MCE601deltec

[bakerjoe]

Ok so this skimmer is driving me crazy user error I’m sure ! I’ve searched you tube and looked through the user manual . Which is actually an installation manual not a user manual ! I can’t find out how to actually use the skimmer . What to look for when skimming . They don’t seem very popular it’s all about sump skimmers . So my issue is . Last night I set it up according to the instructions and it was foaming away like it should be . Today nothing .. I’m not sure what affect the air hose has or power increase or lowering the cup so rather than tweaking something without any idea I thought I’d ask . so what do all these things do and how do they affect the skimmer ? And what am I looking for ?

 

[reeftivo]

Ok so this skimmer is driving me crazy user error I’m sure ! I’ve searched you tube and looked through the user manual . Which is actually an installation manual not a user manual ! I can’t find out how to actually use the skimmer . What to look for when skimming . They don’t seem very popular it’s all about sump skimmers . So my issue is . Last night I set it up according to the instructions and it was foaming away like it should be . Today nothing .. I’m not sure what affect the air hose has or power increase or lowering the cup so rather than tweaking something without any idea I thought I’d ask . so what do all these things do and how do they affect the skimmer ? And what am I looking for ?

hello

this is the HOB MCE that can run in or out of sump?

I had an MCE 600 years and years ago and it worked pretty well. Mine wasn't a DC version though.

don't freak out that it seemed to start skimming then settled down. Production residues and additives can do that. the skimmer needs to build a biofilm inside during break in. if you have the DC pump, set the cup high and run it at half speed until it starts building a stable foam head that tries to push into the cup. that may take a few days. Don't mess with the air or try to get it to skim right away. PATIENCE IS A VIRTUE with skimmers. Just leave it alone. Once the foam head has been stable for a while you can either increase pump speed one setting at a time or lower the cup a little at a time and monitor after each adjustment for around an hour before adjusting again.

i can't tell you how many 100's of hours i stared at skimmers watching and tweaking needlessly. After a tweak i would expect results right away and when i didn't see what i wanted i would tweak again, not giving the skimmer enough time to adjust. An endless circle of frustration. Now tuning a skimmer is a breeze;).

let us know how it goes

Tivo

 

[Battlecorals Verified Sponsor]

Ok so this skimmer is driving me crazy user error I’m sure ! I’ve searched you tube and looked through the user manual . Which is actually an installation manual not a user manual ! I can’t find out how to actually use the skimmer . What to look for when skimming . They don’t seem very popular it’s all about sump skimmers . So my issue is . Last night I set it up according to the instructions and it was foaming away like it should be . Today nothing .. I’m not sure what affect the air hose has or power increase or lowering the cup so rather than tweaking something without any idea I thought I’d ask . so what do all these things do and how do they affect the skimmer ? And what am I looking for ?

I can help!

can you post a quick pic of the skimmer to be sure we are on the same page.

 

[bakerjoe]

It’s hanging on the back of my tank as I don’t have a sump unfortunately. Mines got 2 mods . The intake, as I didn’t want it right in the middle of the tank and the water overflow pipe ,the chamber is hard for me to get to ( the tanks in a nook of between two walls ) so I added some hose to the overflow now if it dose need to go that way it runs into a old milk bottle under the tank .

 

[reeftivo]

It’s hanging on the back of my tank as I don’t have a sump unfortunately. Mines got 2 mods . The intake, as I didn’t want it right in the middle of the tank and the water overflow pipe ,the chamber is hard for me to get to ( the tanks in a nook of between two walls ) so I added some hose to the overflow now if it dose need to go that way it runs into a old milk bottle under the tank .

i would not mess with the intake even if it is a little bit of an eye sore in the middle. These skimmers perform the way they are designed so flow rates along with measured back pressures can be altered with intake mods. I had an expensive Bermuda rogue HOB ages ago and cut the intake a little shorter which essentially ruined the skimmer performance. I had to fix it and match the length again to get it to perform. Just my 0.02

the overflow pipe looks crimped a little but that shouldn't affect anything. if you want a hose that doesn't crimp use silicone.

 

[bakerjoe]

I did keep the original intake just incase. I figured as it’s dc it can be played with a bit . Hang on skimmers are crazy money £500 in the uk for my deltec these days . I remember my brother had one years ago cost him £150 . Oh the overflow hose mod does work when I first fired it up I found that out

 

[reeftivo]

I did keep the original intake just incase. I figured as it’s dc it can be played with a bit . Hang on skimmers are crazy money £500 in the uk for my deltec these days . I remember my brother had one years ago cost him £150 . Oh the overflow hose mod does work when I first fired it up I found that out

nice that you kept the intake ;)

since you modded the intake it could have affected the back pressure since it looks like it's pulling further than the stock pipe. any elbows or extra intake length will change performance. The DC pump may compensate for some little mods but altering the design can still hinder performance. Especially with a smaller reaction chamber like in the MCE

better safe than sorry

tivo

 

[bakerjoe]

So can anyone tell me
1 what’s the perfect skim? ( less water mostly foam I’m guessing )

2 what does adjusting the airline do ?

3 cup hight ? What does that achieve ?

 

[reeftivo]

1) depends on what your bioload is and what you keep. Lots of fish generate lots of waste so wetter skim (little darker than tea) would probably be fine. Lots of hard corals but minimal fish you can skim darker (drier). This will produce less skim but more concentrated and is touted as to not remove as much trace element as wet skim.

2) choking the air will create a finer bubble and raise the water level in the skimmer because the pump will be pushing more water. I would leave that alone and run wide open.

3) cup height is another way to achieve drier or wetter skim once the skimmer beds in. Higher will give you drier concentrated and lower will produce more wet skimm and fill faster.

Suri for late reply.