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View Full Version : CPR Bak-Pak 2 Issues... Setup?


STiTCH87
02/11/2010, 11:31 AM
So I hooked up my CPR Bak-Pak 2 today, and it's extremely loud. The power head isn't loud at all but the water draining out of the outlet tube sounds like a water fountain. They said to adjust the outlet to be 1/8" into water and if I wanted I could curve it so either it wasn't fully submersed, or so that it would be slightly angled upward. None of which helped much at all and it still sounds loud. So I decided to look closer and realized the way the drain part attached to the skimmer side is, the bulkhead isn't submersed so air of course drains a bit with the water. So I LIGHTLY clogged it a little with a rubble rock til the water level slightly went above the bulkhead and it did quiet down a fair amount I guess. But now I have another issue; the air inlet to the power head. When I get air flowing into the skimmer through it, it's a LOUD air sound. Pretty annoying. So I put on that air filter muffler thing and even when adjusted to fully open, while it does make the air intake near silent, after a few minutes the air intake stops and the air tube fills a little bit with water so I get no bubbles which of course means no skimming pretty much. This thing is such a pain and so loud and IDK what to do about it really. Anyone else own one? Are your loud too? How do I set this thing up to be quiet enough as to wear I can fall asleep? Btw, my 29g sits right beside my bed. So I need suggestions on what will make it quiet enough for a bedroom. The 125 and 350 power heads are quiet enough on their own and so is the 250 attached to the skimmer. Just need to quiet down the outlet and air intake while still keeping the air intake functioning. Please help before I decide to sell it and buy a Remora in hopes of easier use.

Korrine
02/11/2010, 11:36 AM
My air intake in always loud on my dual bak pak(less so with a silencer). I also get a flood of air bubbles into the tank. I turned mine off and am putting on a sump soon, which is where the skimmer will go.

I'm interested on peoples idea's too.

STiTCH87
02/11/2010, 11:42 AM
My air intake in always loud on my dual bak pak(less so with a silencer). I also get a flood of air bubbles into the tank. I turned mine off and am putting on a sump soon, which is where the skimmer will go.

I'm interested on peoples idea's too.

But won't the skimmer be just as loud in the sump?

Anyone have any experience with the Remora C? Is it quieter than the CPR Bak-Pak?

Basically what I am asking, what is the QUIETEST skimmer I can get for a 29g if I decide to sell this CPR? I just simply cannot deal with it being this loud. But I definitely need a skimmer as water changes can add up in cost and also I will have a fair bio-load with a clown, wrasse, cardinal, firefish, and CUC along with when I get my corals eventually.

Oh btw any suggestions have to be a HOB skimmer because I don't have room inthe tank for more equipment to clutter a 29g and I also don't have a 2nd tank for equipment so a HOB is a must.

Korrine
02/11/2010, 11:49 AM
At least it will be in the cupboard. My tank is in the living room, so it's not as big of an issue as next to my bed.

I'm going to try it and see how it goes. If it still ticks me off to no end, I'm going for a Remora :)

STiTCH87
02/11/2010, 11:53 AM
At least it will be in the cupboard. My tank is in the living room, so it's not as big of an issue as next to my bed.

I'm going to try it and see how it goes. If it still ticks me off to no end, I'm going for a Remora :)

Ever seen a Remora in person? Are they quiet? I see YouTube videos but you can't count on proper sound recreation through a video.

STiTCH87
02/11/2010, 12:35 PM
Would it be okay to only run the skimmer during the day and shut it off at night when I sleep?

stevek480
02/11/2010, 01:41 PM
I took the air muffler off and instead ran about 6-7 feet of air hose from the air intake, which i left behind my stand. This silenced the air intake considerably without causing any problems.

slowwrx137
02/11/2010, 01:57 PM
I had a Remora Pro with the Mag3 pump and I had nothing but trouble with the 3 replacement that I had under warranty, however their customer service is awesome. I decided to add a sump and got an Eshopps skimmer which is working great. I dont know how good their hob skimmers are but im very happy with mine.

stevek480
02/11/2010, 02:01 PM
I also had the surface-skimmer/bubble trap attachment on which helped reduce the bubbles, but never fully. There were always a small amount of micro bubbles floating around the tank.

STiTCH87
02/11/2010, 02:53 PM
I also had the surface-skimmer/bubble trap attachment on which helped reduce the bubbles, but never fully. There were always a small amount of micro bubbles floating around the tank.

I couldn't get the air to flow into the tube to the powerhead so I hooked a line off of my Optima air pump attached to the powerhead's air intake line and it bubbled like the Air-Injected new style Bak-Paks work so that seems to be working fine and everything ran pretty much quiet.

But I still have the question of if it's okay to shut off my skimmer at night?

Korrine
02/11/2010, 03:01 PM
Yea it's fine to run it like that. Could put it on a timer.

STiTCH87
02/11/2010, 03:07 PM
Sweet deal. Well that saves me the money of looking for a different skimmer then. IDC if King Kong himself is screaming in my bedroom as long as i'm not trying to sleep. Lol.

moneytimetycoon
02/11/2010, 03:15 PM
If you are having trouble getting the air in try to put a little screen or the filter attachment for the ph on. It causes resistance making it suck the air in through the tube. I did the fishing line mod and drilled a direct line in to a maxijet 900 and was having the same problem with the air. I cut and put the filter piece on and it works perfect for me. As far as the intake noise I have about 2' of airline with a wooden airstone on the end=dead silent. I havent had any problems with the outlet noise though.

STiTCH87
02/11/2010, 03:26 PM
I got the outlet noise quiet. Tried that method but it STILL won't get an airflow which is weird cuz I had it before. I had to blow into the airline tube and slowly take my mouth off it to keep the air suction going before and it would stop after about 5 minutes. Now I can't even get that to happen. Is it safe having my air pump attached to that line instead? Or will I ruin my powerhead?

moneytimetycoon
02/11/2010, 03:33 PM
It might give it too much air and dry out the prop. You can also just run a wood air diffuser directly in to the vortex chamber. that produces a lot of bubbles.

STiTCH87
02/11/2010, 03:36 PM
It might give it too much air and dry out the prop. You can also just run a wood air diffuser directly in to the vortex chamber. that produces a lot of bubbles.

Yeah i'm gonna go with that idea. I mean that's all the new Air Injected BakPak is, is a normal bakpak with an air pump inside the vortex injecting bubbles directly in. So yeah i'll just do that. Thanks. Also, I have my skimmer running and not getting any skimmate though i'm getting damn good bubbles. I am assuming this is because all I have is live rock and sand and there's nothing to be skimmed?

moneytimetycoon
02/11/2010, 03:41 PM
It usually takes 1-2 days to get some stuff. Also the collection cup is supposed to be 1/16-3/16" off the waterline(Just make sure it looks like iced tea, any darker and the cup is too high and lighter and its too low). I got mine adjusted the first time around so I guess I got lucky but I did do all the mods before hooking it up.

iluzhun
02/11/2010, 04:18 PM
Had a CPR BAK PAK on my 55 never could get it to work the way I wanted. It was always a compromise between noisy as heck with micro bubbles in the tank or not skimming worth crap. Sold it and got an Eshopps HOB and am very happy now.

bertoni
02/11/2010, 05:02 PM
My Bak Pak skimmers were okay, but they were noisy. My Remora Pro was fairly questionable, too, as was the CoraLife. I've never found a skimmer in that range that I've liked, although I never tried the Octopus or Eshopps before I shut down those tanks.

STiTCH87
02/11/2010, 05:25 PM
I'll just deal with the noise and shut it off at night. Thanks everyone for your help!