BubbleKing 200 initial operation

[drtechno]

Hi all

I have the BubbleKing Deluxe 200 and I just put it into operation 2 days ago.

I am trying to understand the skimmer operation - the pump Wattage or Speed will change how much air is added to the skimmer, and the telescoping tube will change how much water is going into the skimmer, correct? So if I have low fish load at the moment, the best skimming will occur with low water levels and high pump speed ? (low amounts of water to process but large amount of air to bubble it up?)


Thanks,

Just trying to understand how to get it working well. I think it still might be breaking in because it is still just making foam with no big bubbles. However, I also don't have any fish in the tank so I might not have that much material to break down

 

[blaxsun]

I believe you are correct. The best skimming occurs when you have the optimal water level in that chamber that's recommended for that particular skimmer (sorry, I don't know what that is offhand - but for most skimmers it's around 8.5" of water).

Chances are that without any fish in the tank it won't be picking up much (guessing the foam is mostly white/clear?)

With my skimmer (Nyos Quantum) I try to have the foam peak at just below to 1" below the bottom of the collection cup. That seems to generate the optimal amount of dense skim as opposed to just filling it up with foam.

 

[acropora4u]

I have the same skimmer, I use 8" of water in the skimmer compartment of sump

 

[drtechno]

I have the same skimmer, I use 8" of water in the skimmer compartment of sump

Ya. That’s what I have too. But where is your water level inside the skimmer body? The manual says at the level where the skimmer body starts to cone in? I’m more wondering about what the relationship between the pump and telescoping tube is. I guess the pump determines the amount of air ?

 

[C_AWOL]

There might just be no organics for the skimmer to operate properly. Still worth it to run in the mean time to allow some bacteria to build up in the body but adjusting it will be fairly difficult until you have some sort of bioload present in the display.
The telescoping tube is meant to adjust the water height inside the skimmer itself after the pump is set to the desired quantity of water+air is mixed in. For example if the pump is run at maximum then the tube will typically be adjusted to allow more water to leave the body otherwise the skimmate will be more wet/plain out overflow.