skimmer saga

noogiefish

Member
Okay, here's the latest addition in my skimmer saga:
a couple of weeks ago, i picked up a berlin xl, i have it running on a rio1700, which at first seemed fine. Then after a couple of days running, it started 'farting' out of the outlet air intakes. I put some airline on which i read somewhere on this bb will act as a muffler, but there seems to be an issue with the outlet flow. The hoses go firectly down into the sump, and are not below the waterline in the sump. so NOW, my tank has gotten cloudier. It started with those tiny white things i read about here, and now it all seems like tiny particulates. Anybody have any ideas?
 

kdlbem

Member
I was told to use two different sizes of flexible tubing for the returns(one that fits snugly on the return, and one that fits snugly around that). Soak the smaller stuff in very hot water to soften it, then slide it onto the return(Be careful not to tighten the returns too much, or you'll crack the skimmer. I found that out the hard way) Then cut it off flush with the end of the return. take the larger tubing, soak it, and slide it over the smaller tubing. Then a hose clamp to seal it up completely. I hooked mine up like this from the start, so it's never made noise, other than the water flow. If you need pics or anything let me know.
HTH,
B
 

noogiefish

Member
thanks, that sounds like it might do the trick. i'll give it a try. i don't suppose you might know anything about why its gotten cloudy, do you?
 

porkypuffer

Member
I TOO HAVE A BERLIN SKIMMER AND IT WAS DOING THE SAME THING. HERE IS WHAT I FOUND. THE SKIMMER WAS TILTED SLIGHTLY BACK BECAUSE OF THE STAND I USED TO HOLD IT UP. I SLIDE A PIECE OF PAPER UNDER THE BASE SO IT WOULD TILT SLIGHTLY TOWARDS THE OUTLETS. HASN'T MADE A SOUND SINCE. IT DOESN'T TAKE MUCH OF A TILT BACKWARD FOR IT TO GERGEL. WHAT SEEMS TO HAPPEN IS IT TRAPS AIR IN THE BACK TILL IT BUILDS UP AND RELEASES. WORKS GREAT!
 

kdlbem

Member
Are you talking about micro bubbles? I had them when I first hooked up my berlin. I took a large diameter piece of pvc(about5 or6 inches) cut it an inch taller than the water line in the sump, drilled 1-1/2 inch holes all over it, and stuffed it with filter floss. Then I ran the returns through it. It really helped. The microbubbles completely stopped when the skimmer fully broke in.
HTH,
B
 

noogiefish

Member
well, yeah, i have bubbles, but could they possibly survive a trip through the rio back to the tank? its the tank water that is cloudy, really cloudy. it seems to be just tiny particles. i put a powerhead in the tank last nite just to stir the water a bit and get good movement in the tank, which seemed to help get the particles moving more toward the sump intake and kinda gets rid of the dead spots in the tank. i thought maybe the returns from the skimmer were maybe stirring up some crap in the sump which does not normally get into the circuit fom the sump to the tank and back again. :confused:
 
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