How to get my Reef Octopus essence s130 dialed in.

[HairlessChewbacca]

Dude, yesterday I added a bag of activated carbon. 24 hours later, the overflowing has stopped. It's a new tank and I'm guessing there are chemicals present that are making the water a little "thicker" than normal, resulting in crazy bubble activity. Carbon seems (knock on wood) to be doing the trick. I'll let you know if it continues to work.

 

[nickkohrn]

Dude, yesterday I added a bag of activated carbon. 24 hours later, the overflowing has stopped. It's a new tank and I'm guessing there are chemicals present that are making the water a little "thicker" than normal, resulting in crazy bubble activity. Carbon seems (knock on wood) to be doing the trick. I'll let you know if it continues to work.

Nice! I hope that it continues to work well for you.

 

[Reefman71]

@Jamie Allbritton - Were you ever able to find a solution? Mine has been overflowing for over a month now without a sign of slowing down.

Me too. Used to work great now it’s overflowing all the time

 

[408Dartfish]

My Essence has been working great. Just gotta keep my filter socks clean.

 

[Reefman71]

I got a a reef octopus essence s130 protein skimmer about 3 months ago. I was wondering if anyone else has had problems with getting this skimmer to work properly? I have contacted marine depot, and coralvue about this product and tried what they told me to do but still can't get it quit overflowing constantly. Any help here will be greatly appreciated.

Mine worked great for about six months, then I started having problems with it. I had to put some egg crate underneath it and raise it up about 3 inches in my sump, my water level in my sump is 8 inches now it works perfectly again

 

[brianbigoats]

I have some issues with mine works fine for a few months then goes a month over flowing like crazy

 

[Reefman71]

I’m back to square one? Overflowing again... How’s everybody else is doing?

 

[Peace River]

I’m back to square one? Overflowing again... How’s everybody else is doing?

I have had my Essence 130 for about 5 months and it works well for me. Did you make any changes to the tank or clean/move/service the skimmer lately?

 

[Reefman71]

I have had my Essence 130 for about 5 months and it works well for me. Did you make any changes to the tank or clean/move/service the skimmer lately?

No, nothing. I’ve got it raised up about 3 inches in my sump, the water is about 8 inches deep. It was working great for about a month now back to overflowing. It’s almost as if it works great for a couple of months then it doesn’t then it does again

 

[Peace River]

No, nothing. I’ve got it raised up about 3 inches in my sump, the water is about 8 inches deep. It was working great for about a month now back to overflowing. It’s almost as if it works great for a couple of months then it doesn’t then it does again

What size is your system and would you consider the bioload heavy, medium, or light? What is the dial set on - is it almost all the way open or all the way closed? Are you able to open the dial all of the way, close the dial all of the way, and then return the setting to somewhere in the middle?

 

[Reefman71]

What size is your system and would you consider the bioload heavy, medium, or light? What is the dial set on - is it almost all the way open or all the way closed? Are you able to open the dial all of the way, close the dial all of the way, and then return the setting to somewhere in the middle?

 

[Reefman71]

I’ve got the dial all the way closed, 125 gallon fully stocked reef tank with a 40 gallon sump. About 10 fish. If I open the dial even just a couple of clicks it overflows

 

[Reefman71]

I’ve never had these kind of issues with the skimmer

 

[Peace River]

I’ve got the dial all the way closed, 125 gallon fully stocked reef tank with a 40 gallon sump. About 10 fish. If I open the dial even just a couple of clicks it overflows

I'm still curious if you can open the dial all the way, close it all the way, and return it to somewhere in the middle. One item to consider is to disassemble the side tube completely and make sure that everything is firmly seated together. Another thing to attempt is to raise the skimmer even higher (maybe seven inches) and then adjust the dial accordingly. Finally, you could also reach out directly to CoralVue support ([email protected]) for additional advice and direction.

 

[Reefman71]

I'm still curious if you can open the dial all the way, close it all the way, and return it to somewhere in the middle. One item to consider is to disassemble the side tube completely and make sure that everything is firmly seated together. Another thing to attempt is to raise the skimmer even higher (maybe seven inches) and then adjust the dial accordingly. Finally, you could also reach out directly to CoralVue support ([email protected]) for additional advice and direction.

I appreciate the advice and the help thank you!

 

[joec]

OK here is my 2 cents, I've had this skimmer for about 1.5 years. My skimmer sits in 7.25" of water

The skimmer has to be adjusted slightly depending on how clean it is. When its cleaner, even just the neck area, and you leave it on the same setting as prior when dirty, it will likely overflow.

I clean the cup, neck, and wipeout the top of the main body just below the red collar once a week. I usually have to make 1-2 very slight adjustments per week but this includes after the cup and neck weekly cleaning/wipe out

Dont just use the adjustment intervals on the dial. The intervals are too big to fine tune the skimmer. You can and it is more easily fine tuned using the entire dial. You can set it in between the dial intervals, it works just fine. RO should get rid of the intervals entirely

When its cleaned (wiped out) weekly , I have to turn down the dial a little bit toward the lower numbers on the dial. When it's dirtier later in the week, I turn up the dial toward the higher numbers on the dial. The adjustments are tiny, not big, less that the intervals on the dial. A good thing to do in general is to try to keep the skimmer set so that the top of the bubble column when not foaming is at or just below the the top of the red collar. Make sure the bubbles are pea sized or a little bigger when visible in the neck


I have not had it overflow in about 8 months ever since I figured this out