Skimmer Problems! @!#%#$

[clarkiiclown04]

Anyone has any experience with Macro Needlewheel skimmers? I just can't seen to tune it right....it either overflows or foam not high enough to produce skimmate.

And the 2nd issue i'm having with it is, the micro bubbles from the skimmer gets returned into my display tank. How do I get rid of the bubbles?

Very annoyed....please help....

[zeotz]

i had/hav the same problem as u.

for the bubbles... they do sell the bubble stopper, but in my experience, its quite inadequate and does not solve the problem entirely. my solution was to do a double baffle in the sump. which is the flow goes from top, down and up again. I have two of these baffles in my sump before it goes into the return chamber. zero bubbles by the time it gets returned. I have read and tried a few other methods i hav seen/read about, like putting a coconut squeeze filter at the outlet ... but prone to problems after awhile and need maintenance.

for the skimmate tuning, i still have the same problem. although when there is an obvious bioload (like something died or i am rearranging my live rocks) the skimmer will start producing skimmate even at medium settings. but otherwise, it simply doesnt skim even at high settings, or if too high .. the skimmate is very very wet. So if anyone knows of a good solution, share please.

[ervine]

i hardly get ANY skimmate in the collection cup.. mainly it's just a thick wall of sludge on the inside of the neck.... seems to me that the foam doesn't overflow into the cup...

[wil_lee76]

IMO, i do face the same problems like bro ervine & u...there nothing at the collection cup...most of the gunk can be found at the neck.

What you can do is to attach a "cloth" at the outlet of the skimmer...to collect the dirt and slightly reduced the bubbles.

hope these helps in your tuning!

[clarkiiclown04]

wow...seems like there are many people with the same problems as me! Hope someone will come out to help...

[Eric]

wow...seems like there are many people with the same problems as me! Hope someone will come out to help...

To get the skimmate to overflow into cup you can try to remove the top cover. The clearance between the riser and the top cover is too close, causing the foam bubbles to burst instead of overflowing into the cup.

Eric