Red Sea Berlin Skimmer

[Dez]

Anyone out there have that skimmer? I'm having trouble setting it up. just bought it, running it with a little giant 2mdq pump (500gph)....getting lots of fine air bubbles, but I'm not getting foam yet. Do I have to wait a while? First time using a venturi skimmer, previous to that was using counter-current. Help!!! I have the 22" model

Des

[Delphinus]

I think for any brand-new skimmer you have to wait for it to break in a little, which usually takes a few days. If you're still not getting foam after a week then something is wrong. I don't want to alarm you but that is a complaint I've sometimes heard about the the in-sump models. You may have to play around with things. I have the hang-on model myself. It doesn't take very long to start pulling thigs out, but then again it is like a four-year old skimmer (I have my own little mini-reef of biodiversity in the skimmer itself), so it's well past any break-in period.

I use a mag 7 as my pump driving the skimmer.

Good luck, and keep us posted.

[CHEAPREEF]

Des, you have to wait for the skimmer to form a film inside. A kind f slim then it gets working good. Took mine 2-3 days.

Clinton

[canadawest]

Des, ditto to the other two posts above.

My Berlin hang-on took a full 24 hours before it started producing a foam. It is also a skimmer I bought used that was two years old at the time but still needed that "break-in" period. Apparently all skimmer are the same.

PS.. I also run mine using a MAG 7, and before that a RIO 2500. I would recommend that if you have the opportunity you should upgrade your pump to a higher gph pump (700-1000) as it will increase the performace of the skimmer. Venturi-based skimmers are notorious for reducing pump output, especialy on smaller or non-pressure rated pumps. (Although the pressure-rated Little Giant pumps are good pumps)

[Dez]

tHANKS guys, it's finally starting to work....

des