skimmer help!!! (tunze, nanoreefaholic!!!!)

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CLUELESSBIOCUBE29

New Member
My tunze nano skimmer 9202 is installed. I made a few cuts with a $20 dremmel and it fits nicely. It looks pretty much exactly like the pictures you provided.

New problem: I'm not sure how this thing even works!!!

I have it swtiched on, it makes a lot of noise and produces some clear foam that goes about half way up inside the tube in the collection cup.

the lid does not seem to stay closed, but from the instructions, it seems like its not supposed to?

Anyone with any help would be appreciated. my pair of clowns will appreciate it too!
 
N

NanoReefaholic

New Member
Use the screws on the mounting bracket and lower the unit to a level that will allow the lid to close. Tunze gives you many different parts to mount the skimmer a few different ways, not all is needed and you can make your own style if needed.

Post a pic and I'll/we'll try to explain things better if needed.

Don't forget to close the air intake screw, then open it one turn, and then slowly open it a quarter turn every day until you find the 'sweet spot'. The bubbles should be small and steady, if you watch inside the skimmer while opening the screw you'll see what I mean as the bubbles get larger and more turbulent. On mine I get dark skimmate with ~one and an three eighths open but I like dry nog.
 
C

CLUELESSBIOCUBE29

New Member
PICS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

ok, here is where I am at: I have fitted the tunze perfectly in the biocube. the biocube lid closes perfectly, so no problems there. Now, I am just not sure if the skimmer is working properly.

I have removed the bio ball set up and have ONLY the Tunze in the middle chamber.
The other two chambers are left stock.
I have the water levels to the fill line on the skimmer.
Currently, I have the air screw opened almost half way.
I just seem to be getting like half a tube full of foam and some gargling noises.

Is it possible that the pump might be blocked already?
Does it just take some time for it to start working properly? Like a "burn in period" or something?

ALSO: when I get this working properly, is it good to put some live rock in the extra space that is now in the middle chamber next to the skimmer?

Pics:










 
N

NanoReefaholic

New Member
If there is any room to raise the skimmer then do so but if not don't worry about it. Raising it increases the amount of air you can put into the skimmer without it overflowing, but it's not necessary.

You have the air screw out way to far. The bubbles are too turbulent atm to get any good nog, and chances are it will overflow your skimmer. Here's a little trick to do to better understand this skimmer. Grab a flashlight and remove the collection cup. Screw in the air intake screw all the way. Shine the flashlight down the opening at the top and watch the water surface. Slowly open the air intake paying close attention to the turbulance at the surface and the size of the bubbles. Soon you fill see the bubbles change from a nice bubble size to rather large and violent at the surface.

What you want is the first style of bubbles, small and calm. Screw the air intake in and you may actually hear the air being sucked in (I do anyways), and a bit beyond that is the sweet spot. Lower your bubble level until it's about the same height as the screw is (with the collection cup on). There is a break in time so be prepared to readjust the air intake after a few days.

As for the rock, yes and no. It would be a good idea to have something in there for biofiltration but with the air it will come into contact with and the great chance of it collecting garbage and turning into a nitrate trap I'd avoid it. You could make a egg creat grid that will act as a bubble trap and allow for easy cleaning when doing water changes but other than that you may not want to put anything in there.

BTW how's the powersweep, stopped sweeping on you yet?
 
C

CLUELESSBIOCUBE29

New Member
re: the powersweep-it stopped sweeping after about three weeks. I'm not sure if it was you, but someone predicted that would happen.

Just to be sure, I should only see some bubbling in the bottom of the tube and not it full on blasting through the tube and into the collection cup, right? I guess I just don't really understand the physics of how the skimmer works.

I am going to raise it a little tomorrow (it can probably go at least one notch up) and then do what you said as far as watching the bubbles without the cup on.

I hope my fish can make it until tomorrow with only the carbon filter, my tank is looking kind of swampy right now.
 
N

NanoReefaholic

New Member
It could be kinked, the hose is rather long. If you don't have any bubbles with two turns out something's off inside. Even TunzeUSA says they run best around two turns out so if it's not producing many bubbles rip it apart and have a look. It's a bit of a pita to put back together but that's only because you need to be careful not to have the tube slip out of the pump while sliding it in.

Sooner or later you will need to take it apart to clean out the small clear elbow at the venturi so it may be good practise.

As for the water you may want to do a water change, it is looking kinda rough. An extra water change or two will also buy you some time to get the skimmer dialled in.
 
C

CLUELESSBIOCUBE29

New Member
tunze.

ok, i just closed the screw and watched as you said. could it be described as like a pot on a stove going from turned off, to a slow rolling boil, to a total boil? that is what i see. when it's closed, i see no foam, as i open it, a little bit of foam, and then there is a point where there is tons of foam on top. Do i run the risk of damaging it if I leave it on and it's not set up correctly? I'm paranoid to leave it on and burn out the pump somehow...
 
N

NanoReefaholic

New Member
No damage, just wanted to point out that there is a very noticeable point in bubbles that will produce skimmate to ones that will overflow your cup. You want the first type that you saw before the total boil started. They will give you stable foam and good skimmate. Understanding this will give you a better chance dialling this unit in and once you start fine tuning very slight adjustments will have big changes on wet vs dry skimming.

You want the unit to simmer, a full simmer but not a boil. With the collection cup on aiming for the foam to just reach the screw height is a good starting point. If you need to open the screw more than two full turns then something is restricting the air, more than likely a kinked air hose, but remember simmer not boil.

