The Life Reef Skimmer Club

[laserjim]

Im running a Vectra M1 now at 90%. Works great. I was running a Panworld 100px-x, that worked fine also, I just wanted to cut down on the power bill with the dc pump.

 

[laserjim]

Another thing you might think about, I had the 48, but it seemed like it didnt have any more dwell time than the 36, so I bought an extention. Nice difference. Maybe your tank is clean

 

[Khazmodain]

I agree with laserjim... you shouldn't need to run that as a recirc. When you tried running it as a standard venturi did you run the DC12000 at 100% as the pump feeding into the mazzei? I had good results with a similar setup.. I had a Jebao DCT-15000 on a 72" LifeReef. Ultimately I ended up switching to a Reeflo Hammerhead and now get some serious skimming... obviously it's more of an energy hog though.

 

[jrizo1]

I agree with laserjim... you shouldn't need to run that as a recirc. When you tried running it as a standard venturi did you run the DC12000 at 100% as the pump feeding into the mazzei? I had good results with a similar setup.. I had a Jebao DCT-15000 on a 72" LifeReef. Ultimately I ended up switching to a Reeflo Hammerhead and now get some serious skimming... obviously it's more of an energy hog though.

I tried every setting from 100% to 30%

 

[Pablos RSM 450]

Hi every one I have a few questions about a Lifereef Skimmer that I purchase a few months ago.
The skimmer is a VS3-48
I am trying to run it as a recirculating skimmer and I am not happy with it
I am wondering if I am using the wrong pump for recirculating the water.
I am using a waveline DC1200 at it lowest setting to feed water to the skimmer and a Syncra silent 4.0(951 Gph) sicce to recirculate the water (wide open)
Is been running like that for about 5 days and not producing anything
I will appreciate any suggestion
Thanks

If your signature is correct you might be running to big of a skimmer for a 90 gallon tank. The 48" is recommended for tanks up to 500 gallons.

 

[jrizo1]

If your signature is correct you might be running to big of a skimmer for a 90 gallon tank. The 48" is recommended for tanks up to 500 gallons.

No that skimmer is on a clownfish growing system about 200 gallons of water and 400 - 600 clownfish all different sizes
Also that size was what Jeff recommend me

 

[Apotack]

Anyone have a problem with the acrylic cracking, breaking, around the discharge pipeinto the side of the skimmer?

I cracked mine. Sent it to Jeff he repaired it for me.

 

[FlyingFishSKYw]

Should get quieter once broken in. Around 75% should be good. Update this thread once you feel the pump is broken in :thumbsup:

It's been going for a couple weeks now and it has gotten quieter (that or I've gotten used to the noise now ).

I've been dialing it in. It'll produce about half the collector's cup worth of green tea colored waste per week. I haven't yet seen a real frothy head of foam. Could be I don't have the bio load for it? This skimmer is probably a bit oversized for my 75 with only 8 small fish... I'm also doing a gallon water change four days a week (auto water change system- if you don't have one, GET one!!).

Am I correct in my thinking that, short of it overflowing non-stop into he collection cup, anything "bubbling" over is still waste export?

 

[GQuinn]

Here is my 30 inch Lifereef in my basement sump on my heavy stocked 120.

 

[EvMiBo]

It's been going for a couple weeks now and it has gotten quieter (that or I've gotten used to the noise now ).

I've been dialing it in. It'll produce about half the collector's cup worth of green tea colored waste per week. I haven't yet seen a real frothy head of foam. Could be I don't have the bio load for it? This skimmer is probably a bit oversized for my 75 with only 8 small fish... I'm also doing a gallon water change four days a week (auto water change system- if you don't have one, GET one!!).

Am I correct in my thinking that, short of it overflowing non-stop into he collection cup, anything "bubbling" over is still waste export?

Any pics of your collection cup after 1 week?
How often do you feed your fish?

Sounds like it's doing a pretty good job, and that you have clean, consistent water.

