Prism Skimmer

[notto2006]

Ok so i purchased a Prism skimmer and can not get it to skim either I fill the cup all the way up with just water or nothing happens. I think I must be an idiot! If anybody has any ideas to help me out please let me know.

Thanks,
Natalie:confused:

[jbird69]

skimmers require a breakin period. Give it some time. Adjust it so the top of the "foam" is about at the gasket seal of the removable collection cup and leave it for a while. Itll start working just give it time.

[Guygettnby]

+1 on letting the skimmer break in. turn the skimmer as low high as you can get it without it spitting bubles into the collection cup and let the skimmer break in. like mentioned above usualy it is right around the rubber o-ring.

[Juruense]

Box it up and return it before it gets too dirty and get a real skimmer.

[Guygettnby]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15429856#post15429856 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Juruense
Box it up and return it before it gets too dirty and get a real skimmer.

that is a real skimmer and alot of people still like this product. i have used this exact skimmer on my nano tanks for years. i still love the skimmer and would recomend it to anybody wanting a good skimmer for there nano tank. the skimmer is deffilently not a good skimmer choice for a tank any bigger then 30g but it still works very well for tanks 30g and under. it takes alittle fiddling and getting used to but once you figure it out it is actually a very decent nano skimmer.

instead of making useless statments to run up your post count, why not tell him why you say that?

[Juruense]

First of all I could care less about my post count.

So you are saying that a prism skimmer is good? I have never heard anyone say this before seriously. I had one and I returned it before putting it to use after seeing how poorly designed and cheap it was.

I will take your word for it that one can be made to work because I cannot make myself care enough about this issue to argue it with you.

However, my advice remains the same. Box it up and get a different skimmer.

[Sugar Magnolia]

I also used a Prizm skimmer. Very briefly. I couldn't get a consistent skim from the darn thing. I ended up cracking it from the constant adjustments. IMHO, the Prizm is a very cheaply designed skimmer. I ended up buying an Aqua C Remora for my 30g cube.

[lucas73]

Natalie,I also had no luck with the Red Sea Prism years back.And yes skimmers do require a break in period.If I were you I would return it and purchase a better quality skimmer.If money is an issue at the time, I would save what you have vested in the prism and hold out for a better quality skimmer that is rated for the size tank you are planning on running it.But if it is your only option, like others have stated give it time.

[jbird69]

I had a prism running quite well. I upgraded to a larger tank w sump and got an octopus. I think I remember fiddling with it more than the one I have now. I also remember cup fulls of dark nog from the prism....thats a good thing :)

[Guygettnby]

the fact still remains that the prizm skimmer does in fact work. different people will have different opinions on everything in life. some people dont mind fooling with there tanks and others hate it. on a tank 30 gallons or less the prizm skimmer does a good job and pulls out some real nasty stuff. it is just kinda hard for me to see were all these people are coming from when at one point in time i had 4 thats right 4 prizm skimmers on different tanks at the same time without a single problem and they all worked great. again these were all tanks either equal to or smaller then 30 gallons.

there are alot of people who say they hate the prizm skimmer on here and almost none of them actually tell the reasons way they dislike the skimmer. all i can say to the origanal poster is do some reading and research and try to weave thru the bull when reading. if you do in fact have a tank larger then 30 gallons i would have to agree with the rest of the posters.... box it up and return it for something better suited for your tank size.

[tipmoff]

+1 with Guygettnby. Opinions are like Aholes , everybody's got one. I got a lot of crap from people when I purchased a Odyssea MH fixture and it has been running 7 months without any problems and my corals have grown 2 fold. My Remora took almost a week before I really got anythng worth while out of it.

[lucas73]

Natalie,I dont know if you have read these reviews,just thought I would throw them your way.I myself just couldnt get consistent skimmate.Like any equipment in this hobby you will get varied opinions.I hope the skimmer works out for you,thread seems to be going alittle off tilt.Good luck.....

http://www.marinedepot.com/Red_Sea_Prizm_Hang_on_Protein_Skimmer_Hang_On_Venturi_Protein_Skimmers-Red_Sea-RS1131-FIPSHOVS-4-vi.html

[cadsfe]

Natalie,

I can see your frustration with this. I have this skimmer and DO like it. Couple things you should keep in mind though. As with any hang on skimmer the water level should be kept constant for them to work to their potential. Also bio load on your tank. Is there much for the skimmer to take out? Then I also have to agree that it takes time to get a skimmer broken in. Hope that helps.

[reefscape15]

I have the smaller version of Prizm skimmer which I ran on a 20gal and it worked pretty good. I would do a mesh mod and bubble plate. I did the bubble plate by taking a piece of plastic sewing mesh and gluing it pretty far down towards the output of the pump. Mesh mod helped somewhat, but I think the bubble plate was the best mod. I wouldn't reccomend this skimmer on anything larger than maybe 30gal though

[Jason Turner]

A prizm can be ok on a smaller tank with a light load. I had one for 3+ yrs on a small reef tank and it worked ok. It takes time to get broken in and then you have to just keep adjusting it a little at a time until you get it set right. One good thing is this skimmer won't overflow into your floor. When it gets too full it will drain back into the return water flow. However, as most have said in this thread when it comes to skimmers bigger is better. Eventually plan on upsizing.

