[slief]

Originally Posted by vikz

Guys I have jyst bought double cone 200 with rd3 pump for my 180g reef. Previous to this i was running an atb 840 and its absolutely fantastic skimmer. But I treated myself this Christmas.

Skimmer is now 2 weeks old. After 1 week it started skimming, but it was in shalliw water of 16cm, running at 34w with wedge pipe 75-80% closed. But it then stopped skimming.

Following advice I have relocated the skimmer to deeper water.i found it was simply not producing consistant skimmate like me previous skimmer. This Produced little to none and very wet.

It now sits in 24cm of water. Royal exclusiv rec 20-25cm for this skimmer.

At this depth with wedge pipe FULLY OPEN i can achive a head of foam midway in the neck at 34w on pump. It still is not producing good skim and it's very watery. Howrver the height ofbthe foam head is like my previous skimmer, halfway up the neck.

In order to improve and make more consistent do you:

Do you advise closing the pipe and reducing air?
Or increasing power and let it skim wet in a hope it darkens up later?
Leaving it to run as it is?
Is there really a big differdnce at each setting?

I still cannot understand the concept of wantjnb to restrict skimmer air and water, i always was told bigger is better.

Could somebody please explain what I should do and why?

Can you tell me a little about your tank? Display size, number and size of fish etc? It would help greatly to understand your load which is why I am asking. Also, what is your salinity and are you measuring with a hydrometer or a properly calibrated refractometer? I ask because it sounds like you either have very low load in terms of fish or really low salinity. The symptoms are that of an oversized skimmer for the display size or load. Without enough dissolved organics, a skimmer can't make a proper consistent foam head and would have to be adjusted really wet to produce consistently. The larger the skimmer, the more dissolved organics needed for the skimmer to be consistent. As such, please tell me more about your tank and the answers to the above questions may shed some light.

Your pump level is higher than I would normally recommend for that skimmer and you are running at a higher depth that I would normally suggest for a reasonably stocked tank. Normally I would suggest around 20-22cm and a pump speed of around 27-30 watts. The lower wattage will decrease the bubble size which makes better foam and will increase the contact time. Both of which are important for best skimmer performance but the depth is kind of a variable that depends on other factors. A lighter load will necessitate a higher sump level. The heavier the load necessitates a lower sump level. Your skim is wet in part because of the high pump speed and high water level. Less is more sometimes and in this case, the smaller bubbles coupled with the increased contact time will produce better results. In your case, these changes will lower the foam level in your skimmer so you will need to make futher adjustments to raise the foam level in the skimmer. I would suggest dropping the wattage to 30 watts and closing the wedge pipe to raise the level of foam in your skimmer. That or raise the sump level even more so that your skimmer is in 25cm of water. Even so, with the lower pump speed, you are more than likely going to need to close the wedge pipe a bit even if you raise your sump level another cm.

Edit:
It seems about a year ago you and I corresponded on the forum about skimmers. We were originally talking about the double cone 200 until you indicated that the display size was 125g and the total system volume was 180 or so gallons at which point I said that made a difference and suggested the double cone 180.. I also explained that you don't want to oversize these skimmers. What prompted you to do with the DC200?? Hopefully you got a bigger tank because the double cone 200 is too large for a 125 gallon display which would explain why the skimmer is running inconsistently and your need to adjust it really wet to keep it producing. See my post below because if my hunch is correct, than that changes things a bit.