Skimmer Help (Prizm Pro)

[Riptide]

I am using a Prizm Pro Deluxe skimmer... My first skimmer.

Maybe I'm about as dense as a neutron.. But I'm just not sure if this thing is running properly.

For starters, exactly where should the top of the foam end up in the collection cup? Should it be boiling nearly to the top of it or should the surface of the foam be further down in the cup?

I seem to be unable to find a happy medium between the air valve setting and the flow setting whereby no small bubbles are returned to the tank.

I settled on leaving the air valve pretty much wide open and the flow setting at 45 degrees (1/2 pwr). I get a healthy head of foam and minimal bubbles going back into the tank @ the setting. The thing is... the foam doesn't look like dry foam to me. It's like a solid boiling mass of tiny bubbles about halfway up the collection cup (just before it narrows). If I up the flow I get bigger bubbles higher up near the top of the collection cup as it narrows. But they still seem to be "boiling" up the cup bursting away as they go.

Reducing the flow and tightening down the air valve just seems to introduce more tiny bubbles back in the tank and doesn't seem to be much help.

Am I being impatient? The skimmer has only been going for about 2 days now and the tank is 1 week old (no fish right now).

 

[frazin78]

Well I don't know too much about the Prizms but the foam you are supposed to get will create a brownish sludge like material in your collection cup it may take more then a few days to get the right adjustement. If your sludge is very watery and light colored then you need to have less foam. If the little tube that guides the bubble to the cup is collecting some brownish sludge then you don't have enough bubbles.

I hope this helps but ajusting your skimmer might take more thena few days.

Jc

 

[fuelman]

The Prizim requires about a 4-5 day break-in period. The water level should be about a 1/4 inch below the o-ring where the collection cup attaches to the skimmer. Adjust the skimmer flow just until you have no bubbles entering the aquarium.

Being as your tank is so new it may be a while before you see any good skimmate. Then it won't be anything exceptional.

Hopefully this is not on any tank larger than a 40gal. My experience with the Prizim on a 55 was less than acceptable.

The saying "buy the best skimmer you can afford" is the truest statement you will ever hear in any forum.

Good Luck

Tony

 

[Riptide]

I've finally got it to produce a thicker foam that seems a bit more dry by slowing the flow down to about 1/4 and tightening the air valve a bit. I am still getting some bubbles back in the tank but I guess I'm just going to have to live with it: hell if I can get the thing calibrated perfectly enough to fix that entirely. I give up. At least the foam seems to be what it should now. I have yet to get much in the way of deposits accumulating but since the tank is so new and there is almost nothing in there (just 15' of LR) that isn't all that surprising.

I'm using the pro deluxe right now, which prizm were you using? I tried the regular prizm and exchanged it for the pro because I had so much fuss with it. This one is fussy as well, just not as bad. Strangely, a friend of mine also got a regular prizm like I originally did and his is working just fine. I chalk it up to bad luck.

 

[llebcire]

Naw, it isn't bad luck.

I run a regular Prizm, and it takes a day or so to get acclimated to the water conditions, whether new or just cleaned.

Initially I had the same trouble as you and other people, but now I get a full cup of brown/stinky/nasty crap every 5-7 days on a 75 gal.

Just chalk it up to a learning curve.



Product


Manual



Read and re-read the setup and troubleshooting sections...it will all make sense!

 

[Riptide]

I've tried fidgeting with the air valve and flow for hours on end but still can't get it to stop introducing small bubbles back in the tank. I've reviewed the manual over and over but I can't figure out what I could be doing wrong. At this point, I'm just happy that the foam is getting thicker/more dry and am going to live with the stupid bubbles. Maybe after it runs for another week I'll play with it some more and see if it's more cooperative then.

Even if I turn the flow down to almost nothing I still get bubbles back in the tank and that's what the manual says you have to do to fix that problem.

 

[llebcire]

When I first restart my Prizm after cleaning, I let it run for several hours (@ minimal setting), sometimes overnight, b4 it stabilizes.

If I don't, I either get a ton of bubbles or wasted seawater, i.e. wet foam. I didn't understand how it was supposed to work at first so I was frustrated for a week or so.

RedSea does state that it takes a while for the skimmer to stabilize, as it reacts to changes in the water and cleaning/being new.

 

[Riptide]

Patience is one virtue you absolutely must have if you're going to get this working properly I guess.

I'll just let mine run for another week or two and then fidget with it again to see if I can get it to stop dumping bubbles back in. If I turn the flow down to almost nothing I still get bubbles. If I loose the air valve up then I don't get foam. If I loosen the air valve and then increase the flow I get foam again, but it's wet foam then and I still get bubbles back in the tank.

Curses!