Royal-Exclusiv Bubble King Double Cone 150 - PreOrder Now!

[cpllongjk]

Jeremy or Klaus,

Is there a way to clean the skimmer neck and not collapse the foam head for 30+ minutes? This always happens to me when I clean the neck of my skimmer every few days. The only thing that worked was the auto neck cleaner but after a few weeks that even had to be cleaned.

Jared

 

[Jeremy B.]

There's no way to clean it without collapsing the foam head that I am aware of. I have played around with all sorts of protein skimmers since 1999 or so, and I've never come across one that doesn't collapse the foam head after cleaning it out.

 

[cpllongjk]

Well it was worth asking. I thought there might be an inside "trick."

How can I tell if my skimmer is dialed in correctly or needs adjustments? Its producing dark tea like skimmate. The bubbles are popping around the top to 1cm above the bottom white cup area. So just above the bottom part of the cup. My collection cup is full of froth but if I could do fine tune it a tad more and get even more gunk out I would be super happy.

 

[LittleBurger]

I was told to apply a thin layer of oil at the neck area to have better performance, aids in foam separation. Anyone can confirm?

 

[ken6217]

^^^^^

Add to this, where exactly do you apply this? Inside the neck, top edge of neck, or outside of the neck>

Thanks,
Ken

 

[Klaus Jansen]

Outside of the neck.... and inside of the Lidcircle...

best regards ... Klaus

 

[docwells]

Jeremy or Klaus,
I am having a hard time dialing in my DC 150. I have had it installed for over 2 weeks. I can not get it dialed in. I have it in 17 cm of water. The water level is stable. I have the nozzle at 3 turns out. That took care of the surging water level in the skimmer. But it has overflowed twice since being installed. It will run fine for a few days then I'll come back to a skimmer cup full of water. I am not sure what I need to do. I have not added any new supplements. I only dose calcium, alkalinity and magnesium by balling method.

 

[mallard]

Jeremy or Klaus,
I am having a hard time dialing in my DC 150. I have had it installed for over 2 weeks. I can not get it dialed in. I have it in 17 cm of water. The water level is stable. I have the nozzle at 3 turns out. That took care of the surging water level in the skimmer. But it has overflowed twice since being installed. It will run fine for a few days then I'll come back to a skimmer cup full of water. I am not sure what I need to do. I have not added any new supplements. I only dose calcium, alkalinity and magnesium by balling method.

I had the same issue. I finally settled in at 7 inches, wedge pipe wide open and the nozzle at 4 turns. I too would get a cup full of water at first but it's slowly broken in. Pulling a nice tea now. But it probably took 2-3 weeks to really settle.

 

[TheReefKeeper]

Jeremy or Klaus,
I am having a hard time dialing in my DC 150. I have had it installed for over 2 weeks. I can not get it dialed in. I have it in 17 cm of water. The water level is stable. I have the nozzle at 3 turns out. That took care of the surging water level in the skimmer. But it has overflowed twice since being installed. It will run fine for a few days then I'll come back to a skimmer cup full of water. I am not sure what I need to do. I have not added any new supplements. I only dose calcium, alkalinity and magnesium by balling method.

I had my wedge pipe wide open to start only two turns on the Venturi any more than two turns out and I would just get tea colored Skimmate.

I have it two turns now and wedge pipe slightly closed and I'm now getting a constant Black yukk.
This thing is amazing and only working better and better as time goes on.
I'll fetch a pic soon.

 

[docwells]

Thanks for the help.
I have the wedge pipe now wide open. I will dial it back a little to see if this helps

 

[h0bite]

Hi Jeremy, Iam looking for a skimmer. My tank is 30x30x26....around 100 gallons with a 30g sump. Does a Double cone 150 will be ok or better to go with the 180 ?
Thanks

 

[Jeremy B.]

I believe we've been corresponding via email, but yes indeed the Double Cone 150 would easily handle that size system if anyone else is also interested in knowing this.

 

[s2nhle]

Jeremy,
Do I still get the $150 off for the DC 150 now or it is too late. Thanks,

 

[Jeremy B.]

