Prizm Skimmer

[georgeswb]

I've made an interesting discovery last nite abt my Prizm skimmer. It has not been skimming since I bought it abt two months ago. Had tried everything from washing it to changing the air tube but still it wouldn't work on my 2ft FOWLR tank.

However, when I introduced a small piece of dead shrimp to feed the crabbies two nites ago, it started skimming!It stopped iagain the morning when I removed the leftover shrimp.

But to my surprise, when I threw in another piece earlier on, the skimming came back on...

Do anyone of you think its due to the lack of bioload in the tank...I currently just have two damsels and 10Kg of LRs and 20kg of coral sand in the tank. I didn't add any more fish due to its high nitrate readings.

Any advices?

[georgeswb]

Hi all,

Just so u know, I've got a reply from Scott of wet web media below

George

Underachieving Skimmer?

Hi Wet Media Gurus,

<Scott F. on call today!>

I've made an interesting discovery last night about my

Prizm skimmer. It has not been skimming since I bought

it about two months ago. Had tried everything from

washing it to changing the air tube but still it

wouldn't work on my 2ft FOWLR tank.

<Grr...>

However, when I introduced a small piece of dead

shrimp to feed the crabbies two nites ago, it started

skimming!It stopped again the morning when I removed

the leftover shrimp. But to my surprise, when I threw in another piece

earlier on, the skimming came back on...

<Interesting...>

Do anyone of you think its due to the lack of bioload

in the tank...I currently just have two damsels and

10Kg of LRs and 20kg of coral sand in the tank. I

didn't add any more fish due to its high nitrate

readings.

<No, I dont. Even in a very lightly stocked tank, you should be able to

get some skimmate. It's really a function of geting that skimmer

properly adjusted...>

Any advice? Heard its a sad skimmer,its that true?

<Well, it has a reputation for being a bit of an "underachiever", but

with proper adjustment, you might just get some production. I think that

the burst of productivity might have ben due to the oil content of the

shrimp that you were feeding...Just a thought- but it is a possible

cause. In the end, if you can get that sucker dialed in, it should

produce. Keep tweaking...>

Many thanks,George

<My pleasure. Regards, Scott F.>

__________________________________

[Tanggy]

I had considered getting the prizm when i was shopping for a skimmer. Looks cool. But after reading lotsa reviews about it and asking reefers who'd had experience in it, decided against it and went for a weipro 2013 ( produced lotsa kopi ). The reason being it is a skimmer that requires constant tweaking to get get it working correct and maintain it. Some even say have to tweak daily. Plus the problems with the impeller so I drop the ideal. The thought of spending 300+ for the pro and it not working is daunting.

[victorp]

I had considered getting the prizm when i was shopping for a skimmer. Looks cool. But after reading lotsa reviews about it and asking reefers who'd had experience in it, decided against it and went for a weipro 2013 ( produced lotsa kopi ). The reason being it is a skimmer that requires constant tweaking to get get it working correct and maintain it. Some even say have to tweak daily. Plus the problems with the impeller so I drop the ideal. The thought of spending 300+ for the pro and it not working is daunting.

Unfortunately I don't have access to a digicam or else I can take a picture of the "kopi-o" skimmate of the Prizm Pro.

[weileong]

is this kopi-O ??

[dradttg]

is this kopi-O ??

Wow...you have great kopi-o.

I am a believer now. I must go home and tweak my Prizm now.

All I get is green stuff all the time.

[ozy]

Me too. I don't get such thick goo as compared to my weipro. And trust me, I have a rather heavy stocked tank.

[weileong]

carefully tune until the "white bubbles" are at the red arrow. Then the foam will be at the O-ring. Already, just wondering if I can still tune it more.

I still remember for the first week it is skimming out green tea only.

Now I dunno if I should go for the aquaC remora or not.

[dradttg]

carefully tune until the "white bubbles" are at the red arrow. Then the foam will be at the O-ring. Already, just wondering if I can still tune it more.

I still remember for the first week it is skimming out green tea only.

Now I dunno if I should go for the aquaC remora or not.

Thanks for the information weileong.

[georgeswb]

I believe it can be done but do we have to tweak it every day?

[Tanggy]

Thats' what almost everyone say lor. but people tend to exegerate la. Anyway I think most skimmers can be tweak to work just need some setting and patient.

Below is my kopi from my weipro 2013. have to clear every 3-4 days. no tweaking needed. just plug n play. he he.. maybe one of these days can all collect and come out for kopi!! :D

[Tanggy]

All this produce by 7 fish with 5 of them only 1inch in size. They really shit alot!!

