Which Octopus did you get??? You shouldn't have to blow into the airline to get it started drawing air... Coral Vue recalled the Octopus Pro 250 pumps because they weren't as good as advertised... E mail David D'Aquin at [email protected] if this is the case...
Skimmer woes-
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The ammount of skimmate you want is dependant on you, really. I run mine dry most of the time (dark nasty crap coming from it), but occasionally let it run wetter, if I know I have some stuff to remove (like after I shut it off for 2 months because I can't hear the freakin TV with it running;)). The more you pull, the more you have to replace, though.
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Susan you want to be running it pretty wet for awhile, as much fish waste as you are creating and the amount of corals, you havent run a skimmer for months so you have alot of buildup. I would try and adjust it to give a wet tea colored skimmate for several weeks then dry it up.
As for the tangs! "And another one, and another one, and another one bites the dust" HEHE! Sorry couldnt resist
As for the tangs! "And another one, and another one, and another one bites the dust" HEHE! Sorry couldnt resist
:toothy7:
they held for six months and all of a sudden they leak and its my fault, maybe if bryan wasnt skiing and put someone else in front of himself for a change it could have been done right in the first place. lol
they held for six months and all of a sudden they leak and its my fault, maybe if bryan wasnt skiing and put someone else in front of himself for a change it could have been done right in the first place. lol
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OP
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scouncil
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Tank is not leaking now thanks to Bryan. I'll just keep an eye on them. I went away for a few days (dumped the family and visited friends and came back to find the skimmer not working again. I'm not sure which model it is. It only has one recirc pump and it started bubbling again after the hernia giving tubing blow (and let's not start any crap on THAT subject or I'll have to get a LOT meaner in my comments....and you thought measuring stick was bad.....). Why did it stop? I guess the power went off again at the house (runs in cycles in Ooltewah, we sometimes have blinks everyday, though we went for several months without one just this past few months). Am I going to have to "jump" start it everytime the power blinks (UGH!). Just because of where it is, I have to take off the back side of the tank stand (no doors on that side).
I'll crank that baby up and get out all the crapola from the last few months. I've got it fairly wet now. I was unhappy to see it off again.
I bought/traded the skimmer from Donny (who promptly got my old skimmer working). Can I contact Coral vue about it still? I don't know what model it is, but it doesn't seem to be sold anymore. I do know that Donny replaced the recirc pump with a new one before I took it home.
And while I was gone, I instructed my 13 year old son in feed of the tank, but I'm not sure he kept the powderblue eating like I was (shorter arms, so I guess he couldn't get the food down as far as I could to the powder's hiding place) and both the powder and purple have plenty of spots. The purple looks like he did earlier and is eating well still. The powder isn't eating well anymore. I am really sad..... My poor powder blue death count is high. No wonder the sohal jumped before coming home with me (D*#N you Brandon!!!).
Susan
I'll crank that baby up and get out all the crapola from the last few months. I've got it fairly wet now. I was unhappy to see it off again.
I bought/traded the skimmer from Donny (who promptly got my old skimmer working). Can I contact Coral vue about it still? I don't know what model it is, but it doesn't seem to be sold anymore. I do know that Donny replaced the recirc pump with a new one before I took it home.
And while I was gone, I instructed my 13 year old son in feed of the tank, but I'm not sure he kept the powderblue eating like I was (shorter arms, so I guess he couldn't get the food down as far as I could to the powder's hiding place) and both the powder and purple have plenty of spots. The purple looks like he did earlier and is eating well still. The powder isn't eating well anymore. I am really sad..... My poor powder blue death count is high. No wonder the sohal jumped before coming home with me (D*#N you Brandon!!!).
