Reeflo/Sequence Skimmer Club

[jmckdvm]

No...its opened all the way. When I shut the air off and set the water level at the start of the bevel, I can only barely open my feed pump valve, otherwise the water level will rise too high. When I turn on the air, I have to turn down the feed water valve.

Seems like this thing needs a much higher neck....or the T needs to be much lower. But since the instructions say to have the T at the level of the bevel, thats what I did.

Have you set yours up this way....(in particular, with the smaller collection cup?)

Thanks for offering to help.

 

[jmckdvm]

I should have also mentioned that at this slow rate of approx 60 gal/hr, the air valve is half closed. If I open all the way, foam will shoot up quickly and overflow.

 

[jmckdvm]

I'm still hoping that someone might come up with an idea to help with my problem, but in the event that this doesn't happen, I thought of something to try (tomorrow)...its midnight now:

I'm thinking that if I enlarge the horizontal drain pipe and "down" drain pipe to 2", and use a T instead of an elbow, this might help with the flow.

I'm afraid that the best solution, however, is to lower the grey T that came with the unit....but again, I don't know where to get fittings for that type of pipe.

Any comments or thoughts?? Pleeeease

Thanks again!

 

[wizsmaster]

post up a picture of how you have this thing put together please.

 

[wizsmaster]

Is the vertical drain pipe submerged wherever you're draining the skimmer water into? If so, how far ...

 

[Lunchbucket]

Do you have any products in the tank that would make the skimmer foam crazy? Gel binders, amquel, slime coats, etc?

Lunchbucket

 

[jmckdvm]

The vertical drain pipe is not submerged. I just re-plumbed it today, enlarging the 1.5" horizontal pipe coming from the T to 2" pipe. Then, I used a T fitting to drop the water down into the pipe. So there is a vent to let out excess air and let the water drop more quickly.

Now, I'm getting 120 gal/hr (double what I had before)....but this is still only one quarter to one fifth of what I should get. And, this is with the air valve only half open! I'm dying to crank it open but the foam would shoot up into the cup (unless I reduce the flow to a "trickle").

I'm now convinced that the T needs to be lower as I mentioned in my previous posts. I'll have to call Reeflo on Monday to request new parts in order to do this, unless someone can direct me to a place to get the "grey" PVC fittings.

I'm a little disappointed with the Reeflo customer service. I sent 3 emails and left one phone message over a 3 day period (to have some questions answered) and received no reply!

 

[Cristina_j]

where did you purchase the product from? Have you tried getting support from the etailer/retailer you purchased from?

Premium Aquatics has great support - they guys over there always strived to assist their customers with products purchased
Reef Specialty does a great job at supporting their customers & products purchased from them as well. Mike has even helped me with in the past with products & questions not related to items purchased from him.

 

[spongebobby]

Just checking to make sure you have the wedge pipe wide open? I would not run the pump's air restricted. By doing this the pump is pulling more water the more you restrict it in turn increasing the water exiting. I feed my reeflo 200 with a mag3 and with the gold turned off the water level is about an inch below the transition.Then i close the wedge pipe to get the water level where the cup and the body meet. Then I fire up gold and it seems to work great from there. How much water are you feeding it. Sounds like it's to much. Where is the level at with just your supply running? The top of my TEE is flush with the beginning of the transition. Also how long have you been running the skimmer?


Reeflo is very hard to get in contact with and I would recommend calling Mike@reefspecialty.com. He is the "GRAND PUBAH" when it comes to these skimmers.

 

[jmckdvm]

Lunchbucket--I did revamp my sump system, so probably stirred up some stuff...but the foaming really isn't the problem. If I turn down the air so it doesn't foam, I still can't get much more than 120 gal/hr flowing thru it without it overflowing.

Cristina--I bought it from Salty Critter because I have a wholesale account there. The unit came without instructions so I called Reeflo to get them. They were emailed the next day. Then I had more questions, so I tried to get back in touch with the person I spoke to about not getting the instructions but could not get a response. Before I new it, the weekend was here when I had planned to set up the skimmer. (I wanted to buy from Mike but he doesn't sell wholesale, so I don't feel right about asking him for help. Maybe I should have spent the extra couple hundred dollars and purchased it retail from him!)

Spongebobby--the outflow is turned all the way open. The top of my T is about level with the midpoint of the beveled section. I just set it up last night.

Thank you all for helping me. I suspect that everyone is using the large cup, and I'm convinced that when I get mine, that will solve my problem. (I'm on a waiting list with Mike to get one). In the meantime, I think the only solution is to lower the level of the T....but this will be an inconvenience since a lot of water will drain out when the unit is shut off. But I think this is what I will need to do until I get the large cup. Without the large cup, it is my opinion that this skimmer is worthless for the size tanks it was intended for (if it can only handle 120 gal/hr with the T in the position where it should be).

