Red Sea Reefer no surface skimming

[SheldonC]

It seems like each day is a new "what the heck" with my Red Sea tank. Most recently I've noticed the surface of the water looking grimy and dusty. I have plenty of surface agitation, and I'm not heavily feeding the tank so I don't think it's a protein problem.

Regardless, it appears the Reefer setup doesn't allow for surface skimming. If you look at the manual, it says to have the water in the overflow box to be about 1/2"-1/4" from the top of the overflow pipe. However by doing this there is nothing that is "sucking down" the water and releasing that surface tension to get the junk down. Any ideas?

 

[exnisstech]

Reefer 170 and 300 running here and they both skim the surface. The more return pump flow the more surface skimming you'll get.
This is where I keep the level in the 170 overflow. The 300 is pretty much the same. Just a trickle going down the emergency drain.
EDIT: edited the image to show how high the water is coming over the wier to show it dies indeed skim the surface. I may be wrong but I have a hunch you need more return flow from your concern. I like jebao DC return pumps. IMO a DC pump is a must have on redSea tanks and their finicky drain valves.

 

[Reefin' Alaska]

You need more return pump flow.

I had a power outage and my Sicce for some reason reset itself to 10% and I couldn't figure out why I had so much scum on the top of the water. I just noticed only 2 lights were lit up on the controller when cleaning my skimmer.

Problem solved.

 

[Lavey29]

Reefer 170 and 300 running here and they both skim the surface. The more return pump flow the more surface skimming you'll get.
This is where I keep the level in the 170 overflow. The 300 is pretty much the same. Just a trickle going down the emergency drain.
EDIT: edited the image to show how high the water is coming over the wier to show it dies indeed skim the surface. I may be wrong but I have a hunch you need more return flow from your concern. I like jebao DC return pumps. IMO a DC pump is a must have on redSea tanks and their finicky drain valves.

My 300 is set the same and skims fine.