Supermarin 200 is now surging

[Lightspeed]

Hi, not sure if anyone else has come across this issue. My Supermarin is a little over 1 month old now and am really happy with the Rd3 pump and also run a RD3 100W flow return pump, but since the first 4 days of install I have had to switch it off after a two days as it just boils, as my display is new I kind of figured well as there is no fish then maybe the junk is not there to skim out. My display is 260G plus sump, but this week after constantly battling settings now the skimmer is surging, which it has never done, so I cleaned it totally today but there is simply nothing there to cause an issue and I watch the bubble volume rise and fall and rise and fall again continuously, now I cant set it at all and a tiny tenth of a millimetre adjustment on the tube makes it overflow.
I have tried different sump levels, internal skimmer levels and wattage and just seem to be running in circles.
But on the day of install within literally minutes of switching it on it was pulling junk out.
The two pics below were taken in the first few mins and around 40 min of first switching on, never been the same since.
Can anyone help or has anyone experienced similar and what did you do to rectify?? I blame myself first not the equipment, what am I doing wrong???

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=408290&stc=1&d=1601305481

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=408291&stc=1&d=1601305481

 

[Lightspeed]

well I washed the sponge in the silencer last night and dried off then washed the silicone airline to the pump and the surging has stopped, still cant get it to produce skimmate, just oxygenating water, fingers crossed, when I start stocking and feeding I can get this to run like it did when first installed.

 

[slief]

well I washed the sponge in the silencer last night and dried off then washed the silicone airline to the pump and the surging has stopped, still cant get it to produce skimmate, just oxygenating water, fingers crossed, when I start stocking and feeding I can get this to run like it did when first installed.

You definitely need fish to generate the dissolved organics that are needed to create foam and skimmate. What version of SM do you have? RD3 version or the AC pump version. While dust and other buildup in the foam filter will cause surging, the biggest reason for surging is an improperly tuned pump which on the AC pump means adjusting the nozzle better to fine tune it and the other reason is closing the wedge pipe too much in order to compensate for lower then ideal sump levels or to compensate for an improperly tuned pump.

 

[Lightspeed]

Hi mate, yes I figured I just don't have the waste build up yet but I thought I had really messed something up when the surging started.

My version is the RD3, am running at 40w at the moment and ended up removing the silencer foam, every time it overflowed the water splatter from the top vents wound up with some moisture down the silencer which was playing havoc with the settings and creating the surging, and the worst thing I did was clean it as in wipe it clean exacerbating the boiling symptoms.

I will keep it running as is, without the foam in the silencer for now until I increase my bio load, and adjust after I get my Regals and Majestics.

I figured one of the reasons the Supermarin 200 and RD3 were so impressive out of the box was the fact my display was over a week old with 70 kilos of natural live rock stocked, so by the time I fitted the skimmer there was piles of decaying organics to remove, now the water is just too clean as the cycle is over.

Me being a RE newby I am still learning how to read my skimmer but think I am getting there slowly
I filled up with some CUC today to get me on my way, sand stars x2, and 10 x trochus and 10 x Nassarius and added a few more LPS.

I have lifted the sump water level to 24cm from 18cm and have been reading other users with the same size skimmers are only running at 34-36w. So have been apprehensive about running higher, but I just might need to for now until my bio load is up, and not 100% sure but should not be using other users as a guideline as my system is totally different in its maturity, but if you recommend I try a higher wattage I will and just turn the flow on the wedge down.

 

[slief]

Hi mate, yes I figured I just don't have the waste build up yet but I thought I had really messed something up when the surging started.

My version is the RD3, am running at 40w at the moment and ended up removing the silencer foam, every time it overflowed the water splatter from the top vents wound up with some moisture down the silencer which was playing havoc with the settings and creating the surging, and the worst thing I did was clean it as in wipe it clean exacerbating the boiling symptoms.

I will keep it running as is, without the foam in the silencer for now until I increase my bio load, and adjust after I get my Regals and Majestics.

