The Life Reef Skimmer Club
- Thread starter d2mini
- Start date
azjohnny
Active member
I agree with Ken about the bubble density.
I run my VS3-36 with a Fluval Seas SP4 ( 1800 gph)
Try raising the water level in the skimmer a bit, I ran mine at about 1/2" from the flange during break in
Bignose94015
New member
Few pictures of the new skimmer:
LifeReef Skimmer by ..:.. EZ ..:.., on Flickr
Here it is in the sump:
LifeReef Skimmer by ..:.. EZ ..:.., on Flickr
Even with the custom cup, it's too tall to remove the cup without tilting the entire skimmer body. It's not ideal, but it's working. I'm currently trying to track down the flow curve for the Waveline DC12000 so I can set it according to Jeff's recommendation.
The DC12000 maxes out at ~3100gph and there are a lot of bubbles in the skimmer body when I have it at the highest setting but the venturi is very very loud. When I set it to what I think is 1000-1200 gph, it barely produces any bubbles as in the picture above. Perhaps it's just breaking in.
Can you describe the noise you area hearing? I bought mine used with a mag 9 and it makes plenty of bubbles but it is super loud. Annoyingly loud.
Link to video of noise.
http://youtu.be/_61yQfnRAkE?list=UU0...IBF3t5PIbKgnmg
Last edited:
It definitely is a great pump. To bad it is not marketed better. With upgraded ceramic bearings and rubber feet, makes it one of the best bang for the buck pump out there and on top of that they are extremely quiet.
On one hand it looks like the water level should be raised. On the other hand if the pump was putting out the bubbles that it should, the water level would not have to be raised because the nix of air and water would take up that space. Either way, he needs to play around with it to get it right.
Piper27
I love bengals
Well it is an issue for me, at least I guess that's what it is, couldn't be anything else clogging it. I am drawing fresh air now to see if it's any different than drawing air from the collection cup. I don't see how small bits of condensation will stop salt creep from forming. I don't notice enough in there to defend rip down the tubing.
bayoupr
New member
Cleaned the cup Monday afternoon (didn't wipe it only hosed it down and this is after 1.5 days) The brown you see is from my GFO (had a little accident, but no problem). Piper27, the moist air from the cup helps out a lot. I've never had a venturi clog up with salt creep running the hose from the cup.
Attachments
You won't notice the salt creep in the hose until it's bad. The salt creep will start in the venturi and work up the hose.
The moist air will be enough to prevent the salt from crystalizing and building up
zibba
New member
The skimmer had been in the water for about 24 hrs when I took that picture but that was taken while trying to run the DC12000 on the lowest setting because that's the only setting that the venturi was quiet enough to be tolerable.
When I turn the DC12000 up to anything over halfway, there's a lot of bubbles but the venturi is really loud -- way too loud actually.
From my email exchange with Jeff, it sounds like it's just a bad match between the skimmer and pump. I'm going to try another combination.
Is your venturi silent with that pump? Do you think it would be a good fit for the 30" model?
The noise I'm hearing is different than yours. Yours sounds like a clogged venturi because it's "chugging."
The acoustics are off in this -- it's quieter than it initially sounds but it's still too loud in this configuration to be a long term fit -- but you can see the video below:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/yzwo1bz2eyqejwp/20140916_222625.mp4?dl=0
A friend has a Laguna 1350 and another has a Mag-12 that I'm going to try. If neither of those work, I'm thinking of swapping out the venturi for a Mazzei.
I really want this skimmer to work. It's well built and Jeff has been very responsive to my concerns and is trying to help as best he can.
Piper27
I love bengals
Ok well why is it that my water level gets lower and lower every few days then when suck water through the hose it goes back to the same level it started at? If I adjust the valve to level it out during that time, then run water through the hose, it is way higher and overflows. I can't think of anything other than salt creep. Any ideas?
I find the same thing when I run water through the venturi tubing on my LR and on the other venturi skimmer that I have. I definitely get better performance after running a few ounces of water through it.
I think the moist air helps but not as good as having the venturi suck a little water through it.
wildman926
Active member
Well that just negates one of the reasons boasted on the website about their skimmers.... :eek2:
bayoupr
New member
Don't know if it's his stock venturi's, but I have never had this problem with the Mazzei venturi drawing the moist air from the cup. I have never needed to let the venturi suck in any RO water due to any decrease in performance. I check my air draw once a week and it's the same.
d2mini
Premium Member
I haven't had any issues with the stocker.
Although I honestly haven't tried sucking some water through just to see if it makes any difference. I'm sure it wouldn't hurt though. But I think he states that it won't "clog". Mine has not clogged. I suppose its possible that you could get some salt in there that could make some slight difference in performance, but actually clog? Haven't seen it myself, nor heard of it yet.
I don't know if it negates it. I would say it helps but not as good as water.
It's not exactly like it is sucking steam through it. How moist and humid can that air be?
Running Stock venturi - I have only adjusted my skimmer output twice in two years.
Once when I originally received and setup my skimmer/sump.
Second was after I found snail shell in the venturi and had to clean my venturi... Other than that my water level has never changed and this was the only time I ever ran water through the air inlet.
Once when I originally received and setup my skimmer/sump.
Second was after I found snail shell in the venturi and had to clean my venturi... Other than that my water level has never changed and this was the only time I ever ran water through the air inlet.
Similar threads
