RedSea Max/ Euroreef Skimmer Page

[redseareef]

Hi Terry,
Yes, I have never even installed the sump in mine. You can after it breaks in but, but I have had no bubble problems at all. Once the skimmer breaks in Terry, you will have a clear area 3-4 inches from the bottom of the skimmer and where bubble column resides!
Glad to hear you got both pumps going! Pretty noisy huh?LOL. Look for it to be skimmer probably tomorrow this time!

[redseareef]

If it's not skimming by the morning before work, I would raise the body back up so you have foam in about 2/3 to 3/4 of the body. Just to insure the cup does not over fill during the break in process.
Every tank is very different. It may start skimming by tonight. I am sure you can put the sponge back in if you wish after break in.

[Reefmack]

Thanks redseareef! I'm off tomorrow & Tuesday so I'll be here to watch it. I may raise it up a bit though now, so it doesn't overflow if it kicks in tonight.

Noisy - hah! As you already know the unit is totally silent! I didn't even notice much noise with the silencers off.

[redseareef]

Terry,
That's great you have some days off. You certainly deserve it! Get some rest and enjoy that skimmer! I think I am as excited as you about it breaking in!
I cannot wait to see what kind of gunk that thing gets out of your tank!!! Are you going to "Take a swig off the old cup" when it gets full..............LOL!!!
Ever see that much foam in a body that small? It's mind boggling! There must be millions of bubbles! Those alloy mesh wheels are really amazing at what they do!

[Reefmack]

At least millions of bubbles! I hope they patented that alloy mesh wheel - it's unbeatable! On the "swig" that's a big "negatory"! But, I'd be glad to put some on ice & express it to you if you want to do the honors!

On your advice, I did raise the skimmer up some for the night. Hopefully I'll see something good start to happen tomorrow! It's just a matter of time to break it in. My nitrates have been at zero the last 2 weekends, so I may not have as much gunk as I thought. Then again the Tunze was pulling stuff out, so I know that the Euro-Reef wil soon do the same, and even better.

[brucewrs]

Originally Posted by redseareef

Bruce,
As far as I am concerned, it's VERY hard to overskim. It just allows you to feed properly. The fish act completely different when fed properly too and are much more healthy.
So, you are interested in a skimmer for the sump below the tank? Or a unit to replace the max in it's chamber?
Thanks!

Not sure yet.Probably the sump.I have to see how much room I have left.Whats the foot print of your skimmer?Also how much water does it have to be in?Can it be submerged in 12" of water?I have room in the center of my sump/fuge but it's 12" deep.

[redseareef]

Terry,
You are going to be in for a big surprise! That thing is going to pull out loads of skimmate out of your water! You will be very shocked. I think you rnitrate problems will decrease or just be gone for good!
Cannot wait for it to break! Get up in the middle of the night wiht a flashlight and check on it ok?

[redseareef]

bruce,
If you go sump we can build to your own dimensions. If in the back of the tank we are starting to build them Tuesday.
With the behind the tank on the 250 more then likely you will have to remove the lid that cover the skimmer.
Then once you remove the skimmer cup, you can raise the hood 90 degrees as designed.
That's very exciting for the 250. I cannot wait to see how one does on a customers tank! Let me know what you decide, and we can start on it for you.
Thank you

[Reefmack]

redseareef - I doubt I'll get up in the middle of the night, but ya never know! At 9:25 it's still holding steady with the larger bubbles breaking at my 2" marker. Below that the amount of extremely fine foam is amazing!

[redseareef]

Terry,
YEa, makes you just want to sit and stare at it! I know that's crazy, but us gadget nuts can really appreciate that. When Euroreef gets those mesh wheels into their larger skimmers look out!
Those alloy mesh wheels are awesome! I am sold on the mesh wheel!!!!

[orion01]

I am very interested in a skimmer for my 250. I would be looking for one to replace the current skimmer in the back of the unit.

