kent nautilus skimmer question

[91YOTA]

recently i picked up a kent nautilus turbo eductor skimmer with the rio 2100 pump... since hooking it up i have only gotten "dry" skimmate for about 2 days (filled the cup once)... i have had to empty the cup 4 times total and the other 3 times was basically dirty water that was the color and consistency of chicken broth... the first time i figured it was just due to skimmer break in since after emptying the cup i got dry foam but no such luck... ever since that second cup full it has been the "broth"... well i figured i would try building a stand in the bottom of the sump to raise the skimmer by about 3/4-1" hoping that it would lower the water level in the riser cone, thus allowing the skimmer to run "dryer" since the height adjustment is all the way down as far as i can get it... no luck so now im baffled and dont really want to continue dumping out large amounts of tank water with my skimmate... through my research, ive found the following quote which may shed some light on my issue but wanted to get some more opinions from people as to what is happening and maybe a possible fix...

What has occurred with my Nautilus to cause the skimmer to go haywire and send the clean bubbles/water into the collection cup revolves around the pump. Every so often, the pump creates a water cyclone in the turbo-eductor attachment that produces the air/bubble column through the pump which does not allow air to enter the water stream prior to entering the pump. (One major plaw with the design) Ultimately the swirling water at some point will reduce the amount of curl and will return to normal allowing the air to enter the stream. This can be accomplished manually by unplugging the pump for a few seconds to change the water flow into the pump back to normal.

obviously i cant sit by my tank and constantly plug and unplug my skimmer... im thinking the solution might lie in modifying or replacing the pump and how the water/air mixture is delivered to the body of the skimmer if the problem truly lies in the pump design for this application... any thoughts????

 

[Herefishyfishy]

Welcome to the site!

I had one and enjoyed it. Think you mean "wet skimmate" as in too much water in the waste collecter. If you lower the return pipe (the pipe with the sponge on it), it will thicken the skimmate wasting less water. Make sure the airtline and tube is clear and the venturi isn't plugged. For the low end priced skimmers, I found it pretty good.

 

[91YOTA]

thanks for the welcome!!! y'all have some really nice stuff on this site

return pipe is as far down as i can get it....

 

[Herefishyfishy]

OK, is the reaction chamber as in the main part, full of little bubbles churning in the water?
How deep is the skimmer in your sump water?

 

[91YOTA]

lots of bubbles in the reaction chamber... ill have to measure water depth in that section of my sump.. cant remember off hand... it looks like it will do a pretty good job if i can just get the water level down so that the foam dries up a little

 

[Herefishyfishy]

Try raising your skimmer, might be too deep in the water. You can raise it by setting it on some plastic items.

 

[91YOTA]

already raised it ~1" (1/2" pvc and eggcrate)... might try raising it some more

 

[91YOTA]

pics of the skimmer in operation... note the bubble level in the up-tube... i put a valve on the pump to slow the mixture coming in after these pics... seems to be working so far.... time will tell

 

[Herefishyfishy]

Skimmer needs to be raised more, will solve your problem.