The Life Reef Skimmer Club

[bayoupr]

I tried the two skimmer thing in the past with (2) BK Mini 180's, didn't work. One skimmer always out performed the other even though they were identical skimmers.

 

[Piper27]

More skimmer eye candy.
I think this is 4 days? Finally have the water level near the top of the neck and it's working great.

 

[bayoupr]

More skimmer eye candy

And it smells too.

 

[ken6217]

And it smells too.

Am I the only one whose wife gets mad when I dump the skimmate down the kitchen sink and it gets on her dish sponges??
Ken

 

[clugo]

nope. mine also HATES it.

 

[bawalitt]

I tried the two skimmer thing in the past with (2) BK Mini 180's, didn't work. One skimmer always out performed the other even though they were identical skimmers.

I am gonna take the Tunze out tonight and keep my fingers crossed.

 

[d2mini]

Am I the only one whose wife gets mad when I dump the skimmate down the kitchen sink and it gets on her dish sponges??
Ken

I dump it around her rose bushes.
And the roses are growing well! lol

 

[Yogre]

I know better than to even think about dumping nog down She Who Must Be Obeyed's new kitchen sink. I have a dedicated stationary tub in my fish cave. The last batch of nog I dumped smelled bad enough to gag a maggot.

 

[ksed]

I bet those roses don't smell like roses

I dump it around her rose bushes.
And the roses are growing well! lol

 

[laserjim]

well woke up this morning and here are the pics of both the skimmers.
Tunze has a foam head and is skimming.
Lifereef is still TRYING.

Tunze has an advantage because it was already broken in.

As far as the bio load goes, I have approx 14 fish in my tang (Sail fin, Yellow tang, fox face, power blue) being the largest ones, approx 7-8" in length. Rest are smaller fish like chromes, damsels, mandarins, etc. Tank is only 120 gallon. SPS dominated, Zeovit tank.

Just take the Lifereef out , give it a vinegar bath. Let in run with vinegar in it a couple hours. Then hook it back to the tank by itself, and give it a couple days.

 

[bawalitt]

Just take the Lifereef out , give it a vinegar bath. Let in run with vinegar in it a couple hours. Then hook it back to the tank by itself, and give it a couple days.

I took the Tunze offline today. I will give it one or two more days then give it a vinegar bath.
Hopefully it starts skimming before that.

 

[bayoupr]

My VS3-30" started kicking in yesterday and looking real good this morning. Also it's not a true 30" skimmer, has the 30" main body with a 12" extension tube and a taller neck (had Jeff make this for me). Gives me almost twice the reaction chamber compared to my 48". The 48" had about 17" of reaction compared to the 25" I have now. Running a 978 Mazzei injector with a Blueline 40HD (had to throttle the pump back about 1/2 way). Too much air with the pump wide open, around 35-40SCFH. Now have it cut back to 20-22SCFH which seems to be the best match for the body. Good flow also with the pressure rated pump. I may put my Blueline 30HD on it and see what that does.

 

[bayoupr]

Few pictures

 

[azjohnny]

Few pictures

Is the cup on the left the one skimmer normally comes with and the one on the right the upgraded 8" cup?

 

[bayoupr]

The one on the left is the standard cup. The one on the right is 2" taller and 8" dia. You can also get the standard cup in a 8"dia. I also have the shorter cup in 8" dia but will probably list it for sale. I like the extra 2" height.

 

[laserjim]

Here's mine. Love it !

Hey guys, notice I have mine sitting on a 12inch stand I made, its so the exit or drain was above my sump. Do you think I could put it on the floor and it would drain uphill ok ? The water has to go somewhere right ?

 

[bayoupr]

I would leave it above. I think that trying to flow up hill might affect the performance (might give you water fluctuations within the skimmer)

 

[azjohnny]

Hey guys, notice I have mine sitting on a 12inch stand I made, its so the exit or drain was above my sump. Do you think I could put it on the floor and it would drain uphill ok ? The water has to go somewhere right ?

Jim, what model # is yours?

 

[laserjim]

Jim, what model # is yours?

VS3-36, 36" tall

 

[ken6217]

VS3-36, 36" tall

What is the water level in the sump and what is the height of the exit pipe from of the skimmer from the bottom of the base of the skimmer?

You wouldn't want the tubing from the skimmer going up over the sump (uphill as you say). You should put a 1" bulkhead on the side of the sump.

There is nothing wrong with having the skimmer on the stand however. The only possible negative is an extra foot or so of head pressure on the pump, meaning some less flow into the venturi.
Ken