Dc skimmer tuning, is it much easier?

[Jasongtr]

Put a post up a few weeks ago saying i had issues with my Red Sea RSK 300 ac skimmer, couldnt get a decent calm foam to be collected, its more like the boiling pot of water that people describe it as.

I have a filter roller and will soon be building an algae turf scrubber ( tried an algae reactor but that didnt work out for me)

So whilst i would buy a new dc skimmer id prefer not to throw £400/500 at one if im not going to see a big benefit.

So are they much easier to dial in, ive put a valve on my air intake but it still doesnt make much if any difference

Nutrient levels are 25 nitrate and .2 phosphate, i know from the previous thread skimmers dont pull Nutrient levels out once they are detectable on test kits but obviously it would pull matter out before it was detectable and therefore then wouldnt be recorded on a test kit.

Thanks

 

[shwareefer]

Put a post up a few weeks ago saying i had issues with my Red Sea RSK 300 ac skimmer, couldnt get a decent calm foam to be collected, its more like the boiling pot of water that people describe it as.

I looked over your skimmer too big thread. The first thing I would try is to lower the water in your skimmer by opening the gate valve (you could even open it completely to start). Putting the head into the wider portion of the body will allow the foam to stabilize and stop boiling. Trust me it works. If it just keeps boiling after a couple days then you have nothing to skim. If it makes thicker stable foam as I expect, then you can slowly start bringing it up to where it's collecting how you like, however don't come all the way back to where you were or it will just start boiling again.

 

[Jasongtr]

I looked over your skimmer too big thread. The first thing I would try is to lower the water in your skimmer by opening the gate valve (you could even open it completely to start). Putting the head into the wider portion of the body will allow the foam to stabilize and stop boiling. Trust me it works. If it just keeps boiling after a couple days then you have nothing to skim. If it makes thicker stable foam as I expect, then you can slowly start bringing it up to where it's collecting how you like, however don't come all the way back to where you were or it will just start boiling again.

Ok thanks, i can't imagine i have nothing to skim with my numbers

 

[rennjidk]

Depends, but generally yes. The tunze ones especially as the only adjustment is a single knob on the remote. Turn it up to skim more, or down to skim less.

If you're having issues with your current skimmer, it's most likely just improperly adjusted.

 

[Jasongtr]

I looked over your skimmer too big thread. The first thing I would try is to lower the water in your skimmer by opening the gate valve (you could even open it completely to start). Putting the head into the wider portion of the body will allow the foam to stabilize and stop boiling. Trust me it works. If it just keeps boiling after a couple days then you have nothing to skim. If it makes thicker stable foam as I expect, then you can slowly start bringing it up to where it's collecting how you like, however don't come all the way back to where you were or it will just start boiling again.

Seems to be thickening up, i put a valve on the air inlet line too as ive seen a few videos that reducing the air input helps stop the boiling water effect, so a combination of lowering the water as you suggested and probably halving the air input then slowly raising the foam head is getting somewhere, still needs a load more fine tuning but im resisting the temptation to check it every 10 minutes lol

 

[shwareefer]

Seems to be thickening up, i put a valve on the air inlet line too as ive seen a few videos that reducing the air input helps stop the boiling water effect, so a combination of lowering the water as you suggested and probably halving the air input then slowly raising the foam head is getting somewhere, still needs a load more fine tuning but im resisting the temptation to check it every 10 minutes lol

I have the likely unpopular opinion that cone skimmers are a bad design and a step backwards from cylinders. The shape is supposed to ease the bubble transistion upward, and maybe they do that, but the net effect of narrowing the reaction chamber is more turbulence at the top essentially undoing the smooth transistion they were going for. This is most noticeable in newer systems with low or inconsistent organics. They then need bandaids like air restriction and DC pumps to fix the flaw (and money from our wallets). I do in fact use a cone skimmer though so enough ranting.

I'm happy you are getting some positive results!

 

[Jasongtr]

I have the likely unpopular opinion that cone skimmers are a bad design and a step backwards from cylinders. The shape is supposed to ease the bubble transistion upward, and maybe they do that, but the net effect of narrowing the reaction chamber is more turbulence at the top essentially undoing the smooth transistion they were going for. This is most noticeable in newer systems with low or inconsistent organics. They then need bandaids like air restriction and DC pumps to fix the flaw (and money from our wallets). I do in fact use a cone skimmer though so enough ranting.

I'm happy you are getting some positive results!

Without even touching anything ( or feeding) its gone to a boiling pot again, this skimmer is going out the window soon

 

[PeterC99]

I gave up on AC skimmers. Found that they only ran at one constant speed which over skims at certain times and then therefore has periods when it doesn’t skim.

Switched to a DC skimmer, dialed back the the pump to a slower speed and now am able to produce a consistent skim.

 

[Jasongtr]

I gave up on AC skimmers. Found that they only ran at one constant speed which over skims at certain times and then therefore has periods when it doesn’t skim.

Switched to a DC skimmer, dialed back the the pump to a slower speed and now am able to produce a consistent skim.

Thanks, ice been putting it off for a while, im also building a turf scrubber now so thatll be up and running next week hopefully, might hold fire until thats established itself. I guess the skimmer i have would at least be a good oxygenating tool