[besl]

I used the Prizm on my old (55 gallon) tank successfully for around 3 years... initially I had similar questions and wrote to RedSea and received the following guidance (which worked for me):

When putting the Prizm skimmer online you will have an overreaction for the first 48 hours. After priming the unit and moving the black tubing to the # II hose barb, immediately move the flow regulator valve to the completely closed position. Run the unit that way for the first 48 hours so the unit can settle down on your water in your tank. After 48 hours, open the valve a small amount and you should start collecting some dry type foam in the collection cup. After the 48 hours period, try not to add (Water change, water additives, stress coat, calcium, etc.) to your tank for a couple of days, to insure the system is settled.

If you continue to have a problem with bubbles being pushed to the tank and the collection cup filling with water, try raising the skimmer up off of the tank anywhere from 1/2" to 2" to give the skimmer more reaction space between the skimmer and the water.

If your tanks is so new and not much load, you really do not have hardly any waste protein to burn off.

As for over/under skimming... The center section of the skimmer will be very turbulent. You will have the unit turned too high if the collection cup fills with water only and there are micro bubbles being pushed into the tank.

Hope this helps... let us know how it goes.

[Jason Turner]

A prizm can be ok on a smaller tank with a light load. I had one for 3+ yrs on a small reef tank and it worked ok. It takes time to get broken in and then you have to just keep adjusting it a little at a time until you get it set right. One good thing is this skimmer won't overflow into your floor. When it gets too full it will drain back into the return water flow. However, as most have said in this thread when it comes to skimmers bigger is better. Eventually plan on upsizing.

[reefscape15]

Even the larger Prizm Deluxe Pro really wouldn't work too great on anything over 40gal at the most. As besl has stated, the center section of this skimmer IS very turbulant, which cust down on reaction time. A long reaction time in regards to skimmers is much more effective. The bubble plate mod helps with this, but it's still not really enough to run on any tanks that are over 40gal. I don't really know how they used to rate these skimmers at 300gal!!!!

[reefscape15]

I think anyone that's looking into buying a HOB skimmer, they should really look into this beast!!!

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1674734&perpage=25&pagenumber=2

[tkimmons85]

Also had a prizm, they do have a break in period. But same deal here ended up getting a aquac urchin never looked back.

[MM WI]

I run the prisms on several tanks currently. They do a good job. The larger one really works well. I have taken advantage of the bad press they have gotten. People buy them and when they overskim the frist day read some crap online and sell them cheap.

This is like a lot of things. If 1000 people tell you somehing does not work and one shows you a healthy tank using the technique that everyone says can not work, it is the one who was right.

There are lots of tanks, large tanks also, with large loads, running the prisms, I have three tanks over 100G running the prisms, Two run one large prism pro, and the other runs two somethines three of the smaller prisms. These tanks grow a lot of coral and several animals that are reputed to be hard to imposible.

The advice seems to be getting better in here. Much more practical to help you run your current equipment right than to push people into expensive, often oversized equipment. The people being helpful out numbering the .... oposite, a good sign.

- Mark

[catfisher]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15436788#post15436788 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Guygettnby
the fact still remains that the prizm skimmer does in fact work. different people will have different opinions on everything in life. some people dont mind fooling with there tanks and others hate it. on a tank 30 gallons or less the prizm skimmer does a good job and pulls out some real nasty stuff. it is just kinda hard for me to see were all these people are coming from when at one point in time i had 4 thats right 4 prizm skimmers on different tanks at the same time without a single problem and they all worked great. again these were all tanks either equal to or smaller then 30 gallons.

there are alot of people who say they hate the prizm skimmer on here and almost none of them actually tell the reasons way they dislike the skimmer. all i can say to the origanal poster is do some reading and research and try to weave thru the bull when reading. if you do in fact have a tank larger then 30 gallons i would have to agree with the rest of the posters.... box it up and return it for something better suited for your tank size.

I had one and it was crap! It didn't do anything but fill the cup with water. I wanted to run it over with my Jeep. I ended up selling it on Ebay and got a different skimmer that actually works.

[MM WI]

I might have purchased it :)

[marinetankdiver]

I also had a prism on my 36 bow front and after a few weeks of break in it worked fine. I did have to adjust it a lot during the break-in period to prevent getting wet foam but that settled down after awhile, about two weeks. it certainly isn't the best skimmer and for the cost I would suggest the Aqua C which only cost a bit more.

If you have used it you probably can't return it so here is what I found to work. For my tank I found that if I kept the water level just below the o-ring it worked well. During the break in period I had to keep the water about 1/4" or more below the o-ring. Also make sure you hook up the air tube as this will prevent overflow when the cup fills with water and quiet the unit down a lot.