The Life Reef Skimmer Club

[jason2459]

I am confused. My Lifereef currently is in 13 inches of water and the outlet valve is almost 1/2 open. I just raised the skimmer up, so the outlet was just submerged but I had to close the outlet to about 3/4 closed, so it seemed the pump was weaker with the skimmer shallower. I have a DC sine wave pump on there. Am I getting less flow, but more pressure (more bubbles)? I am not trying to argue, I am just trying to figure things out so I can maximize my situation.

Thank you

A couple things can be checked if you have the tools.

First is a Dwyer air flow meter. I would bet the airflow went up.

Second is a Killowatt meter. I would bet the watts used went up too.

If both of those happened you reduced the head pressure on the pump and made it more efficient.

Also having the outlet lower in the water the water pressure was helping to push back so the valve could be opened more.

 

[GQuinn]

A couple things can be checked if you have the tools.

First is a Dwyer air flow meter. I would bet the airflow went up.

Second is a Killowatt meter. I would bet the watts used went up too.

If both of those happened you reduced the head pressure on the pump and made it more efficient.

Also having the outlet lower in the water the water pressure was helping to push back so the valve could be opened more.

Unfortunately I do not have a kilowatt or a Dwyer air meter, but what you said about the back pressure being different on the outlet at different levels makes a lot of sense.

Thanks again.

 

[IvanTheTerrible]

I am confused. My Lifereef currently is in 13 inches of water and the outlet valve is almost 1/2 open. I just raised the skimmer up, so the outlet was just submerged but I had to close the outlet to about 3/4 closed, so it seemed the pump was weaker with the skimmer shallower. I have a DC sine wave pump on there. Am I getting less flow, but more pressure (more bubbles)? I am not trying to argue, I am just trying to figure things out so I can maximize my situation.

Thank you

Did you raise only the skimmer, or did you raise the pump too?

- Ivan

 

[GQuinn]

Did you raise only the skimmer, or did you raise the pump too?

- Ivan

Skimmer and pump.

 

[rjjr1963]

I've been running my skimmer about 10 days and I've slowly been closing the gate valve each day but I'm still not getting any production. I closed the valve a little more tonight and the cup filled with water in a couple minutes. This is my first skimmer, what am I doing wrong?

 

[EvMiBo]

I've been running my skimmer about 10 days and I've slowly been closing the gate valve each day but I'm still not getting any production. I closed the valve a little more tonight and the cup filled with water in a couple minutes. This is my first skimmer, what am I doing wrong?

First, open the valve a little, but not as much as where it was before (if possible).

Is the 24 being run on your 180? What fish and/or corals are in it? How often are you feeding? How long has the tank been running? It sounds like you have little to no bioload. Can we get some pictures of the skimmer operating? Is the sump water level still at 7.5", what current settings on your dc pump, and where is the water/bubble line in the skimmer?

 

[goreef170]

I've been running my skimmer about 10 days and I've slowly been closing the gate valve each day but I'm still not getting any production. I closed the valve a little more tonight and the cup filled with water in a couple minutes. This is my first skimmer, what am I doing wrong?

When you say 180 under construction.......Sounds like a new tank.....You will have to build up your bio load, before skimmer can go to work...

 

[rjjr1963]

First, open the valve a little, but not as much as where it was before (if possible).

Is the 24 being run on your 180? What fish and/or corals are in it? How often are you feeding? How long has the tank been running? It sounds like you have little to no bioload. Can we get some pictures of the skimmer operating? Is the sump water level still at 7.5", what current settings on your dc pump, and where is the water/bubble line in the skimmer?

It's being run on my 40 breeder. I have two small clowns, a 1.5" wrasse and two small yellow goby's. I have mostly sps corals along with some Montiporas, green polyps, xenia, mushrooms and three anemones. I feed daily but within reason. The tank has been up about a year. The water level in the sump is still 7.5" and the pump is running at 100%. 1700 gph. I do a 25% water change once per week. I can't tell exactly where the water/bubble line is. The lower chamber is entirely filled with bubbles up into the neck.

I will get some pictures this evening.

 

[rjjr1963]

When you say 180 under construction.......Sounds like a new tank.....You will have to build up your bio load, before skimmer can go to work...

I'm afraid construction on the 180 has stopped. lol

I decided to go with a shallow reef but the tank won't be here for another month. I do have a very nice Planet Aquarium 180g for sale. :spin1:

 

[EvMiBo]

Okay, so it sounds like your bioload is pretty low for the 24 model, but it should be great for when you get your 115 going (thanks for updating your signature ).

That being said you can still use it for your current setup, but realize that it isn't traditionally run on that small of a tank and is meant for larger bio loads; it'll require a little more tweaking than usual I think. I would drop the pump down to 90% or 80%, keep the valve where it is currently and monitor. You were very close before but the valve was closed too much.