Your thinking is correct. But it sounds like you're concerned about the bubbles in the neck and the foam head, is your waterline pretty high? It might have to be since you bioload is low-ish and your water is so clean, maybe someone else can chime in too.

Would be interested to see a couple pics of the collection cup as mentioned above and where the waterline is.

 

[AZRippster]

Anyone have a problem with the acrylic cracking, breaking, around the discharge pipeinto the side of the skimmer?

Zip down to Home Depot or Lowes and pickup some JB Weld PlasticWeld. Clean the acrylic and PVC pipe real good on the outside of the skimmer (no residue left for sure). Knead up a good amount of the PlasticWeld and after kneading roll into a rope/string that looks like it will wrap around the external pipe. Then work it in all the way around the pipe and the skimmer body like the pic of mine here. When it sets up, it sets up real well.

Admittedly, you shouldn't have to do this. Mine had some bubbles in the cement and an area that didn't look like it was covered well. Jeff recommended this as a fix, otherwise I could have mailed the unit back to him for repair/replacement.

 

[AZRippster]

I have some cosmetic cracking and starring on the cup, but none that I've noticed otherwise.

I have it on the cup and one side of the skimmer body where the bulk of the ozone hits before defusing up the tube. It appears that ozone may cause crazing in the acrylic that Jeff uses. I run 25mg for an hour a day at 0600/1200/1800/0000. Ozone is the only thing I can attribute it to, but it may not actually be it. Otherwise, I'm not running anything that may/should cause this.

 

[FlyingFishSKYw]

Filled the cup in a few days.

The skimmer sits in 8 1/4" water.

Feeding:
Eheim auto feeder drops about a dozen pellets twice a day.
Flake or frozen food about every other day.
4 drops of sponge power every day.
2 scoops of Reef Chili a couple times a week.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[EvMiBo]

That looks too wet to me. I would open the gate valve some. Try to get that same amount in 5-7 days.

 

[Pablos RSM 450]

Filled the cup in a few days.

The skimmer sits in 8 1/4" water.

Feeding:
Eheim auto feeder drops about a dozen pellets twice a day.
Flake or frozen food about every other day.
4 drops of sponge power every day.
2 scoops of Reef Chili a couple times a week.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

The water depth is fine but like EvMiBo said it is very wet. You can look up videos on youtube as to how to set the water level in the skimmer body. Jeff also sends some very detailed instructions with the skimmer. If you got yours used let me know and ill send you some pics of the instructions.

 

[FullBoreReefer]

Definitely agree, I get actual chunks out of mine lol Mine is around every 10days I empty. So dark sometimes I can't see through the cup with a light directly behind it lol

 

[FlyingFishSKYw]

Thanks guys! I have the instructions and did the initial setup it accordingly.

I'll dial it back a bit and see what happens. I guess my fear is that it will just foam up in the neck and never "boil" over.

Also, how often are you taking the collection cup off to clean it out? Will that impact how it performs?

 

[EvMiBo]

I clean my cup once a week, sometimes more. I find it to help performance. I used to let it it fill up to half way or more, but lately I clean it whenever I rotate my filter sock which seems to be every 4-5 days.

 

[Pablos RSM 450]

Thanks guys! I have the instructions and did the initial setup it accordingly.

I'll dial it back a bit and see what happens. I guess my fear is that it will just foam up in the neck and never "boil" over.

Also, how often are you taking the collection cup off to clean it out? Will that impact how it performs?

When I was running it I would clean it every Saturday with my water and filter sock change. I have left it in for 2 weeks with no issues (depends how much you skimm wet or dry). I would also turn down my DC pump for a while so that it would not overflow when I changed the filter socks.

 

[africangrey]

Anyone know the clearance needed for VS-24 or VS-30, my interior of stand height is 34 inch, if I get a VS-30 would there be enough room to remove the collection cup.

Have a 100 gal, do you guys think VS-30 is overkill, I am coming from a pinwheel world where over sized skimmer is a no-no, don't know if the same rules applies to Lifereef.

Anyone use Avast wiper for such small neck, would love to hear your experience.