EuroReef skimmer help...

[bobbyblank]

Hey, I just purchased an RS80 for my reef, its the first "large" purchase i have made for my tank in months. I was in a motorcycle accident and have been neglecting my tank due to doctor appointments, treatments, ext, and have lost some nice corals and clams. So i figured i could help it out with a skimmer upgrade.
My question is.... Who is running RS80 or other EuroReef skimmers here? I have it running in the tank, but am thinking about putting it into a viager bath. what ratio would you skimmer guys suggest? How long to run in the bath? Also, where do the skimmer gods suggest setting the water level? Does anyone run mods on their ER skimmers or just let 'em be? I know i could find this on other forums, but i have noticed a TON of for sale adds in the forum lately so i figured i could toss in some tech questions. Come on MARS skimmer gods, help out a new EuroReef guy .

Bobby

[P.Kelly]

Why are you going to run it in a Viagra bath? Is that to make the output tube longer and get more foam?

Sorry, but I had to ask?

[gem]

Originally posted by petes97
Why are you going to run it in a Viagra bath? Is that to make the output tube longer and get more foam?

Sorry, but I had to ask?

Pete you are sooo bad.

[bobbyblank]

lol, sorry! Guess i should leave my personal issues out of the club forum.... Im sure it works great, but there is nothing wrong with a preformance enhancer

[edsimmons]

All I know is don't soak it too long. I soaked a power head in 5g of water and 1/2g vinegar for 3 days and it totaly ate up the o-rings and suction cups.

[P.Kelly]

Wow, good to know about the rubber...

[buzzbombtom]

my 80 runs fine as long as there is water above the power head. i had to remove a section of the overflow tube but as long as the water stays at a pretty easy to maintain level its happy. mine pulls skimate almost all day.

[Tofumushrooman]

When I broke in my MSX skimmer I used about half a large container with about 4 gallons or so of water (whatever fit in one of those common buckets) and ran it for about 10 hours. Seemed to do the trick for me.

[bobbyblank]

The water in my "skimmer section" of my sump is around 10" or so. I cannot put it on a stand due to hight limits to get the 6-8 inches of water that is recomended. It has been running for about 4 hours now but the bubbles have not produced and foam yet, just bubbles. Tomarrow after work i will check up on it. If it has not gotten better, i will try out a short vineger bath and see if that helps.

[jthao]

euro reef skimmers takes a little nasty coating in the neck before it starts to really foam up.

[Matt_Wandell]

Vinegar bath to break it in? What is the reasoning behind that?

[Joes210gal]

I'm guessing this is a used skimmer and the vinegar bath is to clean everything up.

Have you run warm ro/di thru the air hose to clear up any salt creep?
Are you giving it maximum air thru the air hose or do you still have the air valve on it?

[Tofumushrooman]

Helps to remove oils and such from when they are made.

edit: (I think)

[Jim_S]

Joe, you are correct.

A vinegar bath will only remove residual oils and such left on the skimmer from the factory.

When adding a skimmer, you just have to be patient.

Before a protein skimmer will begin to preform, it needs to build up a slime coat inside the body and neck. Depending on your bioload, this may take a day, or it way take a week or two.

Just plug the skimmer in, run it with the exhaust wide open for a day, then in small increments (over a period of a day), slowly raise the water level in the neck until the foam breaks about 1"-2" from the top. Once its there, just leave it.

If you try to do this too quickly, and the skimmer isn't fully broken in, you will get an overflow because as the skimmer breaks in, the foam head will naturally rise to a certain degree.

The more you fiddle with it, the less it will skim because you are interrupting the foam building process everything you make an adjustment. Moreover, depending on the size of your system, the more you put your hands in the tank, the potential the oils from your hands will kill the foam head.

HTH

Jim

[buzzbombtom]

yeah mine has a nice green coating in the neck i dont clean that out at all, just the cup

[bayareaquarist]

PM sent

[bobbyblank]

Thanks guys for all the advice. I havent given the skimmer a vineger bath yet, and probably wont. Ed is right, and i dont want to chance melting the O-ring in the neck. Its been in the tank since 7:00pm yesterday and when i came home today, i had about a 1/4" of skimmate in the cup. Its not very dark, very transparent. Probably just running it a little wet. I think i will take jim and buzzbombs advice and let it break in slowly. Matt, ill give ya a call in a day or so, and good to hear from ya again...i guess..

[bayareaquarist]

I told you to call me...twice!
But yeah man...I soaked mine for less than an hour...whatever...I figured that was sufficient...You should do the "mesh mod" too like ASAP...one of the easiest mods and the production of smaller bubbles in increased tremendously...I have everything you need to do this mod so if you want just grab the pump and come over!

[dlee300z]

I have an RS80 also. I'd like to get that mod done to mine too. Can I come over and see also?

[bayareaquarist]

Originally posted by dlee300z
I have an RS80 also. I'd like to get that mod done to mine too. Can I come over and see also?

Sure thing dlee300z~!
I have eveything that is needed for this SIMPLE and EASY mod so drop me a PM with your number and we can make it happen!

[jthao]

will the mesh mod make my recirc euro reef pull more air?? if so, I'm in.

[dlee300z]

bayarea-

your mailbox is full.

My phone is 804-6461.

today is a good day. I'll be home around 6:00pm.

[bayareaquarist]

Word Dlee...PM in route to you!

[bayareaquarist]

Originally posted by jthao
will the mesh mod make my recirc euro reef pull more air?? if so, I'm in.

This mod wont make it pull more air...as the only way to achieve that is to upgarde your pump, or do a couple of other things I have up my sleave~!...This mods provides a better "chopping" effect of the bubbles creating more surface-to-water contact. i.e. smaller bubbles (and lots more of them) will theoretically increase contact time with the water passing through the chamber and increase the amount of bubble surface that the water can come in contact with...make sense???