Mike...if you are listening.....is there any way you can get me a large cup sooner? I'm now afraid my 500 gal tank will suffer if I can only run this skimmer at 120 gal/hr for a long period of time. I would be most appreciative if you can! Thank you!

At this point, the best help from anyone, outside of helping me get a larger cup, might be to direct me to a place to get replacement grey pvc fittings since I need to cut and lower the vertical pipe.

Another thought is for me to find someone who works with acrylic and have them make the larger cup. If anyone knows who I can contact for custom acrylic, that might be helpful also.

Thank you.
Jim

 

[Lunchbucket]

jmckdvm - If there is a lot of stuff to pull out the skimmer will go crazy and you will have to turn the air down or let the stuff get pulled out. Have use used any aquastick? Anything that would make it go nutz?

Lunchbucket

 

[spongebobby]

What pump are you feeding with? It sounds to me that there is something in your tank water making it overflow. If you are feeding it roughly 300-600 gph and the air is wide open as well as the wedge pipe then I would be leaning towards something in the water. I'm not running Mike's cup at the moment. It will take a few weeks to get this skimmer to break-in.

What have you added in your water? Even before you installed the skimmer. DId you run the skimmer in a vinegar/ro bath?

 

[JRaquatics]

jmckdvm the top of the tee should lined up with the top of the top of the reeflo lettering. I would also not suggest cutting down the air flow as you are burrying the impeller into the back of the volute. I would contact salty critter for further assistance. It sounds like your plumbing is wrong some where. How are you messuring the flow?

 

[JRaquatics]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12789498#post12789498 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by spongebobby
Just wondering if you were still running the NW on your 200 ? I just took it off the AO motor and placed it on the gold. Air draw stayed the same but the watts dropped about 5 watts. Probably gonna take awhile to break-in though. I just can't get over how it makes the lid feel like it's hovering on top of the cup.

Later

I am running the stock NW at the moment till the new ReefSpecialty NW prototype arrives. I just got finished re-installing my skimmer to make way for the Upgrade cup.

 

[JRaquatics]

Well here it is. The Reef Specialty Reeflo 200 upgrade cup. :rollface:

Well constructed and stellar acrylic work on this one. 8 inches taller than the original. Side by side shot.

Any one have skimmer envy?

 

[jmckdvm]

LunchBucket--The problem isn't the foam. Even when the bubbles are low, the water rises too high.

JRAquatics--My T is lined up pretty much like the one in your photo...at the level of the bevel (mid-way).

I'm quite sure I know the problem now as indicated in my previous post' problem is related to the level of the T in relation to the low neck in the standard collection cup), so I'll say we can drop this topic for now. I thank everyone for their input and trying to help me. Your time and efforts are much appreciated.

Also, Mike was kind enough to contact me and has offered to help me solve this problem (tomorrow).

 

[wizsmaster]

I find it very hard to believe that a properly installed skimmer would only flow 120 Gal/Hr ... With plumbing this size ... it should flow MUCH more than that.

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12796102#post12796102 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by wizsmaster
post up a picture of how you have this thing put together please.

Again, can you please post a picture of how you installed the plumbing to give us a visual if you'd like us to give this a shot.


And yes, I personally believe it may have been proper & beneficial for you to buying it retail, especially since you are stating you're a "Veterinarian" - not a Aquatics reseller/store.

 

[jmckdvm]

wizsmaster-- I don't have real easy access to photos....especially after working 27 hours this weekend re-vamping my filter room, and, as I stated in my last post, I believe I figured out the problem.

So, again, thank you, and everyone, for your help.

BTW: I have a 100% avian veterinary hospital and a pet shop from where I sell bird and aquarium livestock and supplies (for 20 years)....so there should be no issue with me purchasing wholesale. (Why should I buy retail when I'm entitled to purchase wholesale?; this is really irrelevant and shouldn't even have to be discussed, but I don't want to be rude and ignore your comments when you have been kind enough to try to help me). Thanks again.

 

[JRaquatics]

Actually the pic shown is a little mis leading. I have the top of my tee lined up with the top of the lettering. If you go to the 200 thread you see how it was pu together. Obviously something is wrong with the way you put the skimmer together or did the output plumbing. There is no reason you should have to use the upgrade cup to use the skimmer. I have installed a good number of 250 skimmers for friends, and half of them still use the stock cup and push 4-500gph into the skimmer and have nothing but good results. I was pushing 3-400 into my Reeflo 200 with the stock cup. If you install and plumb the Reeflo 250 skimmer correctly you should easily handle 4-500 gallons per hour, so something is wrong with the way you set it up. I would advise what Wizsmaster stated, take some pics of the setup. Mike at Reef Specialty is going to tell you the same exact thing. Nothing can be said or done without seeing what is not right with your setup.

 

[jmckdvm]

I'll see what Mike says tomorrow. If I still have a problem, I'll work on getting some photos. I believe my T is too high. I did not cut back the pipe that came with it. The middle of the T is level with the middle of the beveled piece.