Question about reef devil skimmer

[agent6473]

Hello All,
I have another reef devil question for those of you who have used them. I have the basic reef devil model, but its the older one with the square base. My question is that a good deal of gunk collects in the foam riser tube, below the neck of the collection cup. It does produce foam and go into the cup, but I'm thinking it should be producing more foam and putting more of that waste into the cup instead of in the tube where it is annoying to clean. I tried closing down the gate valve, but then the water level rises in the tube, which ETSS told me would be cutting off the downdraft and reducing efficiency. I'm thinking is it possible that my mag7 isnt producing enough flow for the skimmer? Should I move to a mag9? Or... am I just going crazy and that is just how these skimmers are and normally collect a lot of gunk in the riser tube.

Let me know your experiences with them.

Thanks,
Chris

 

[Jill & Brian]

I have the newer reef devil deluxe, and i find that I have the same problem. I get a Ton of dry, mud like skimmate in the top to the riser tube and in the neck of the collection cup. I am using the catilina 1800 that came with it. I have been running the skimmer so that there is about 1/8 to 1/4 " of wqater visible in the bottom of the riser tube. I am still getting the mud in the neck, but it is also producing a good amount of wet skimate as well. I am running a remote collection, and I get about 1/2 gallon every 2-3 weeks. I have been cleaning the neck more regularly as well, and I see a big difference, but I do agree it is a pain to clean. I use a bottle brush with a paper towel around it, then I don't have to stick my hand in there

Not sure if this helps, but it is at lease a similar experience
-Brian

 

[agent6473]

Yep. Thanks Brian. Now my question is if anyone has got these working more efficiently? Perhaps larger pumps? Not sure. I just feel like mine should be producing more foam into the cup. If I dont clean the riser tube, almost the whole thing gets coated with junk in a matter of 2 weeks.

 

[Mike A]

If you open the gate valve all the way open, and run the mag7 wide open, will the skimmer foam ?

- I used to own the reef devil in question, but I don't recall offhand.

The reason I ask is that I'm running an older larger downdraft with an Iwaki 70RLT. The Iwaki pump is powerful enough to cause the skimmer to foam all the way up to the point where it's collecting foam, but I get the same thing you guys are talking about - the munge on the lower portion of the clear foam chamber. I found if I cut back on the output of the pump using a ball valve, and close the gate valve a couple of turns, I can dial the water level to the point where it only collects that green munge where it should, on the collection cup. There is minimal difference in the nastiness of the skimmate produced.

Another option is Joe Yaiullo's suggestion to restrict the air using some type of valve at the air intake on the top of the downdraft. Joe is the second successful reefkeeper I know that has improved the performance of the ETSS downdraft skimmer by restricting the amount of air that can be drawn into the downdraft. Joe V is the other person successfully using this mod.

 

[agent6473]

I have no valve restricting the mag 7. It is about 2 feet above the pump in the sump (i'm using a 29 gal sump) and it is about a foot over behind the stand. So I figured the distance from the pump would cut down on the pressure enough, if not too much.

Mike,
Do you remember if when you got the skimmer adjusted if there was water visible in the riser tube or just foam? Perhaps I need to raise up the water line a bit and just not be so lazy and clean it more often, but I would think so much junk collecting in the riser tube would slow foam production.

Chris

 

[Mike A]

Chris, I'm pretty sure the water level was just visible at the bottom of the riser tube. Maybe a quarter inch or so. The junk collecting in the riser tube sticks to the stuff already there. I know I've had stretches of time when I was too lazy to regularly clean the collection cup, and when I finally got around to doing it, noticed that the mud was layered thicker than if I had cleaned it when I should've.

 

[agent6473]

Yep. The problem is that a lot of junk collects in the riser tube, which is a pain to clean. Cleaning the cup is easy, but the riser tube is a different matter.

How often should the cup/riser tube be cleaned off?

 

[agent6473]

would a mag 9.5 make it more or less efficient?

 

[Mike A]

I clean the cup once or twice a week. You should be able to use a paper towel to wipe any skimmate off the riser tube when you clean the cup.

See if someone local has a mag 9.5 you can borrow to test it out. If the larger pump proves beneficial, either pick one up used or buy a new one.

I don't think I ever tried using a larger pump on that skimmer. Be aware that the larger pump may add more heat to the water.

I'm interested to hear the results !