Skimmer House Call
 

I'm having trouble adjusting a euro reef skimmer on my 120 gal reef tank. I purchased it used and have had it running for 7 months. I believe it is a CS or RS series. I would be very grateful if someone from Calgary who has a very good knowledge of skimmers could take a look at it and explain to me how the various parts and adjustments work and if I have it set up properly. I'm 20 minutes west of downtown - willing to buy a case of beer or bottle of wine in exchange for someone's knowledge and experience.

I can stop by sometime after work if our schedules line up.

Can you post a couple pic's of it and the parts, if they are not attached or being used. I use to have a RS180. RC means recirculating, so if you have a second pump attached to it, then it is a RC, otherwise RS.

Should be simple, its a matter of adjusting the air flow and water flow. What most are missing are air adjustment valve. If you don't have one, then you can probably get one from Kevin @ Red Coral or JL online.

If the skimmer has been running for a bit, great... It will be a matter of getting the bubbles as fine as possible, using the air adjustment. Then adjusting the water level. I use to run my water lever to the base of the skimmate cup.

I hope this helps.

The main problem I have with mine, is the air intake valve. It gets plugged quite easy, and needs to be cleaned out and checked on a regular basis. I take a cup of boiling RO water, and allow the pump to suck the water through the air line, (without the valve on the air line), to keep it clean and clear, then put the cleaned valve back on, and adjust your air flow. It should run better after that. I do this once a week.

So it must be a RS as it only runs on 1 pump. There is an airline control valve on the airline however I have never cleaned it. I guess I will start there. How do you know if it is wide open (I understand this is preferred) or closed? Second question is what does the water level adjuster do? On this skimmer it can be adjusted by rotating the pipe between open and closed however there is nothing to indicate which way you are turning it. The manual says to adjust it initially to "open" which is that the "open" sticker is facing or parallel to the skimmer body. When I had the entire skimmer out of the sump cleaning it over the weekend when I rotated the water level adjuster I couldn't see what was changing?? Is the water level in the sump critical to the skimmer?
Every time I feed the fish, I turn off the skimmer and recirculating pump so the food does not end up in the overflow. I have an auto topoff system on the tank. I have to adjust the skimmer every time I turn the pumps back on. Could I leave the skimmer running even with increased volume of water in the sump?
As I indicated, it would be much easier for me to have it explained in person while the skimmer is running.

Here's a link that might help.

http://euro-reef.com/pdf/owners-manu...80-rev-2.0.pdf

I did print this material before I put the post up. It just doesn't answer all of my questions.

have you checked on your skimmer?

I have mine in about 10 inches of water. Air full open and adjust water level so that bubbles are at bottom of neck. I have a gate valve, but on yours, just turn the pipe until the water level rises. That's the "closed" direction. Use this pipe to adjust the level. I clean my air intakes about once a month.