Quote:
Originally Posted by
coralman05 http:///t/391057/hellllo-againn#post_3466857
i'm having the guy clean it.. for 70$ he says its less than a year old, i hope it works.. please post if you think i'm wasting money.
I already did. All kidding aside...below is the factual experience I had with that skimmer.
The skimmer is 25 inches tall, the space under my stand is 23 inches tall so the skimmer that could be used as in-sump, had to be used as HOB. I don't know anyone with a sump under the stand tall enough for that monster.
If you try and get skim by turning it up a notch, because it doesn't pull out much no matter what you do....you land up wet skimming, and the little nub at the top spews water and leaks to the floor...I put an air tube over it and guided the water back to the tank to tweak that problem.
The black overflow cup must be totallly submerged or it will spew microbubbles from the top....however when it is submerged the bottom spews microbubbles...I packed the cup with white floss to fix that problem...but it only worked for a few days before it would spew new bubbles.
I did attach a 3g jug by a tube from the bottom of the cup of the skimmer and turned up the thing to really wet skim and that along with my ATO pump placed in premixed saltwater ....allowed me to do a very easy water change. That is the only useful thing about the skimmer. I am almost sad I gave it away because I could have just used it for water changes.
The Coralife has a ring to attach the cup to the body...you have to line the two up exact or it will leak, then you have to tighten it just so..too tight and it will leak, not tight enough and it will leak. When the skimmer runs, for some reason the seal gets tighter and you have to really fight it to get the cup off, it actually took me two hours once...I admit my hands are arthritic...................Now look at the other models to compare...the Tunz, Octopus, Aquaticlife and even the Back-Pack have a cup that just lifts out...you dump it and it's done, just replace the cup in it's little slot and you are good to go.
The skim on all the other models except the Back-pack (another chunk of junk) is dark tea looking stuff...on the coralife it is light color and only about 1/4th full, the liquid literally evaportates before it accumulates anymore skim because it pulls it out so darn slow. Remember if you get the foam keep a sharp eye before it overflows...2, 3 or even 5 hours before it happens, but it will happen...The answer to this problem is to never adjust the skimmer unless you can dedicate the day to keep an eye on it....as soon as it begins to leak re-adjust the knob to get the foam where it should be again. You can't adjust it to that spot and walk away or it will never skim.
I think Al&Burke was handy enough to build a HOB refugium that he attached his coralife to, and made a bubble trap to keep the microbubbles out of the main tank....he did good, and the skimmer works for him. You could ask him to make you one, I don't know what he would charge.
My Aquaticlife cost $60.00 but it was only for a 40g tank. My Tunz nano was $150.00 and was good for up to 60g...My Octopus skimmer is on the 90g reef...all three of these skimmers are wonderful and worth the money I paid for it. The Octopus cost me .. $300.00
doubled from when i got it