[weileong]

have to try to keep water level stable, if not it will affect the skimming. Life is difficult with those HOT skimmer.

[Tanggy]

Agree. When the water level in the tank change and if the skimmer is in the tank, the water level in the skimmer change also. Then have to tweak again liao. so best if kept in an overflow system where the water level is constant except for the return part where the water level can drop.

[harmony]

carefully tune until the "white bubbles" are at the red arrow. Then the foam will be at the O-ring. Already, just wondering if I can still tune it more.

I still remember for the first week it is skimming out green tea only.

Now I dunno if I should go for the aquaC remora or not.

Hi...if Prizm is giving your great result... I don't see why the need to change skimmer

[Tanggy]

I think that's just reefers! It is never enough! Its can do better and most of all the tank is never BIG enough!!

[Nic a Jon]

Hi Tanggy

Ref ur weipro 2013...is ur water level up till where the black O ring is (neck of the skimmer) to produce such thick skimate?

Is ur skimmer in main tank or sump? Mine in sump water level always change, hard to keep waterlevel in skimmer constant

[blu_surf]

Kopi-o anyone?

This is not your plug-n-play kind of skimmer. You need a lot of patience to tweak this guy. I did some fine-tuning with the flow regulator to get skimmate like what I have here.

As for the impeller problem, some of the not so favourable comments you guys read on the net is about the old 10 or 12 blade one. Red Sea has already replaced it with an 18-blade impeller some time back.

[weileong]

blu_surf,

wow yours seems more "tekong" than mine! Pls share some tips

[dradttg]

blu_surf,

wow yours seems more "tekong" than mine! Pls share some tips

Yea...

Can you give us the close up on your water flow control? Show us how much you turned.

Thank you.

[blu_surf]

Another pic taken today.

Tip: Read the manual thoroughly and follow the instructions. That's exactly what I did!

Your water chemistry may be different from mine so telling you guys exactly where I set the flow regulator may not work for your tank. That's exactly what the flow regulator is designed for; different water chemistry, eg. bioload, SG, feeding, heavy/light waste producers, etc. etc.

IMHO, bioload does play a major part in protein skimming. Protein skimming AKA foam fractionation is a form of filtration. If you were to skim just salt/sea water, I seriously doubt your skimmer will skim anything at all. If there's nothing to skim/filter, there's nothing to skim/filter! That's why I am very curious why some forummers here mentioned that they are skimming kopi-o with or without fish. A freshwater example would be an external canister filter. If there's no fish in your freshwater tank, will your canister filter filter anything?

Initially when I started using my Prizm skimmer, it's either skimming nothing or light green tea. I thought die lah bought wrong skimmer liao! It was when I started adding some mushrooms, Hermit Crabs, Astrael Snails, 4 Clowns, 2 Yellow Gobies, 1 Doctor fish and 1 Coral Beauty (of course, not all at the same time lah!) and increase feeding as well, then the Prizm skimmer started brewing some kopi-o for me.

Honestly, if I have the money, I would have bought the AquaC Remora Pro as this I heard does not need tweaking; just plug-n-play. And honestly, it can be kind of troublesome tweaking Prizm's flow regulator every now and then just to get the right skimmate. You need patience with this skimmer.

I read there's some comparison between the Prizm and Remora too. But I think it's an unfair comparison as both are in totally different price leagues!

All the above are my own personal opinion. Please correct me if I am wrong and constructive comments/replies are most welcome!

As for now, I'll stick with my Prizm as it's finally brewing kopi-o for me!

Cheers.

ps. when I get tired of tweaking and have the money, I'll probably upgrade to a Remora Pro.

[blu_surf]

I noticed too that the skimmer skims more when the SG is higher. I was trying to save some money on salt mix earlier and my SG was 1.019. It is now 1.024 and skimming more. Thought I should mention this........

[Chris]

My prizm can skim half cup of dark kopi every 3-4 days. The cue is to adjust the flow to around 1/2.

[blu_surf]

Mine is less than half. It is set at about 2 o'clock.

[NgaoCi]

Mine is more than half. If you take a closer look at my latest pic which is clearer, it is set at about 2 o'clock.

Half is Full blast rite? so if its about 2 o'clock, should be very minimum the flowrate...unless i mis-read your message.(btw, when you set at 2 o'clock, does the outflow has alot of mini bubbles in your tank?If u tweak to half, u will get lots of them..)