Susan
Garth Schafluetzel
75 gal mixed tank in work
keep your head up we all have times when things are ruff i woke up one time and one of my tangs had died of ik once i saw this i treated entire system and only one of the fish were starting to show signs of ick the next morning they were all dead:( so we all goo through times of bad luck just keep going and has for your skimmer i have know idea why it would just stop making bubble ive had mine go crazy when it was skimming dry and all of a sudden it just starts extremly wet skimming and caused a little mess but a little tune on the gate vavle and air valve and it was back to normal. i would say try to get donny out there and see whats going on with it because you should have to jump it off each time lol
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I know nothing about that kinda skimmer susan, If you have to blow through the venturi every time the power flickers I wouldnt be a happy camper. Maybe something isnt put together just right. I know that air tubing wasnt very good at all. it was way to thin and plyable. I would try and put a new air line on it, then make it long wnough you can reach it from the front side of the tank to blow on it. You really need a skimmer that you can just set it and not mess with it other than cleaning it. Some people just arnt built to tinker with stuff and most skimmers require constant tinkering. If this skimmer doesnt work out post here before getting another one and get peoples opinions as to what might be a good skimmer that you wont have to tinker with. Again the skimmer you have now might be a great skimmer for you once you get it figured out, I have no clue as to the reputation of it.
When the pump turns back on, it should pull air through the venturi automatically... If the tubing gets kinked/plugged, or isn't fulled inserted/sealed in the venturi inlet on the bottom side of the pump, or if the pump itself isn't working as it should, it might not start pulling air again. It almost sounds like the pump isn't pulling like it should to begin with (going back to the recall issues Randy talked about).
How long is the air line going into the venturi port? If it is too long, it might create enough head pressure to reduce the pull of air? Once it's pulling, pour some RO water down the tube (or let it suck it in) and see what kind of reaction you get. That will clear any salt creep that might be building up in the tube (probably already took care of that, but worth a shot), and give you an idea how much it is actually pulling. Check the impellor on the pump, too. Maybe it is cracked/broken. I had a Berlin Turbo that I had to blow start (I know, it's only an expression:D) that I finally realized had a bad impellor. I knew if I typed enough non sense a potentially good idea might come from it. Should I keep going, or will the law of diminishing returns step into play (on something that may have completely diminished before it started:D)?
How long is the air line going into the venturi port? If it is too long, it might create enough head pressure to reduce the pull of air? Once it's pulling, pour some RO water down the tube (or let it suck it in) and see what kind of reaction you get. That will clear any salt creep that might be building up in the tube (probably already took care of that, but worth a shot), and give you an idea how much it is actually pulling. Check the impellor on the pump, too. Maybe it is cracked/broken. I had a Berlin Turbo that I had to blow start (I know, it's only an expression:D) that I finally realized had a bad impellor. I knew if I typed enough non sense a potentially good idea might come from it. Should I keep going, or will the law of diminishing returns step into play (on something that may have completely diminished before it started:D)?
OP
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scouncil
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Bryan checked the impellor the other day and said it looked fine. No cracks, looked good. The air tube is maybe 14 inches at the very most, but at least 12. It's very light weight and flimsy. It's not kinked anywhere that I can tell. I'll try the RO thing. Maybe it is salt creep. It had some sort of plastic head on it, but the weight of the head kept trying to kink the tubing so I took it off (and it was a pain to take on and off and blow on the thing.....). It's got a big glob of glue holding it onto the pump. Maybe I just need to get Donny over here to look at it.....
Susan
Susan
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I would replace the air hose all together susan, between the glob of glue and the flimsy hose, plus when I took it off the venturi it didnt fit tight at all, I think it is very possible it could be sucking water or sucking shut. the times Ive plaid with venturis though , they have had alot of suction, I dont see anyreason it cant prime itself. infact if a venturi was working properly it should be sucking that flimsy air line shut if you ask me
OP
OP
scouncil
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It sure doesn't seem to have a lot of suction at the end of the line..... What gauge line do you think that is? Generic 3/8"? Is that pretty common? I guess I could get 18" of a couple common sizes and play with it.....
Susan
Susan
OP
OP
scouncil
Valuable Member
OK, I've got the new line. Do I need to pull the pump out of the water to put it on, or can I just yank the flimsey one off and put the new one on? I guess I could cut the first one a few inches away from the glue blob and that way if I can't get the new one on, I can put the old one back on.
And what type of glue gel do I need to glue stuff down? I found out that "Super Glue" is not a brand name and there were at least 5 "super glue" glues. What is the ingredient that I need to look for?
Susan
And what type of glue gel do I need to glue stuff down? I found out that "Super Glue" is not a brand name and there were at least 5 "super glue" glues. What is the ingredient that I need to look for?
Susan
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