Help adjusting a Bubble King DX200

[Ironfish]

Hi!
I need some help or tips here.

I have a Bubble King DeLuxe 200 running since July 2023.
Back in December 2023 the pump failed and after 6 weeks of back and forth emails with Royal Exclusive they sent me the new version (24v) of pump and controller for this skimmer.

They told me that because this new pump is a more powerful one I'll need to run it at only 30+ watts (pump max is 68w I believe)
The pump has been running for almost a month now but I haven't been able to get good skimming out of it.
I started with that low setting but slowly over 2 weeks I kept on turning it up and now at 60w it's skimming something but not how it used to skim.

There's also a lot of bubbles/foam that exits the skimmer outlet and besides making noise its spraying salt all over the inside of the cabinet.

I've always had some doubts calibrating/adjusting this skimmer. The pipes on the outlet have that twisting and pushing/pulling that I've never understood 100%.

Any advice is appreciated!

 

[disaster999]

More info needed. What water depth are you running? what is your bio load like? Was it like this with the old pump?

If you need to run the pump at the power to skim anything and is spewing water out the outlet and splashing everywhere then you definitely running your pump too fast. Your tank probably doesnt have enough bio load for the skimmer to function properly. Just set it back at the recommended wattage, make sure your skimmer is at the recommended height, let the water level come up to just bottom of the neck and let it run. Dont worry if its not skimming anything

 

[C_AWOL]

Sounds like you moved the exit nozzle upward too much(usually points downward) and/or the water level is too low (i run my larger 300 at about 10" of water)
Since the skimmer has been out of commission for a while, running it with the twist tube wide open and riser down is best until it foams normally (basically breaks in again) and then make adjustments from there (based on desired pump speed and bioload)

 

[Ironfish]

More info needed. What water depth are you running? what is your bio load like? Was it like this with the old pump?

If you need to run the pump at the power to skim anything and is spewing water out the outlet and splashing everywhere then you definitely running your pump too fast. Your tank probably doesnt have enough bio load for the skimmer to function properly. Just set it back at the recommended wattage, make sure your skimmer is at the recommended height, let the water level come up to just bottom of the neck and let it run. Dont worry if its not skimming anything

It's in the range for suggested water height. Its 11in.
Bio load is on the higher side for my tank.
260gal.
7 tangs
2 angels
2 pygmy angels
2 clowns
5 anthias
6 wrasses
Some gobies

With the old pump it was skimming more and better. I ran the old pump at 58w. That's also on the higher side but it was a smaller pump.

 

[Ironfish]

Sounds like you moved the exit nozzle upward too much(usually points downward) and/or the water level is too low (i run my larger 300 at about 10" of water)
Since the skimmer has been out of commission for a while, running it with the twist tube wide open and riser down is best until it foams normally (basically breaks in again) and then make adjustments from there (based on desired pump speed and bioload)

It's still pointing downwards and water height is 11in.

But how long could that break in period last? It's been running now for almost a month.

 

[C_AWOL]

It's still pointing downwards and water height is 11in.

But how long could that break in period last? It's been running now for almost a month.

I don't think anyone has an answer to how long a break in period may be since all tanks are different.

Weird that it's making a lot of noise though if the nozzle is pointed down and the water height is definitely fine.

Only other thing I can say is go back to the same setting they suggested (30w) and instead of making pump adjustments, turn the riser tube to adjust the water height in the skimmer to the base of the neck or a bit under (for overflow risk) and leave it there for a while

 

[Ironfish]

I don't think anyone has an answer to how long a break in period may be since all tanks are different.

Weird that it's making a lot of noise though if the nozzle is pointed down and the water height is definitely fine.

Only other thing I can say is go back to the same setting they suggested (30w) and instead of making pump adjustments, turn the riser tube to adjust the water height in the skimmer to the base of the neck or a bit under (for overflow risk) and leave it there for a while

That's exactly what I did to start with and after the second week I started cranking it up little by little until the day I started getting some stuff skimmed out ‍