Skimmy
SKIM FU
i like the ps series better, it has a bigger reaction chamber, and better transition at the neck.
Octupus Xtreme skimmer
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Skimmy
SKIM FU
put your skimmer on a stack of egg crate until the outlet is the same level as the sump, or drill a hole and put a bulkhead in your sump at the level of the skimmer outlet, so that it goes directly into the sump through the side.
DiegoLizarazo
Member
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Just pulled the trigger and ordered the INT-PS-150 at premiumaquatics. It appeared to me that the PS had a little more volume. Who knows if it'll make any difference really, most of these comparisons are subjective anyway. Post pics when I get the unit. Until then... skim away!
DiegoLizarazo
Member
ok thank now Which is better conection PS or TS
I'm not sure to be honest. I haven't actually opened up a box on the TS model, but I believe they use the same size of a neck, just the TS has more of a funnel sloping design than the PS. In stock form I don't think it will make much of a difference, with mods and a lot more air, I would guess the TS neck will handle the higher airflows a little better, but I don't know if it would be enough to even be noticable.
Kim
Kim
Well, mine came in today. The SWC160. The way its set up you twist the stand pipe to increase or decrease the height of the foam in the body of the skimmer.
Mines running WAY to wet. It would probably drain my whole tank in 2-3hrs. Its set in the lowest position. Any ideas??
Thanks
Brett
Mines running WAY to wet. It would probably drain my whole tank in 2-3hrs. Its set in the lowest position. Any ideas??
Thanks
Brett
I noticed that the position of the venturi plays a big role in how high the water runs. I don't have an air meter, but I think it is based on how much air versus water is injected. If you have a small valve you can play with adjusting the amount of air injected or just try adjusting the venturi. Also the water depth played a big role in skimmer level so raising or lowering the skimmer in the water may work.
-chris
-chris
csdoyle
Well-known member
I'd suggest giving it some time to break in, even if it overflows to your sump. I had a skimmer that took a week or so to sort itself out and once settled produced relatively good gunk.
Cheers,
Chris
apollothesun
Well-known member
thanks for the suggestion skimmerwhisperer, take a look how i got the discharge of the skimmer to my sump. included are some pics. its workinfgfor now, as you can see i siliconed where it leaked.
do you think its okay to run ozone with these skimmers? will that effect the bubble skimmate size?
View attachment 25891
View attachment 25892
last pic is my upgrade pvc from 3/4 to 1 1/4 pvc return.
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Brett, do you have the reducer inside the pump male volute? It was a small black piece that went from 1" to 1/2". If you don't have it in there you won't pull much air, 20ish scfh which will overflow your skimmer. Once you add it in there face the small end towards the impeller. The air injector piece that came with it is a small grey piece. You want to slide it in just a few MM's. Either end will work fine, the slit or not slit. If you do put the slit side in, you must have the slit facing the impeller. HTH
Luke
I noticed that if the slit side is facing away from the pump I tend to get a ton of air going in but not much water. If I face the slit side toward the pump it gets really quiet, but I am not pulling as much air. Unfortunately I don't have an air meter, but I can tell proportional amount by the feel of the air tube. I placed it the quiet way and it is still skimming fine. Is there something I am doing wrong? Is a loud jet engine noise when there is a high air flow indicative of something wrong with the pump? I replaced the zip ties with fish line and that helped quite a bit, but is there something more I should do?
-chris
Hmm, its tough to say without an air meter. I have my msx200 pulling 45scfh and i have the other end about 3mm down. Its super quiet as well. Its really starting to pull out some dark skimmate as well. Noise really isn't going to tell you anything as i can make 20scfh sound like there's a jet about to land on my house. Have you tried placing the flat end into the volute cover instead of the slit end? Give that a whirl. The water line in mine is right where the taper starts from the body. HTH, and it doesn't sound like your doing anything wrong imo.
Thanks for the tip. The flat end is performing much better, pulling more air and quieter than using the slit end. I can get the pump to pull more air by positioning the slit end just right to block a large part of the pump inlet. I ordered som Enkamat and will add another layer or two this weekend which should increase the air pull with the existing reducer and keep the pump quiet.
Here is a noob question. With a big neck like this skimmer has, will it not pull skimmate if there isn't enough air? The reason I ask is I had a coralife 65 a couple years ago and it had a very small neck but consistently pulled dark skimmate, till the pump broke. I got this skimmer and when I get the air flow up there I pull dark skimmate, but if I cut that down, the air, due to noise I either overflow or get very little skimmate...
Here is a noob question. With a big neck like this skimmer has, will it not pull skimmate if there isn't enough air? The reason I ask is I had a coralife 65 a couple years ago and it had a very small neck but consistently pulled dark skimmate, till the pump broke. I got this skimmer and when I get the air flow up there I pull dark skimmate, but if I cut that down, the air, due to noise I either overflow or get very little skimmate...
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apollothesun
Well-known member
where can you purchase an air meter?
After a mesh job from Skimerwhisper its foaming nicely. You could scoop the foam with a spoon! Mark was giving me alot of crap for putting this skimmer on a 30 gallon. They use 2 of these exact pumps to power the skimmer that runs the display and frag system at barrier. :badgrin:
DiegoLizarazo
Member
more pics skimmate please
Got the PS-150 in the other day. Ran water/vinegar for a couple of hours. Been in sump for 2 days now and no skimmage. Water is a level 8 inches. Strange thing is that one moment it started to skim and having bubbles go up the tube, moments later it stopped. Any ideas?