The pump will push water no matter what. It sucks it from the bottom of the skimmer body and pushes it out the tube. In the tube there is a venturi that will suck in air as the water passes by. By closing and opening the screw your determining how much air it can suck in.
 
C

CLUELESSBIOCUBE29

New Member
tunze.

ok, I've raised the skimmer as high as it will go without affecting the lid of the biocube. I opened up the skimmer to make sure there were no kinks in the hose. Now, with the air screw turned three notches (basically where I got a nice rolling boil), I get some foam in the tube. the foam is not very consistent however, it gets really high in the tube (almost to the top) and then sometimes drops to the bottom of the tube (level to the ariscrew). Nothing is going in the collection cup. As far as noise, I just get the garggling noise of the bubbles.

I've left it on all day.

One more question, the little hole on the other side of the colar where the airscrew is is supposed to be left alone, correct?

Does this seem like the results I should be getting? Also, Is the Tunze enough fro the biocube or should I look into a cannister filter also?

thank you very much for all the help!
:maitre
 
N

NanoReefaholic

New Member
The skimmer will collect some bubbles and start to push them out the top. When there is enough foam to do so it will go over the tube and into the cup. If it falls back down the tube that means the foam wasn't 'dry' enough (had a nutrient rich stable membrane for your air setting) to be pushed out the top. It will also take a bit for the unit to break in. If you empty the skimmer it will also take time for the foam to become protein rich again so it can produce stable foam for skimming.

If your talking about the hole on the same side as the collection cup yep, leave it alone and obstruction free.

The Tunze should be enough for your tank. If you think the skimmer needs some help a water change will do wonders. Skimmers are simply just a tool to help us keep our levels in check between water changes. They also give us a bit of a margin of error when feeding/overfeeding the tank so we don't pollute it as much.

Cannister filters are a big no no for reefs. If you feel like you need extra filtration polish your water with some carbon. A phosphate reactor filled with carbon ran for a day or two here and there will do wonders but you could also run carbon passively in a sock in the rear of the cube. Unfortunately canisters are an overpriced powerhead when it comes to reefs.

Give the skimmer a few days to get settled in and see how it goes. You're getting foam now so it should start to stiffen up soon.

Glad to help, let us know how it goes.
 
C

CLUELESSBIOCUBE29

New Member
tunze so far.

Ok, on my initial run with the tunze, I had the airscrew pretty much set to exactly what you described. about two complete threads, a nice rolling boil right before a full crazy boil.

I had it run for about thirty six hours (btw, I think there was a kink in the air hose before I opened it up and checked I wonder why they give so much slack) it actually foamed quite nicely. I accumulated about a fifth of an inch of brown sludge in the collection cup.

I had to shut it off to do a much needed five gallon water change. I left it on the same setting all night and it did not foam into the reaction tube anymore.

This morning i turned it an additional two notches (to the point where it was boiling pretty crazy) and it is foaming pretty nicely up the tube. the foam is now very dry whereas the first run it was more liquid. In fact, the foam is not even dropping into the collection cup, it is just popping out of the tube and hanging on the side.

what do you think of my results so far? what do you think accounts for the big difference in nec. air to get good foam after the water change as opposed to before?
 
N

NanoReefaholic

New Member
When you changed the water you disturbed the water makeup and any garbage that was suspended will stop the skimmer from producing good foam, hence the reason why you needed to open it up more to get the foam. If you leave the setting wide open there is a good chance that you will fill/overflow the cup once things stabilize and clear again.

I'd close the air intake a bit and let things settle some keeping the bubble height at the screws level. If after another day to day and a half you're not getting good foam with a calm simmer I'd have a peek at the elbow in the air line at the venturi. They will fill with salt in time (ie months, think salt creep) but can also have particulate collect if the water is clouded from sand/garbage.

Chances are things just need to settle from the water change.
 
T

Torch Jockey

New Member
heres some pics of what your oceanic biocube 29(which is actually about 24 gallons before live rock,keep that in mind when dosing ,5gal can make a big differance)could look like after 10 mo
http://i227.photobucket.com/albums/dd37/neoalchemist74/24gal%20nano/Oct-2.jpg
http://i227.photobucket.com/albums/dd37/neoalchemist74/24gal%20nano/april07fish006-1.jpg
http://i227.photobucket.com/albums/dd37/neoalchemist74/24gal%20nano/Oct27fisheees009-1.jpg
 
C

CLUELESSBIOCUBE29

New Member
Update: skimmer appears to be working great. I have it open about two notches. Now that it is dialed in and pretty solidly filled with foam, it makes very little noise. the collection cup has about a half inch of brown sludge in it after about a week of skimming now. I have made no adjustments to my tank since the five gallon change out last week. I plan to check my water parameters today or tommorrow, but I've been checking salinity daily and its perfect. Now the only thing I need to get rid of is my hair algea problem. I did scrub my lr when I did my water change but I didn't get all of it. plus I was afraid of handling it too much because I have a bunch of bristle worms. My arrow crab has made short work of them. As far as dosing, I have always done it as if the tank had 22 gal in it. I think that's actually what went in when I started, just 22 gallon.

Oh, the one bad thing about the tunze is having to always make sure the middle chamber is full nearly to the top to keep it past the fill line on the tunze. I'm adding like a liter a day to maintain.
 
C

CLUELESSBIOCUBE29

New Member
update.

did first water test after running tunze steady for a week. for the first time, all of my levels are at zero! This is this first time my nitrate is at zero after being a steady 10ppm for the majoiry of the life of the tank up until now. I love the tunze, thanks for all the help. time to choose my next modification. Any ideas?
 
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