Red Sea MSK 600 Skimmer (review)
- Thread starter saltfan
- Start date
RedSeaKev
RS Sponsor
Hi Jim, as with any Protein skimmer the content of the cup will also have a large percentage of seawater, if this is replaced with salt water your salinity will remain stable.
When the gate is raised on the new MSK600 skimmer there will be a small reduction in the aquarium level as you are retaining a little more water in the body of the skimmer, airflow at a reduced level means more water in the skimmer whilst maximum air flow (valve removed) will mean slightly less water.
slfcaptain
Active Member
Kevin, this skimmer is intended to be run without the air valve, right? The airvalve was just for breaking in?
steve
steve
RedSeaKev
RS Sponsor
Steve, yes, the provision of the fine control valve is to help in cases of over skim, once settled and good skimate is being produced ideally remove the valve and control the foam height in the neck of the skimmer by operating the outlet slide, this will control the level within the skimmer, variances in water level in the rear chamber will not effect the performance of the skimmer unless the rear sump level is allowed to drop very low..
jimv
Member
I fed San Francisco Bay emerald entree last night and the summer went nuts. The skimmer cup overflowed and I had to turn it off. That new overflow cut out is a great idea and funnels the water back into the sump. I will have to mess with the valve after work to see if I can get it to settle down. I don't think I will feed emerald entree again. No other food has done this. The worst (flake food) produces half a skimmer cup. I dumped 3 cups last night before turning it off.
Sent from my XT1049 using Tapatalk
Sent from my XT1049 using Tapatalk
RedSeaKev
RS Sponsor
I think its fair to say the San Francisco Bay food is loaded organically then if it has this effect on your skimmer, this may be the reason its taking a long time to settle.
slfcaptain
Active Member
Kevin, how high can the water be in the heater? Is it fully submersible? With the pump off the water rises pretty high in the back and I had to place the heater lower.
steve
steve
slfcaptain
Active Member
I found a solution to my ATO sensor problem. I think this skimmer is going to like having the water level pretty low in the rear chamber, at the level of the skimmer gate at the lowest level. Any higher and the skimmer has the potential to skim the excess water out until the water level drops. This only problem I had with this was the ATO sensor mount is too large to fit between the skimmer and the glass divider but there is plenty of room in the return pump chamber. The old pumps used to sit much higher and there was no room for anything but with the new return pump (sits nice and low) there is plenty of room for the ATO sensor to sit in that chamber. The only other problem to solve was where to put the high water sensor (the one that detects too much water). With the water level low in the back when you turn the return pump off the water level in the back equalizes with the water in the tank. So the water level goes way up in the back. With the tunze ATO sensor mount both sensors are in the same place but the high water sensor needs to be much higher. The solution was already in my tunze box, it comes with an extra mount. So I was able to place the high water sensor next to the skimmer at a higher level. Now everything works great!
Here are some pictures of the new configuration.
Here is where the water sensor is now:
Here is where the high water sensor is:
Picture of both:
Little dusty in there.
Here are some pictures of the new configuration.
Here is where the water sensor is now:
Here is where the high water sensor is:
Picture of both:
Little dusty in there.
jimv
Member
Hey Steve, I just got my jbj ato on the mail and am trying to set it up. Yours mounts with magnets? The jbj uses a mount that clips to the side if the tank. I can get one next to the skimmer but don't think I can get one in the pump compartment which is where I would really like to put one. I may need to run it with only a single sensor. What I'd the purpose of the 2ns sensor? Backup?
Sent from my XT1049 using Tapatalk
Sent from my XT1049 using Tapatalk
slfcaptain
Active Member
The second sensor (at least for tunze) is a fail safe in case the primary sensor fails or it gets stuck in the on position. When it is triggered it shuts off the pump and sounds an alarm.
steve
steve
slfcaptain
Active Member
They work a little different. On mine the primary sensor detects low water and shuts the pump off. The second sensor is in case the primary sensor fails.
steve
steve
Fishdad1
Member
I didn't know you could keep a reef tank in HELL!
slfcaptain
Active Member
slfcaptain
Active Member
I use a dog/cat food container I got at petsmart. Holds about 5 g of water which is about 2 weeks of water.
Here it is.
steve