Super Skimmer now giving me headaches.

[ovenmitt]

Ok had this thing on the tank since Mar. The micro bubbles were there at the start but went away. Well we had a red slime problem and after cleaning alot of the algae out of the diffuser cup it is now making bubbles like mad and wont stop. I see people suggesting drilling more holes in the bottom of the cup and another suggestion about getting rid of the cup and using a foam filter at the base of the outlet tube. Which of these do I need to do to stop all these micro bubbles from pouring into the tank? It looks to me like some are coming out of the slits at the bottom of the cup and the rest are pouring over the side. Any help would be great everything looks very unhappy with all those bubbles in the tank.

 

[earlybird]

filter floss reminds me of cotton balls when pulled apart. It's very fine and can be packed into filters to catch smaller particles. It may work here if you add some to your diffuser cup. I'm assuming you don't have a sump and it's hanging on your DT. My LFS attached some flex tubing to the SS outlet and ran it into a hang on (small) filter. It's a custom job but it works well as the water goes into the filter chamber packed with LR and flows out gently. They do not have it plugged in.

 

[ovenmitt]

Should I pack that Filter Floss into the bottom of the diffuser cup? If I should put it in the bottom should I take out the pad that is there now or just put the floss stuff on top of it? And yes it is hanging on the back of the tank.

 

[earlybird]

Hard to say since I have mine in sump and don't use the bubble diffuser. I've read that people have messed with different sponges and floss to prevent or reduce microbubbles. You may have to play with it to get it configured right.

 

[veni vidi vici]

Make sure you return hose is at least 1"or more off bottom of diffuser box.Also pull the black filter sponge up so it is sticking up over top of box.If that dosent work for you i can give you a link for Coralife SS Mods

 

[scarface]

Originally Posted by Veni Vidi Vici
Make sure you return hose is at least 1"or more off bottom of diffuser box.Also pull the black filter sponge up so it is sticking up over top of box.If that dosent work for you i can give you a link for Coralife SS Mods
Hey ill take the link to that, im always interested in seeing stuff like that!

 

[veni vidi vici]

Originally Posted by Scarface
Hey ill take the link to that, im always interested in seeing stuff like that!
http://www.tylermerrick.com/content/css_notes.php

 

[scarface]

Originally Posted by Veni Vidi Vici
http://www.tylermerrick.com/content/css_notes.php

Thanks!

 

[gmford1979]

i have tried all of the methods of Tyler's on that link. i have tried the defusers that you can buy for other things. i have tried to run it into a filter that is turned off.
i have tried them all. all i can gather is that the Super Skimmer, Super Sucks. i wouldn't recommend it to anybody. mine worked great the first 3 weeks i had it, then all of a sudden the dang bubbles showed up and wont go away. i finally just took it off.
the closest i got to it working was when i rerouted the water to a filter like earlybird said. the only problem is that the pump on the skimmer isn't strong enough to pump water up even the smallest incline so the skimmer was overflowing. its just a poor design and i think everybody should stay away from them and boycott them.
if you figure something that works, please let me know.

 

[offsetfactor]

Originally Posted by gmford1979
if you figure something that works, please let me know.
That stinks that you had such a poor experience with yours. I love mine, but ditch the stupid diffuser box and spend $6 on a Mag 2 prefilter. I can seriously count the micro bubbles in my tank by hand. Slide the Mag filter right onto the outlet hose that comes with the skimmer and you are good to go.

 

[veni vidi vici]

Oh yeah i forgot this too,It is important to have the centerline of the pump at 3" from surface of water.

 

[ovenmitt]

Thanks for the replys and help all. I got some fine filter stuff and put another piece ontop of the bottom white one. Then I pulled up the piece that goes around the inside of the box and cut small long strips of the fine filter and stuffed that inbetween the box wall and the filter piece I pulled up. This seems to have cut the bubbles way down, there is still some coming out but it is much better and hopefully with time they will stop altogether.