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View Full Version : Help with Coralife Superskimmer?


krazeekiddie
08/30/2007, 07:28 PM
Hello Everyone!! Hoping maybe someone could tell me what I am screwing up!!! =)

I just purchased a coralife super skimmer. It's for tanks up to 220 gallons.

For the pump, purchased a mag 700

So all excited me reads the instruction 20 times before setting it up, get everything all set in my sump, turn it on, & even in the lowest setting, it's filling up the cup in seconds???

HELP!!! What am I doing wrong?? Any Ideas???

aaron7405
08/30/2007, 07:42 PM
too much power in your pump maybe? have you try a balve before the skimmer? and regulate the pump out presure.

You say in the lower setting. lower you put the cup will be more wet foam, if you rise the cup the bouble takes longer to get to the bottom and will be more stiky dry foam.

You have to realize than the skimmer has there brake down peroir miine took 15 days to star kicking

krazeekiddie
08/30/2007, 07:49 PM
Bought the pump that the box recommended...hmmmm....

it said "requires 650-750 gph water pump"

Thought 700 was safe??

I am a complete idiot when it comes to this stuff, guess I have many blonde moments, but there is this thingy I will call it that sucks air in, when I put my finger over it, the water stops shooting into the collection cup & behaves the way i think it should, who knows!

I don't want to stand in front of my tank so my skimmer works, did they miss a part in the box???

Frist time I have ever set a skimmer up.... ::weeps::

Any ideas on my weird description?

ThrowinRoost89
08/30/2007, 07:53 PM
if you take the hose where the water comes out of the pipe, take it out if the bubble diffuser and just sit it down in the tank above the water. it will have no backpressure. turn it on, and if it still fill the cup, either something blocked up inside the skimmer or your pump is to big.

BrokeColoReefer
08/30/2007, 07:53 PM
and your pump is a needle wheel correct??

pedromatic
08/30/2007, 09:40 PM
Coralife skimmers are very finicky. They overflow if you look at them funny. I used to have one and found the best setting was to keep the water level right about where the bevel starts in the reaction chamber, below the cup. In other words, about half way up from the red collar. Never mind the instructions. This will give you more bubbles (more surface area) and drier foam.

BTW, this skimmer gave me many headaches. If I were you I would return it and get something else if you can.

carlso63
08/30/2007, 09:44 PM
Do you have the red knob turned all the way "open"...?

If you are not sure, shut the skimmer off, remove that flex return tube, and look inside the fitting. It should be totally UNBLOCKED by the red plastic valve.

When I first set mine up (I have a CSS220, too) I didn't realize the red valve was in backwards and what I thought was fully "open" was in fact fully "closed" - and my cup filled up almost instantaneously...

stanlalee
08/30/2007, 10:11 PM
I assume you have the coralife "venturi" 220 that doesn't come with a pump. from what I understand its designed a bit different than the coralife "needlewheel" 220 so some people may be assumming you have that skimmer. only suggestions I would make are make sure where ever the air is drawn in the skimmer is not blocked/pinched and free of water and like already stated the output is not submerged. If the pump is too big just fit a gate or ball valve to the output of it and throttle it back but I would trouble shoot more first.

krazeekiddie
08/31/2007, 08:06 AM
Yup, venturi is the one I bought on rec of the LFS....

I will play around with it again tonight, thanks for the input, we will see how it goes!

Much apprecaited!

Heather

ThrowinRoost89
08/31/2007, 09:04 AM
it doesnt take a rocket scientist to figure these thing out like everyone acts like, you will get it.


i aint had 1 prob with my used 125 needle wheel i bought for $80