Protien Skimmer Question

[mikediii]

I purchased a used skimmer as part of a full setup system. I have never hooked one up before. It is an Aquarium Systems Sea Clone. I have the skimmer body with collection cup. It has a maxi-jet 1200 pump. It also has a hose that comes from the bottom of the skimmer and loops around and over the top of the tank and back down to the water. I cant seem to make the skimmer make many bubbles unless I hold the pump intake partially out of the water so that it sucks in air.... its very noisy when I do this. Is there something I'm missing? A part I need maybe? It seems like the pump needs to get air somehow while still being fully submerged. Im not sure If maybe the person I purchased this from forgot to give me something. Any ideas or suggestions? Thanks
Mike

 

[mikediii]

Bump. :help:

 

[nemo_66]

there should be a air hose that attaches to the pump. thats why your not getting any air bubbles. he probably forgot to give it to you.

 

[n2theblue]

Also, make sure that the black knob on the end of the air hose is twisted to open, so air actually gets sucked in along with the water. I felt like a real idiot 'cause I didn't figure that one out for a few days. I can try to post pictures of mine if you're still having problems.

 

[mikediii]

Ok, thanks guys. I went to 3 LFS and found the skimmer that I have. I opened it and I am definately missing what appears to be a prefilter on the pump and an air intake hose with a regulator on the end. Unfortunately I couldnt find any spare parts at any of the stores. Any suggestions on how I could makeshift something?

 

[hifi]

You could use some airline tubing & a air valve that they use for air pumps, as for the filter just use some filter foam or you can get replacement parts from seaclone. I have the phone number & the parts list I dont want to post the # I dont want to break any rules.
E-mail me & I can give them to you.

 

[hifi]

E-mail wont work so here goes nothing,1-800-822-1100 parts you need are, 9 filt0 is for the foam & you will have to tell them the rest you need as they are not listed in my book but it says you can get them. Hope this helps

 

[jmick]

Seaclone makes one of the worst skimmers on the market...I'd toss it and buy a qaulity skimmer. Aqua-C makes a great hang on unit.

 

[mikediii]

Hehe well............. I took a foam block I had and carved out a hole in it so it would go over the intake on the pump. I put a slice through it from the other side and ran a lenth of airline tubing to through it so it would reach the intake. I put a gang valve on the end of it to adjust the air flow. It works kinda. Like I said this is my first skimmer setup so I'm not sure if it is working properly but there is some bubbling over into the collection chamber. The chamber is also holding water, which I dont think it should be. I found a PDF that includes the parts list and an 800 number to call to order new parts. I think I will call and get the foam prefilter and the air intake assembly. What I made seems to be working but its a cob job at best hehe. Again, thanks for all your help people, dunno what I would do without ya's. In response to the last post... I have heard some negative feedback about these skimmers as well as some positive (heard meaning read posts on various forums etc..) I'd like to give this one a shot and use the 100-200 bucks for something else if possible. Thanks again all.
Mike

 

[hifi]

Good to hear you got it up & running

I have used the seaclone & it is not the best but it did work for me & is better than nothing & its not the worst one out there , there are many mods to improve it & it will put out if modded right

& for the price its worth modding ,in the end if price is a factor its a ok skimmer to begin with. When its time to upgrade ASM is much better

.

 

[mumbulog]

Mike,
Sorry I didn't get to you sooner. I got the skimmer seocnd hand and thise were all the parts I recieved. Maybe thats why I didn't have alot of sucess either iwth the skimmer. Also sometimes you won't get alot of skimming when you first set a tank up, it takes time to accumulate the protein.
Hows the anemoe doing, are you feeding him krill?
Did you build you cabinet yet?
Gordon

 

[mikediii]

No biggie, I'll get it working. I got all the wood I need for the stand but havn't had time to start working on it yet. Its still on my dining room table I'm a little worried about the anemone. I have tried feeding krill 3 times so far, he wont eat and He's looking a little ill. Hopefully he's still trying to adjust, I think the transfer was hard on him. Everything else seems to be doing just fine though. Thanks for getting back to me Gordon.
Thanks all,
Mike