setting up and adjusting asm g3 skimmer

[hybridazn]

hey guys i was just seeing if anyone has any tips on adjusting these skimmers after setup? Only asking because when I put the tube up to the collection cup like the paper says from asm for initial break in, it just fills the cup within 10 seconds and continues to flow at a very rapid pace. The only way I have seen to slow the bubble and waterflow down is to push the pipe all the way down and put a air check valve in the air intake for the pump. but even with this it fills the cup up with 5 minutes. the skimmer has been running for a solid 10 hrs and is still doing this. Does anybody have any ideas?

any help is always appreciated!
Thanks
George

EDIT* i forgot to add, it is sitting in about 9 inches of water which is constant.

 

[bmiller1234]

How deep do you have it? I had the same problem with my euro and had it in 9 inches. Had to lift it 3 inches up so that the internal level dropped so it would quit overflowing till it broke in. Mine wanted to overflow for about 2-3 days till tank settled down. Once everything settled down I was able to start closing valve and get it to skim really nicely. after the frist couple days I would close gate 1/2 turn a day and slowly started bringing level back up and now its running great and pulling strong.

 

[SirusX1721]

We had it set at 9" and lifting it didn't seem to help. Granted; becuase of stand height, we could only lift it 2-3", max.

So maybe we have to move the sump out momentarily to gain more height for the break in?

 

[hybridazn]

How deep do you have it? I had the same problem with my euro and had it in 9 inches. Had to lift it 3 inches up so that the internal level dropped so it would quit overflowing till it broke in. Mine wanted to overflow for about 2-3 days till tank settled down. Once everything settled down I was able to start closing valve and get it to skim really nicely. after the frist couple days I would close gate 1/2 turn a day and slowly started bringing level back up and now its running great and pulling strong.

yea mine is at 9" as well, but due to the size of my stand i cant really have it sit any higher. my stand is a standard 28" tall pine stand, with the height of the skimmer leaves me with only 4" of playroom to remove the cup and stuff. I guess i will just ride it out until monday, which i will pull it out and do the gate valve mod like i should have in the first place lol. hopefully that will help with this problem, if it doesnt work itself out by then.

also i did some searching and saw that most ppl have had best results with this skimmer in about 9-10" of water, i guess it might just take some time.

 

[NaClH2Opgh]

I think the gate valve mod is key with these skimmers. I have the G3 with the gate valve mod on my 75 and it actually sits in 13" of water. I know it's too high but I screwed up when I made my baffles in the sump and there is no room to raise it on a stand. Even so I fill the cup up once a week. Where do you run your water level at in the skimmer? I have mine right where the neck starts to taper in.

 

[hybridazn]

I think the gate valve mod is key with these skimmers. I have the G3 with the gate valve mod on my 75 and it actually sits in 13" of water. I know it's too high but I screwed up when I made my baffles in the sump and there is no room to raise it on a stand. Even so I fill the cup up once a week. Where do you run your water level at in the skimmer? I have mine right where the neck starts to taper in.

thats the problem, so far there is no way of adjusting the level of water in the skimmer. as soon as i plug it in it instantly rises to the top of the cup and fills it with water within minutes. i have the adjuster tube pushed all the way down and it still fills the cup at a rather rapid pace. it has only been on a full day so i am hoping that it will settle down here soon.

 

[Raceimage]

I have a G2 and it still fills the cup up instantly when I clean it. It settles down after I empty the cup 2 or 3 times. Do you have trouble getting the lid off of the cup? I had to put a thin coat of vasoline on the flange of the cup. I had trouble with microbubbles at first also but that quit after the first month.

 

[acer]

Interesting - I never had that problem with my G3. I added a gate valve to it just to keep the flow more consistent because my sump does not have any baffles to keep the water at a constant level. YOU could restrict the pump with a valve. Do you have a Sedra 5000 with a needle wheel in it for your intake pump?

 

[hybridazn]

I have a G2 and it still fills the cup up instantly when I clean it. It settles down after I empty the cup 2 or 3 times. Do you have trouble getting the lid off of the cup? I had to put a thin coat of vasoline on the flange of the cup. I had trouble with microbubbles at first also but that quit after the first month.

yes i have noticed this as well, it does take some elbow grease to get it to come loose. the microbubbles i knew were going to happen, with a new skimmer and all. it was just going crazy just dumping water into the cup at a very rapid pace.

Interesting - I never had that problem with my G3. I added a gate valve to it just to keep the flow more consistent because my sump does not have any baffles to keep the water at a constant level. YOU could restrict the pump with a valve. Do you have a Sedra 5000 with a needle wheel in it for your intake pump?

yea i am going to do a gate valve on my next day off. i did put a small valve on the end of the intake tube for the pump, that seems like it is doing the trick. yes i do have the sedra 5000 pump with a needle wheel. it seems like it is starting to settle in so hopefully all is well. i have the level in the cup set to about 3/4 the way up and it seems to be staying there for the most part. i set it there about 2 hrs ago and it only has about 1/8" of water in the bottom of the cup. but at least its a very yellow water so its doing its job, or starting to.