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I see Prime in your stand, did you use this to condition the water?
If so, this is why you are having so much micro-bubbles.
This is flat out false. Our skimmers function just as well as those 2-3x the price and believing the cost determines the quality is just flat wrong. Sure are their skimmers with pumps made in Germany or something that are better? Of course, but a flat statement about the quality of our skimmer based on price is bogus. As you can see from the previous post or two, they do a great job creating some nasty skimmate.I think you are expecting to much from a cheap skimmer. This thing is cheap for a reason, the pump and controller are pretty crappy and there are a lot of gaps for the bubbles to get out but it mostly works so decent reviews. A high end skimmer will cost you 2-3x and idk if you really get that much better results
Hello, yes MB7 was used to seed my tank during the first week. However it has not been used in over a week. 0 additives have been added to the tank, besides RO top off and frozen brine for the fish. I have no doubt the skimmer works, but it has not for me. Hence why i need help. I have tried, open closed you name it with no result. To include several water levels. Here are my latest settingsThere are a number of reasons why microbubbles can occur, many responses on here are correct, many are not. Additives are a huge cause of microbubbles especially in a brand new system with little to no bioload. I saw that you have not used Prime, but MP7 will certainly cause bubbles as well in a brand new system. So does other bacterial supplements, clarifiers that come inside bags of sand, dechlorinators etc. Even fresh mixed seawater often makes skimmers go a bit bonkers.
This is flat out false. Our skimmers function just as well as those 2-3x the price and believing the cost determines the quality is just flat wrong. Sure are their skimmers with pumps made in Germany or something that are better? Of course, but a flat statement about the quality of our skimmer based on price is bogus. As you can see from the previous post or two, they do a great job creating some nasty skimmate.
I saw many posts about running the skimmer at lower than full speeds. I highly recommend anyone running a skimmer read our tuning guide as I believe many of you simply do not have the skimmer tuned to operate at peak performance which is why you have bubbles. For example the OP stating he was running the air wide open, this is not properly tuned.
Protein Skimmers: How to Tune a Protein Skimmer - Simplicity Aquatics
Once your protein skimmer is properly broken in, you will want to tune it so that it can perform its best. How Frequently Should You Check Your Protein Skimmer Performance We recommend checking your skimmers performance at least a couple times per week. When to Tune a Protein Skimmer Always tune...www.simplicityaquatics.com
Water depth may also be at play here. 9" is great for the 320 as I believe someone mentioned, however the 120 should be closer to 7-8".
@Simplicity Aquatics
Ok so as per your email, I will attempt to tune this for the 4th time
Set Pump to 100%
- Set the water level adjustment knob pointing arrow to arrow.
- Close the air intake adjustment valve all the way and then open it back-up approximately half a turn or 180 degrees. Make small adjustments to the air valve and observe the water level. The goal is to get the highest level of bubbles inside the skimmer body. Do NOT make any additional adjustments for 24 hours.
Wait 24 Hrs
Greetings, well good and bad news.Any update? If you can provide some additional photos or a video I am happy to offer additional assistance.
Good to hear you got it working.Ok so just hrs after speaking with the guys at @Simplicity Aquatics , the improvements are night and day and getting better by the hr. I cant rave enough how much this has helped, and the amazing support that they provided me. Here are some photos of the improvements. Even the dreaded microbubbles have began to disappear I will continue to monitor and update my progress.
Air Valve continues in the same spot, and as of now seems to be what working for me.
Wedge pipe slightly adjusted , from original place. Slowly but surely it seems to be finding its sweet spot.
Water Level Steady at 7 inches , this too seems to be the spot
End Result.. Very Nice Foamy Goodness.
PS. PUMP SPEED CONTINUES AT MAX SPEED.
Thanks for the amazing post...full of great info that has mine finally ( 2weeks of messing around and a CO2 scrubber attached) looking good and nice icky foam LOL...appreciate your help and the pics...is it still working well for you?Ok so just hrs after speaking with the guys at @Simplicity Aquatics , the improvements are night and day and getting better by the hr. I cant rave enough how much this has helped, and the amazing support that they provided me. Here are some photos of the improvements. Even the dreaded microbubbles have began to disappear I will continue to monitor and update my progress.
Air Valve continues in the same spot, and as of now seems to be what working for me.
Wedge pipe slightly adjusted , from original place. Slowly but surely it seems to be finding its sweet spot.
Water Level Steady at 7 inches , this too seems to be the spot
End Result.. Very Nice Foamy Goodness.
PS. PUMP SPEED CONTINUES AT MAX SPEED.
Hey glad is working for you. Take some trial and error but when it you get it dialed on wellll . You tell me @Simplicity Aquatics , is it working right? LOLThanks for the amazing post...full of great info that has mine finally ( 2weeks of messing around and a CO2 scrubber attached) looking good and nice icky foam LOL...appreciate your help and the pics...is it still working well for you?
Likewise. I have been thinking about adding a scrubber for PH boost. I actually added a line to the outside.Excellent! Glad to hear you are making progress. We appreciate the kind words.
@Maureen Hey Did you determine the CO2 scrubber was causing problems? Would love to hear more so we can help others who contact us with similar issues. I get lots of questions about running scrubbers on our skimmers.
For sure it seems the scrubber was my nemesis...LOL...I a still fine tuning and have used the silencer from my old skimmer in between the scrubber and the skimmer ( waiting for a proper inline air valve to arrive) but am definitely getting some nice skim in the cup and my PH is looking better...will get there ...really appreciate @branbray07 's post...it helped tremendously to drop the water level as well...7 inches of water seems like my sweet spot also... any additional suggestions are appreciated and welcome - pretty new to the skimmer game but do love this skimmerExcellent! Glad to hear you are making progress. We appreciate the kind words.
@Maureen Hey Did you determine the CO2 scrubber was causing problems? Would love to hear more so we can help others who contact us with similar issues. I get lots of questions about running scrubbers on our skimmers.
Best advise, tune it slowww. Mark the Air silencer like i did. Kinda like a clock or levels i guess. To help you know how much you have opened it or closed itFor sure it seems the scrubber was my nemesis...LOL...I a still fine tuning and have used the silencer from my old skimmer in between the scrubber and the skimmer ( waiting for a proper inline air valve to arrive) but am definitely getting some nice skim in the cup and my PH is looking better...will get there ...really appreciate @branbray07 's post...it helped tremendously to drop the water level as well...7 inches of water seems like my sweet spot also... any additional suggestions are appreciated and welcome - pretty new to the skimmer game but do love this skimmer
yep...with the co2 scrubber in play it's a little more challenging but more confident I'll get the perfect "tweak" ...sooner rather than later without sacrificing my PH too much...lolBest advise, tune it slowww. Mark the Air silencer like i did. Kinda like a clock or levels i guess. To help you know how much you have opened it or closed it