Just sent you a PM.

 

[vpaul79]

I just got my Double Cone 150 today and set it up as instructed, about 6.75" in sump, wedge fully open and volute flow open by 2 full turns. However, the bubbles line is flat, maybe a half inch, there is zero buildup, to get any buildup or overflow into the cup I have to almost close the wedge fully. The pump turns on, but seems like its under performing. Is this normal, seems like at first its suppose to overflow at these settings.

 

[Jeremy B.]

That's perfectly normal. A brand new skimmer is going to do one of two things....

1. Overflow like crazy and take a little while until it settles down to normal operation.

OR

2. Not build a foam head at all and just remain flat inside the body which it will take a few days to a week until the foam head starts.

Out of curiosity, is this a brand new system it's on?

 

[vpaul79]

That's perfectly normal. A brand new skimmer is going to do one of two things....

1. Overflow like crazy and take a little while until it settles down to normal operation.

OR

2. Not build a foam head at all and just remain flat inside the body which it will take a few days to a week until the foam head starts.

Out of curiosity, is this a brand new system it's on?

I understand about the foam/skim, I'm referring to the air/water mixture that supposed to rise in the body of which the foam builds on top of into the skim. I see in the manual to look for the water/air mixture separation line and the ideal location is just before the neck. However unless I close the wedge almost 85% or greater, that separation line is very low. If I open the wedge more than half way, the separation line is barely an inch above the water line of the sump. Its quite distinguishable.

That is where I'm curious/concerned if the pump is performing at it full capacity. I'm not going to processing a lot of water with a 90% closed wedge. I would think Royal Exclusive could document if the wedge is 50% open and the volute is open 2 full turns that the air/water mixture should be roughly at "x" level. How much or little foam/skim reacts be something that could not be predicted.

So maybe that's what I'm looking for, a comparative quality check. Royal Exclusive or you tell me to open the wedge full or halfway, open the intake by x number of turns and the pump should create this much air/water mixture to a certain height, the skim/foam itself is something different and unpredictable.

My tank is 9 months old.

 

[Jeremy B.]

You running the wedge pipe fully open or 95% closed does not make one bit of difference in how much water is processed through the body per hour. The flow of the pump is not dictated by the wedge pipe, the pump stays the same regardless of where the wedge pipe is adjusted to. Only the wedge pipe and the sump depth the skimmer is sitting in (and the adjustable venturi (to a small extent) dictate the water level inside the skimmer body. Leave your wedge pipe where it is right now, don't change it, and take the skimmer to 7.5" sump depth and you'll see the water level inside the body rise significantly. So don't worry about where your wedge pipe is, the pump is working just fine.

Now, on dialing in your skimmer. Personally, I like running this skimmer between 7" and 7.5" sump depth. Then adjust your venturi from the fully closed position (all the way in to the right) to two full turns out from closed. From there just adjust your wedge pipe to where the actual water level inside the skimmer body is about an inch below where to the collection cup screws on to the body. It doesn't matter if this equates to the wedge pipe being 95% closed or 95% open. This will be a very good starting point and should get you very close on your setup.

From there make very small adjustments to your wedge pipe only as needed. When I mean small adjustments if you want to raise the water level just slightly then make a 1/16th turn towards the closed position with the wedge pipe and leave it be for a couple of hours and reassess.

After the skimmer is broken in and you're comfortable over time with the water level the skimmer is operating at then you can start to play with the adjustable venturi a little bit. The range of operation is around 1 turn out to about 5 turns out. The more closed the venturi is the less air the skimmer will draw and the more water it will push. The more open the venturi is the more air the skimmer will draw and the less water the pump will push. This will obviously make a small adjustment on the operating water levle inside the body, which is why I'm adivising you to just put it at 2 turns open during your break-in and getting comfortable period with the skimmer and use the wedge pipe only for now.

Let me know if yo have any other questions, if not keep us posted on how it's going.

 

[vpaul79]

We're good, made the suggested adjustments and its starting to skim very well. Thanks for your help!!

 

[Jeremy B.]

You're very welcome, glad to hear it's working out for you now. Keep us posted!