just above where the skimmer cup meets the body. Let it run for a few days and see what happens. Make sure to clean the cup, but I would bet it will start to foam within a couple hours. Also, make sure the air line and venturi are free of any salt creep.
 
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