Turning Beckett Skimmer

[nivlahog]

Hi Bros out there, anybody able to tell me how to tune a beckette skimmer? I am using RIO32 pump to run the skimmer and i place it inside my sump.

-Currently my skimmer dont produce much of foam, I tried turning the airlow but still the same. I can see a thin layer of Kopi-O and it just stay at that level since the day I start my skimmer(2 week), anybody see any problem?

- may I know is there any water level restriction? my water level is covering 3/4 of my airflow container(the part where I adjust airflow)

- is all the silencer the same, where can I get it?

- lastly any web site I can get information on this product?

[arcanehacker]

I'm also using a Rio32 for my beckett.

I use full air intake. For silencer, just use a 1 feet air tube.. those you use for the air pump kind. Yes.. its that simple and cheap, dun need to spend $30 on one. .. taught by one of the sponsors here.

Water level I usually set it little above the halfway mark of the neck. 3/4 high should be fine. I find that any higher and you will find your waste collector flowing with water during feeding or water topup.

[nivlahog]

Thanks for info bro arcanehacker but how come my kopi-o always stay at the same level, it did not manage to flow into my waste collector? Also I dont c a lot foaming raising to the top, my tuning for my airflow is at 2o'clock direction.

[arcanehacker]

Thanks for info bro arcanehacker but how come my kopi-o always stay at the same level, it did not manage to flow into my waste collector? Also I dont c a lot foaming raising to the top, my tuning for my airflow is at 2o'clock direction.

maybe you gotta allow more airflow.

[nivlahog]

maybe you gotta allow more airflow.

Think i should try it after work......

[shoelevy]

Thanks for info bro arcanehacker but how come my kopi-o always stay at the same level, it did not manage to flow into my waste collector? Also I dont c a lot foaming raising to the top, my tuning for my airflow is at 2o'clock direction.

these are my 2 cents

1 or 2oclock is generally correct.

u shouldn't turn on full air intake

reason is simple : u let too much air in and the bubble density saturates. then the bubbles start to collide alot and combine to form bigger bubbles. a big bubbles has less surface area than 3 smaller bubbles of the same volume. so by letting too much air in you haf compromised on skimmer effeciency. i believe arcanehacker can open full because he used long air tubing as silencer...that generates alot of resistance to air flow so he has to open full to make up for air line resistance.

actually, you shouldn't be too obssessed with how much gunk is collected. a more accurate gauge is to measure your water parameter and seeing that your no3 and po4 are dropping and under control. i dun get much skimmate from my beckett but it controls my parameters well and its good too...dun haf to waste too much salt water

u wanna bring no3 down use wet skimmate...after its down just tune to dry to save on salt water

so dun gauge by amt of skimmater collected...gauge by measuring water parameter...oh and btw, my waste collector also always empty but i have one to prevent flooding...and HENG i got the waste collecter...cos already 2 times the beckett went berserk...heng ah!

anyway, use the water gate valve to tune the water level such that the cotton foam is at the opening of the neck leading to the collection cup, like its about to overflow...that should be ok

[arcanehacker]

so dun gauge by amt of skimmater collected...gauge by measuring water parameter...oh and btw, my waste collector also always empty but i have one to prevent flooding...and HENG i got the waste collecter...cos already 2 times the beckett went berserk...heng ah!

went berserk?!.. hehe.. I also wonder why.. sometimes the level just goes up very high and my collector fills up pretty fast.. thing is its usually the time when I didn't do anything or not at home . .. not sure why that happens.

anyway increasing air intake wouldn't hurt. somemore since you said yours rarely fills up.. I put mine to full air intake and I still see the clean cup get dirty the next few hrs.. and mine is mostly dry skimnmate. Of course lets not count the days when my skimmer decides to go gaga and overflow..

[shoelevy]

went berserk?!.. hehe.. I also wonder why.. sometimes the level just goes up very high and my collector fills up pretty fast.. thing is its usually the time when I didn't do anything or not at home . .. not sure why that happens.

anyway increasing air intake wouldn't hurt. somemore since you said yours rarely fills up.. I put mine to full air intake and I still see the clean cup get dirty the next few hrs.. and mine is mostly dry skimnmate. Of course lets not count the days when my skimmer decides to go gaga and overflow..

haha

mine only goes berserk when i feed henry's food

and u're right about gunk collecting within next few hours....its amazing when i first saw it

[cyberfrog]

went berserk?!.. hehe.. I also wonder why.. sometimes the level just goes up very high and my collector fills up pretty fast.. thing is its usually the time when I didn't do anything or not at home . .. not sure why that happens.

anyway increasing air intake wouldn't hurt. somemore since you said yours rarely fills up.. I put mine to full air intake and I still see the clean cup get dirty the next few hrs.. and mine is mostly dry skimnmate. Of course lets not count the days when my skimmer decides to go gaga and overflow..

Like another reefer said, turning up the air DOES affect the performance of the skimmer.

I did some experiments. With air v/v full open, the bubbles are MUCH larger. And the skimmate much less. More importantly, the foam level is very inconsistent, varying quite a lot, and may result in frequent overflows.

With air v/v partially opened, the bubbles are very nicely compacted in the reaction chamber. More importantly it produces more consistent thick foam and the foaming level seldom vary much...resulting in less chances of overflow once the final setting is done.

i did an extreme where i removed the entire v/v and it was juz a gaping big hole...my goodness...it was almost impossible to tune.

[nivlahog]

Thanks everybody, I had managed to tune it last nite

arcanehacker, thanks for your tips, managed to save some $$$....

[patrick123]

Nivlahog,

Can you share with us how you tune it now and what is the result?

My personal opinion is that turning up the air flow is not going to help. My experience with beckett is that they tend to produce dry skimmate than wet because of the high suction of air, and the air dries up the skimmate very quickly. So the skimmate has a tendency to dry up on the wall than in the collection cup.

Turning up the air would probably makes it worse. You can imagine blowing a fan at the skimmate....what is the result.

So I think the trick is to turn the air low enough, that it generates consistent fine bubble. Not necessary the quantity of bubble. Correct me if I'm wrong.