Flower's Sump/Fuge Build

[flower]

Quote:
Originally Posted by acrylic51 http:///forum/thread/380517/flower-s-sump-fuge-build/1680#post_3340281
Flower you don't have a local source for sand? I feel your pain on shipping, and I don't even want to hear BS excuses, weather and such. You place an order your expecting an if there is a problem advise.... Customer service is key. I ran into the same problem. Last Monday I ordered the background and they charged my credit card right away, but never informed out of stock. A week later 3 phone calls and 2 nasty emails I find out it just shipped this past Tuesday. A waste of over a week!!!!

inexcusable IMHO!!

Oh I have a local source for bacteria sand. I would rather get that then be jerked around. I can seed that sand with my sand and rock from the 90g. I want to keep seahorses in the 30g so I don't want the live sand for that anymore, just the refugium. I can't get the refugium on line because SWF is jerking me around.
EDIT:
SWF sent a quick short e-mail sayingmy sand should ship today...so much could have been avoided if only they had posted out of stock.
I never had the skimmer set to do anything. You said adjusting it now would be a waste of time. I agree it would have drained the tank if I had a jug for it to drain into.
I haven't found that "sweet" spot yet. I get foam...but very soon too much and it overflows, or not enough foam and it does nothing. Adjusting is a pain, I keep forgetting which way to turn the dial...I have to really turn it before it responds and then I lose the little tweak I had hoped for.

 

[acrylic51]

Yeah just make very very small adjustments to the skimmer. Usually 48-72 hours you cam start trying to dial it in. It takes a bit to get use to it.

 

[flower]

Quote:
Originally Posted by acrylic51 http:///forum/thread/380517/flower-s-sump-fuge-build/1700#post_3340289
Yeah just make very very small adjustments to the skimmer. Usually 48-72 hours you cam start trying to dial it in. It takes a bit to get use to it.

LOL...I had hoped you had a way to help me remember which way to turn the dial. You know like Right makes it tight for screwing things in...I will have to write the skimmer dial direction down someplace to help me remember....I must be getting old.

 

[jstdv8]

well i don't know about yours but they almsot always work just like you are saying, rigth makes it tight which closes off the air supply which causes less bubbles.
It should be very easy to tell though, just crank it a 1/4 turn one way or the other and see if the bubbles go up or down in the cone.

 

[acrylic51]

1/4" turn is way to much of an adjustment IMHO. They may look good initially, but could take off in 5 minutes on you!!!! Give it time Flower you'll get it down.

 

[jstdv8]

I wasn't suggesting she turn it a 1/4 turn and leave it, I was jsut saying turn it one way or the other a 1/4 turn or so so you can see which way the bubbles are going and then bring it back to the original point. just a quick test to see if you are dialing it down or up.
I guess I should have been a little more clear, that could be disasterous LOL

 

[acrylic51]

:laughing: I'm following you !!!

 

[meowzer]

I never turn my skimmer off....when I clean the cup I just turn the pipe so the water level in it drops...and after I am done, I turn it back so the water level rises
I WILL tell you this.....I leave the doors open and watch the skimmer for the first hour after I do this.....SOMETIMES, even if you turn to the exact same spot....the water level will change.

 

[jstdv8]

when I ran a skimmer (back in the day, like September) I just attached a vinyl tubing to that little nipple on the bottom of the cup to a gallon milk jug outside the sump and emptied it when it got full.
Of course after hearing Acrylic say that the things should be cleaned in the cone, now I'm not so sure that was the best way to go

 

[acrylic51]

Meowzer you also have to remember you've been toting with your skimmer for how long now???? This skimmer is still brand new, still quite stiff adjusting. You have and advantage of knowing how it's going to react and Flower's is still breaking in. I could let you try that with my Beckett and you'd pull your hair out during the learning curve to get it dialed in.,..:laughing: she has to get a feel for it, and know just how far to go. She will soon be able to eye it quickly. The suggestion of unplugging it was more merely to keep the adjustment stable and steady for breaking it in.

 

[acrylic51]

The milk jug deal is cool..... I've gone so far as using a 5 gallon bucket, buy if you over adjust your in trouble. So many things can and do affect how the skimmer reacts and skims. My MRC which is a beast, just smoking around it will cause the skimmer to drop foam level. Someone not experienced enough would go tweak the skimmer up to raise the foam level, and BAM!!!! When the skimmer picks back up guess what???! Your over skimming and overflowing your jug!!!!! Foods, additives play with your skimmer, so be weary at times. You should never make adjustments and leave.
If you want a remote cup I'd look at something like MRC's or Precision Marine. Their remote cup setups have a float system and when the float is triggered it sorta smothers the air intake by the skimmer therefore reducing the skimming, foaming in the skimmer. Check out both companies and you'll understand where I'm going!!!!!

 

[meowzer]

Quote:
Originally Posted by acrylic51 http:///forum/thread/380517/flower-s-sump-fuge-build/1700#post_3340350
Meowzer you also have to remember you've been toting with your skimmer for how long now???? This skimmer is still brand new, still quite stiff adjusting. You have and advantage of knowing how it's going to react and Flower's is still breaking in. I could let you try that with my Beckett and you'd pull your hair out during the learning curve to get it dialed in.,..:laughing: she has to get a feel for it, and know just how far to go. She will soon be able to eye it quickly. The suggestion of unplugging it was more merely to keep the adjustment stable and steady for breaking it in.
OH, I know....I was just telling how I do mine....and also that I still have to watch it for a little while afterwards to make sure the levels are correct
I believe we also have much different adjustment methods too.....Flowers has a knob, and mine has a pipe

 

[acrylic51]

My MRC dual Beckett skimmer I cheat... I have a tape line to set the water level, and gets me in the ball park, but then I have 2 separate air valves for the 2 becketts that have to be dialed in and adjusted for bubble size, and you want both pulling equal amounts of air.... I like to smoke in that fishroom at times an it still is a nightmare!!!! I also have the air intakes plumbed to the outside which let's the skimmer pull fresh air to aid in my PH, which helps stabilize the foam head.

 

[flower]

Out of all the things you guys had to say...right makes it tight, which means to close the valve is the most helpful. I tried turning the knob 1/4th turn to see where the bubbles go, up or down ...that's why I never knew which was which.
My sand did not ship again today. I asked SWF if they knew if they had an item in stock or not...for crying out loud.

 

[acrylic51]

:flame::cry:

 

[flower]

They offered me carib pink sand in a bag...I told them I would just wait for the original order. So I guess whenever they go on the next deep sea dive they will scoop me up some and send it to me. That must be why it takes so long to get it.

 

[acrylic51]

:cry:

 

[flower]

LOL...Are you saying I whine allot?

 

[jstdv8]

geez, I could have flown down to the carribean, had a nice vaction, packaged up some sand from off shore, got a sun tan, talked to some pirates, did some diving and baoting, went on a dolphin watching tour, bought some trinkets from a tiki tack store, caught a plane back to AK and still had time to ship off the sand I got before they have thiers in stock

 

[acrylic51]

Flower NO!!!! I was crying cause that's not even a fair trade off. Communication is key. We all understand things can be out of stock, but that's not a trade off. I wanna see the FUGE online before the holidays!!!!!