[redseareef]

orion01,
They will be listed online in a few days. You can then place your order. I am thinking you are going to have to remove the hinged lid that lifts up and down. However, once the cup is off the skimmer, you will be able to open the full hood all the way up 90 degrees.
How do you like the 250? We looked at them at the show. They sure are pretty! The perfect height too! They look more like a 80 gallon!!!
These new skimmer will be MUCH easier to get to, and you can vacuum out the chamber without taking the skimmer out! That's a big plus!!!!
thank you

[redseareef]

So far, we have Euro-reef mesh wheel skimmers for the following tanks:
JBJ24
JBJ28 HQI/open top
Solana 34 gal, hangs on back wall
Solana 34 gal, hangs on divider
aquapod 24 HQI/ open top
Finnex 30 gal 2.5" body
Finnex 30 gal 3.0" body
Oceanic bio cube 29 gal/ open top
Cadlights Pro 30 Gal/ in sump
M-tank 20 gal
RedSea Max 130D
More to come! We are working hard on it!

[r1200GSA]

Originally Posted by Reefmack

I spent a couple hours this morning taking out the sump/fuge & overflow so that I could fir the Euro-Reef skimmer in. I haven't been overly impressed with the sump/fuge - it tended to collect a lot of debris with no room for an accessible filter sock, and I think it actually increased nitrates rather than decreased them. The fuge section had some continual cyano growth, and was hard to see into with all of the coralline on the glass. I've always been a bit worried about the overflow possibility, although I never had a problem with the Lifereef overflow restarting. It was also inconvenient for this old man to get down to pull out the Tunze skimmer cup for cleaning. If I ever go this route again it will be a better sump/fuge design, or just a sump alone.

Anyway, I finally got the Euro-Reef in, plugged the pumps in at the same time, and within seconds the cup would overflow. I raised the skimmer as high as the bracket allowed & same thing. By the time I'd stand up to check the skimmer I had to go back to the cabinet and unplug it again! This monster puts out the foam - almost too much at the start LOL!

I then decided to run the skimmer with only one pump on to try to get it to break in and get rid of any manufacturing residues that were causing the cup overflows. I ran it an hour and before starting up I had an idea - I hooked up an inline air valve with a 2 inch piece of tubing before the silencers. Didn't work - even with the valves open all the way I wasn't getting much foam. I then put everything back to normal, plugged it an again and the foam level had decreased and was now controllable. Then I noticed that the round sponge had come out and was floating at the top of the back chamber. I also noticed a lot of microbubbles in back, and in the tank. I popped in the bubble trap sponge again, and back to overflowing the cup within a few seconds! The bubble trap seems to really raise the water level in the skimmer, so that the cup overflows very quickly. I removed the sponge and back to a lot of bubbles. I managed to get rid of most of the bubbles by placing an inch thick piece of the RSM black sponge against the heater pane - to act as a bubble trap. Still a few microbubbles going into the tank, but I figure that will dissipate as the unit breaks in, and after it breaks in for a week I may try putting the bubble trap back in the skimmer bottom. Here's where I'm at right now, adjusted to have the foam at the bottom of the cup for now:



Before I put the unit in I used a magic marker to mark off 7 inches of graduations on the side of the cyclinder, so that I know where I'm at when I raise & lower the unit for final adjustments.

This monster looks very promising. I can hardly wait till it breaks in and starts putting out the gunk.

redseareef - I think you said you run without the sponge in the skimmer?

Terry, it is a shame you ditched the sump! Perhaps a better sump design is needed? Just a thought, but if you had Cyano growth in the sump, did it mean that you didn't have growth in the display tank? Just thinking that if people suffer from Cyano, I would rather it grow in the sump than the main tank - possible logic there is that if it grows in the sump, it will pull the nutrients from the tank?!?

One of the reasons I built a sump was due to the fact that you and a couple of others have done so...

[Reefmack]

r1200GSA - I think the design of the sump/fuge was poor to begin with (Ebay baffle kit). The cyano was limited to the fuge section only (none in the tank or sump sections), and there wasn't a huge amount. I also tended to get a nasty scum growing on top of the fuge section, where the cyano was limited to. If I go back to one I'll go just with a sump alone, or a better design sump/fuge. Part of the problem was that I like keeping the top shelf of the RSM cabinet in place for all of my timers and outlets, which limited the height for a skimmer, and access to the sump.

Morning Euro-Reef update: Still no sign of any brown skimmate forming. The foam level did rise up to the bottom of the cup overnight, so I'll probably raise it a bit to avoid an overflow while I'm out doing some shopping with the wife this morning. I have a feeling it may take a couple days to break in. The instructions say it could take up to 4 days - hopefully it won't take that long.

Hopefully we'll hear from redsea reefer soon. He should be back and doing his install today, if not yesterday.