Octopus 150 recirc setup help

mdk16

mdk16

Member
Just got my skimmer hooked up and plugged in. No leaks in the plumbing
yet I have no idea what to do in terms of the setup.
What should I be looking for? How much water in the tube etc? This is my first skimmer and there were no directions.
I have a feed pump to the skimmer, ball valve to limit the flow and the return going back to the bioball section of the wet dry.
Thanks.
 
mdk16

mdk16

Member
I set it up last night. From the minute I got it running I had bubbles. I had to dial down the feed pump to prevent it filling up the overflow cup with water.
I'm not sure how high the bubbles should be in the cylinder. Right now I have it right at the top of the cup but not overflowing. What should I be looking for? I have the feed pump dialed way down to prevent a overflow.
Thank you
 
ifirefight

ifirefight

Active Member
Originally Posted by mdk16
I set it up last night. From the minute I got it running I had bubbles. I had to dial down the feed pump to prevent it filling up the overflow cup with water.
I'm not sure how high the bubbles should be in the cylinder. Right now I have it right at the top of the cup but not overflowing. What should I be looking for? I have the feed pump dialed way down to prevent a overflow.
Thank you
I have the NW recirc 200.... You are on the right track... Adjust the level so it is just below the top of the collection cup.... You want the bubbles to just be touching the top of the overflow.....any higher and you will lose LOTS of water...you want to dry skim..is what they call it.
 
ifirefight

ifirefight

Active Member
In addition to this skimmer you will also need a feed pump to supply water to the skimmer. A recommended flow rate of up to 1.5 times the volume of your tank. In this case no more than 270 gallons per hour. Make sure you are supplying the proper amount of water to it. These are really great skimmers...once you get it dialed in...you will love it!!
 
mdk16

mdk16

Member
I have a rio 1400 feed on the skimmer. Its on a 120 gallon tank so I had to close the ball valve a bit to prevent to much water flow. Its amazing that these things don't come with directions.
Is your return valve all the way open?
 
ifirefight

ifirefight

Active Member
The Rio is rated at 420 gph....;so yes you should gate it down a bit.. I am not sure what you are asking in reference to "Is your return valve all the way open?"
 
mdk16

mdk16

Member
I was asking if the ball valve at the bottom of the skimmer with the red handle was wide open or slightly closed. I'm just trying to dial this thing in. I had it running overnight and between the skimming and pump it raised my water temp to 80, from 77.
 
ifirefight

ifirefight

Active Member
Unless you did the gate valve mod.....then the red handle is used to keep the water level in the skimmer at the desired height. I did a gate valve mod on mine...so MY red handle is wide open....and I reduce the flow with the gate valve. But no....it should not be all the way open...
 
mdk16

mdk16

Member
Thanks for the picture and your help. I think I got it going pretty good now. I have one more question.
I tried to hook up a uv sterilizer in line with the skimmer and ran into a problem. The skimmer stopped producing bubbles and water was coming out of the silencer hose. I had to drain the skimmer and take off the pump and restart in order to get the pump to start working again. I tried this twice and now I eliminated the uv and its working fine.
I'm not sure what happened? Anyone have a similar experience? Any way of repriming the pump without having to drain it for future referrence?
 
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