One more question: is the water depth in your skimmer section consistent? This is very important to consistent performance of any skimmer, and often new reefers don't take it into consideration.

 

[rjjr1963]

Okay, so it sounds like your bioload is pretty low for the 24 model, but it should be great for when you get your 115 going (thanks for updating your signature ).

That being said you can still use it for your current setup, but realize that it isn't traditionally run on that small of a tank and is meant for larger bio loads; it'll require a little more tweaking than usual I think. I would drop the pump down to 90% or 80%, keep the valve where it is currently and monitor. You were very close before but the valve was closed too much.

One more question: is the water depth in your skimmer section consistent? This is very important to consistent performance of any skimmer, and often new reefers don't take it into consideration.

Yes, it's pretty consistent. I have the Tunze auto topoff. I am dosing kalk into the sump if that makes a difference. I'll try what you suggested tonight and see what happens.

 

[tlc]

add me to the club. I bought a used lifereef skimmer about 15 years ago and never used it until now. I fell into the hype of needle wheel and cone skimmers. well after 2 months of fiddling with one of those I finally decided to bring the lifereef back to life. it took me a day to dial in and now the lifereef is breathing fire. wow what a difference in skimmate production. I am beyond impressed.

 

[EvMiBo]

Yes, it's pretty consistent. I have the Tunze auto topoff. I am dosing kalk into the sump if that makes a difference. I'll try what you suggested tonight and see what happens.

Cool, it's been a while since I dosed kalk, but iirc it's supposed to be dosed into return section, downstream from the skimmer. I'm sure you're doing that, just making sure so we're on the same page.

add me to the club. I bought a used lifereef skimmer about 15 years ago and never used it until now. I fell into the hype of needle wheel and cone skimmers. well after 2 months of fiddling with one of those I finally decided to bring the lifereef back to life. it took me a day to dial in and now the lifereef is breathing fire. wow what a difference in skimmate production. I am beyond impressed.

Welcome back! What size LR, what pump, etc??? Pictures make this place more interesting too! Share some!

 

[tlc]

I do not know which model it is. I bought it about 15 years ago. looks like a stock one. I did hook it up to a jebao dc pump with 1050 gph flow rate. I know people say there is noise with these skimmers. mine is very quiet. this is 2 days of skimmate on a 80 gallon water volume system. light bio load. Its still breaking in and expect even better results once its all tuned and broke in.

 

[africangrey]

I do not know which model it is. I bought it about 15 years ago. looks like a stock one. I did hook it up to a jebao dc pump with 1050 gph flow rate. I know people say there is noise with these skimmers. mine is very quiet. this is 2 days of skimmate on a 80 gallon water volume system. light bio load. Its still breaking in and expect even better results once its all tuned and broke in.

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Is the gate valve submerged below the water line, do you hear sound of water splashing?

 

[EvMiBo]

Looks like the 24 inch model. Not a whole lot has changed in 15 years honestly. I've seen a lot of success with the 24's and a 6000lph (1585gph) DC pump but look me like you're fine with that pump for now. As long as you're 9" or shallower for sump depth you're good.

 

[tlc]

Africangrey my exit pipe is below the water level. the knob is just above the water line. I have it sitting in about 8.5 inches of water. no splashing sound. my skimmer is 21" from bottom to top of skimmer.

 

[ERIC85854]

I am confused. My Lifereef currently is in 13 inches of water and the outlet valve is almost 1/2 open. I just raised the skimmer up, so the outlet was just submerged but I had to close the outlet to about 3/4 closed, so it seemed the pump was weaker with the skimmer shallower. I have a DC sine wave pump on there. Am I getting less flow, but more pressure (more bubbles)? I am not trying to argue, I am just trying to figure things out so I can maximize my situation.

Thank you

If you raise the skimmer up, the water level in the skimmer drops, so you have to close the gate valve to get the same water level in the skimmer.

 

[Breadman03]

Had mine "fail" for the second time in a month today. I need to put something over the pump intake because it's the second time a snail shell got sucked up and blocked the Venturi. 5 minutes and a long nail to bump it out and I was back in action.

 

[FlyingFishSKYw]

I got the Jebao DCT-8000. It's a beast! Almost twice the size of the 4000 and loud when at full speed. I've got it dialed down to about 75% which is quieter for sure.

Time will tell now if it makes a difference. [emoji12]


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I've been running my DCT-8000 for about four months now and it's been working out real well.... except for the noise. I've got a DCT-4000 as my return pump and it is whisper quiet. The -8000 on the other hand is much much louder, even dialed back to 50%; which is how I've been running it for the last couple months.

So a couple days ago I swapped the -8000 back to the -4000. I figure the much quieter 4000 running at 100% should do just as good as the louder -8000 at 50%.

Time will tell- I'll give it a couple weeks to get broken it, but so far it seems to be working well. I'm willing to sacrifice a little performance for a quieter experience!