ASM G4X Protein Skimmer

[Ruth]

Well I changed out my ASM G3 for a G4X on Sunday. I bought the one with the factory mods for recirculting and with the gate valve as well. That strange sound you heard if you were outside was probably me cursing from the far north!
Actually the recirculation mod was not that bad once I managed to muscle the PVC extensions through the rubber thingys. It is also larger than the G3 or the regular G4 so it was a tight squeeze in my sump. I had a real hard time with the gate valve though. I could not for the life of me get it to dial in. I would be getting nothing and then the collection cup would just start to fill with water. Even with the darn thing wide open or completely closed.
For now I have just junked it and only gone with the recirculation mod. I am feeding the skimmer with a MJ 1200 which I think may be too much flow so have ordered a smaller pump.
I am quite impressed with this skimmer now. It is not completely broke in yet but already pulling lots of dark skimmate. The amount of bubbles produced inside the skimmer fills the whole body - nice small bubbles and a lot of turbulance.
I have the ASM G4 also and have tried to use it but was very unimpressed with it. I don't think it skimmed as well as my G3. It would probably work a lot better if it was modded (is that a word?) to be recirculting and the pump was upgraded to a Sedra 9000.
Anyway thought I would share my experience with these skimmers.