I figured one of the reasons the Supermarin 200 and RD3 were so impressive out of the box was the fact my display was over a week old with 70 kilos of natural live rock stocked, so by the time I fitted the skimmer there was piles of decaying organics to remove, now the water is just too clean as the cycle is over.

Me being a RE newby I am still learning how to read my skimmer but think I am getting there slowly
I filled up with some CUC today to get me on my way, sand stars x2, and 10 x trochus and 10 x Nassarius and added a few more LPS.

I have lifted the sump water level to 24cm from 18cm and have been reading other users with the same size skimmers are only running at 34-36w. So have been apprehensive about running higher, but I just might need to for now until my bio load is up, and not 100% sure but should not be using other users as a guideline as my system is totally different in its maturity, but if you recommend I try a higher wattage I will and just turn the flow on the wedge down.

40w is WAY WAY WAY too much for that size skimmer and explains the surging and your overflows. Too much water is going into the body and can’t escape the wedge pipe fast enough. Especially if you are closing the wedge to raise the level inside the skimmer. The 200 sized skimmer has a sweet spot of 28-32w. That allows the perfect balance of water to air mixture and contact time for that skimmer body and will result in the most dense foam when you have an appropriate load. A 250 runs best between 36 and 38w. When the speed is too high, you get too much turbulence inside the body. The bubbles rise too quickly and burst at the surface. You also get water moving too fast through the body to properly remove the dissolved organics from the water in an efficient manner. The slow speed allows for the bubbles to effectively remove the dissolved organics faster and allows the bubbles to rinse slower and create a much more dense foam head that helps carry solids and dissolved solids alike to the top of the collection cup. Less is more when it comes to properly tuning your skimmer and getting the best performance out of it!

Since you have no appreciable load, I wouldn’t worry about collecting skimmate. Running the pump speed higher is just going to remove mostly water anyways. And to keep that skimmer happy, you’re going to need nearly 100” of fish so you have a long way to go before that skimmer will be anywhere near consistent. The Supermarin’s are very conservatively rated and like a heavy fish load. In the absence of that, you will find it inconsistent. Just run the speed between 28-32w and use the sump depth and wedge pipe to adjust to a wetter skim to get some level of consistency but until you get some fish in there, it will be an effort in futility. If at the above pump speeds you need to close the wedge pipe more then 50% to raise the break line up in the skimmer, back off to where the pipe is fully open and raise your sump level 1cm at a time until you get the break line about 2-4 CM below the bottom of the collection cup. Then you will only need to close the wedge pipe slightly to tune from dry to wet skimming.

Once you lower the pump speed and accept the fact that it’s not going to be consistent and won’t produce much skimmate without a substantial fish load since you don’t have much in the way of dissolved organics, it will stop overflowing so you can put that foam back in the silencer where it belongs.

 

[Lightspeed]

Thanks, [MENTION=225253]slief[/MENTION]

That is EXACTLY what I needed to hear, I tried the wattage back at 30w with much improvement and further dropped it back to 28w, contact time is sooooo much better and am no longer boiling water, the foam head is so much thicker now and dense enough to finally build as it should. Have set the break line as per instruction.
Can't thank you enough for your experience and advice, will upload a pic tomorrow of current settings after it had a little time to settle in.

 

[slief]

Thanks, [MENTION=225253]slief[/MENTION]

That is EXACTLY what I needed to hear, I tried the wattage back at 30w with much improvement and further dropped it back to 28w, contact time is sooooo much better and am no longer boiling water, the foam head is so much thicker now and dense enough to finally build as it should. Have set the break line as per instruction.
Can't thank you enough for your experience and advice, will upload a pic tomorrow of current settings after it had a little time to settle in.

Great to hear and very glad to help!

 

[Lightspeed]

thanks [MENTION=225253]slief[/MENTION], heres the pic since changes as per your advice, running on 28W and skimming pretty dry with 12hrs in the cup. Sorry about the mobile pic.

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[slief]

thanks [MENTION=225253]slief[/MENTION], heres the pic since changes as per your advice, running on 28W and skimming pretty dry with 12hrs in the cup. Sorry about the mobile pic.

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Looks good. :thumbsup: