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StevieT

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I'm getting really tired of not getting any response from Red Sea Max. One of my return pumps blows bubbles for no reason intermittently. Not micro bubbles, big bubbles. The water level is sky high and the other pump is behaving but this one is problematic. The tank is not even 3 months old and I can;t get RSM to respond! Dpes anyone have a # or email for a specific person I could contact?

 

Thanks

 

My right pump, the one closest to the heater well, was blowing bubbles. I discovered that the water column in the heater chamber would occasionally have bubbles trapped in it. Every so often, the bubbles would make it all the way down to the bottom of the chamber and then get sucked up and ejected from the right pump only.

 

I had to re-arrange my filter media so there was enough flow to keep the top of the heater chamber submerged so I wouldn't get water tumbling over the partition forming bubbles when both pumps were running.

 

I wouldn't be surprised if there was a problem with your pumps though. They do seem to be a little janky.

 

James

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James you seem to have hit the nail on the head. It is the pump closest to the heater giving the trouble.

 

In the meantime with Aviads help I am trouble shooting. He asked me turn off the skimmer which I did, remove all filter media, I did. Problem still exists.

 

I tried to make an egg crate filter media holder like Stevie T makes (except to fit WITH the stock skimmer) and was unsuccessful. I think I might try to make it for the return pump chamber as that chamber seems to be straight without any protrusions.

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  • 3 weeks later...

I built an eggcrate media basket. Its a tight fit and you practically have to jam it into place. The key was zip tying the middle braces. It provides a little flex. I tried gluing the center braces but it ended up cracking. The brace location is important as it affects the position of the Tunze 9002 skimmer magnet location and level. I did not remove the magnet from the skimmer so it can be repositioned to the back of the tank. The biggest downfall I see with this diy is the waterflow from the overflow. The eggcrates create side flow and not practical.

 

All in all, I think I need to get a StevieT media basket.

 

 

 

Another question... what does everyone do with their stock RSM skimmer after replacing it with a Tunze. I have no use. Do people look to buy the stock skimmer? Can the pump be used for other applications?

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Another question... what does everyone do with their stock RSM skimmer after replacing it with a Tunze. I have no use. Do people look to buy the stock skimmer? Can the pump be used for other applications?

good question

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I use the pump to aerate make up water. Keep the rest to pawn off on the next sucker if you sell the tank. Then when they find out how bad it is you can sell them your Tunze.

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I use the pump to aerate make up water. Keep the rest to pawn off on the next sucker if you sell the tank. Then when they find out how bad it is you can sell them your Tunze.

 

^This! haha!

 

On a side note, I do use the RSM skimmer pump for mixing sw, but I find that the water in the bucket reaches 83 degrees after 24 hours of mixing. Interesting.

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I use the pump to aerate make up water. Keep the rest to pawn off on the next sucker if you sell the tank. Then when they find out how bad it is you can sell them your Tunze.

 

Hahaha...

 

 

^This! haha!

 

On a side note, I do use the RSM skimmer pump for mixing sw, but I find that the water in the bucket reaches 83 degrees after 24 hours of mixing. Interesting.

 

Maybe that's why RSM owners have issue with high temps due to the stock equipment, thus the push for chillers. At least you don't need to use a heater... LOL

Edited by AMAYEU
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^This! haha!

 

On a side note, I do use the RSM skimmer pump for mixing sw, but I find that the water in the bucket reaches 83 degrees after 24 hours of mixing. Interesting.

oh that is interesting!

I use a broken oceanic circulation powerhead for my water.

I was wondering if the RSM skimmer pump would make a good water change pump, right now I use an MJ1200 to change out my water.

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Can the pump be used for other applications?

 

The skimmer pump makes for an excellent water mixing pump. Even can inject air into the water to bring the PH up.

 

I still need a heater when mixing the water with that pump. It is done in the basement but even when used in the office a heater was needed.

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Stevie, I just realized that if you remove the stock skimmer, the RSM filtration is basically useless. There is no place holder for filter media/floss! I mean talk about a major design flaw!

Your media basket seems to be the only professional solution out there for folks that want a different skimmer or not to use the stock skimmer.

Hope you contacted RS for a collaboration, with the right contract, a new design of basket that can be used with the skimmer, made by InTank, sold by RS would be the coolest thing.

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A media basket will not work with the stock skimmer. It will block too much flow.

Most ditch the stock skimmer and use our media basket as designed.

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So as James said in post #328, there are bubbles being made in the chamber which houses the heater (which is caused by a water level issue in the largest back chamber). The bubbles get sucked in by the return pumps and there is the problem.

 

Keeping the water level is challenging, but I am working on the best solution because I want to have chaeto in the back since I have removed the skimmer.

 

Does anyone know if putting a piece of foam at the bottom of the heater chamber will fix the bubble problem? I guess I could try it but that chamber is super slim and while I may be able to get a piece of foam inserted using a stick, getting it out if it does not work would be difficult.

 

To illustrate, I'm talking about placing a sponge inside and at the bottom of #6

130d_filtration_big.jpg

thoughts?

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Does anyone know if putting a piece of foam at the bottom of the heater chamber will fix the bubble problem? I guess I could try it but that chamber is super slim and while I may be able to get a piece of foam inserted using a stick, getting it out if it does not work would be difficult.

 

I thought about that, but haven't tried it yet. I'm going to clean and rebuild the filter setup in the sump soon and I'll give that a try. Right now I can only run one pump because my filter is too restrictive since I added a piece of poly filter to the mix.

 

Before the poly filter, I would fill the tank up till the bottom of the support arms were underwater and raise the skimmer basket so the teeth were just under the surface. That gave enough flow to run both pumps, a Tunze 9002, and a ball of chaeto with bubbles rarely occurring. I'd have to change the filter floss about twice a week to keep it flowing.

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I wouldn't not add filter floss to the heater chamber. Yes it sits snug in there but will eventually get pulled into the return pump chamber. Then it's a nightmare to get out by unhooking the pumps, and the pumps get clogged with floss. Another thing is the water suction in the chamber will move the floss with a slight touch. Just my experience.

 

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I thought about that, but haven't tried it yet. I'm going to clean and rebuild the filter setup in the sump soon and I'll give that a try. Right now I can only run one pump because my filter is too restrictive since I added a piece of poly filter to the mix.

 

Before the poly filter, I would fill the tank up till the bottom of the support arms were underwater and raise the skimmer basket so the teeth were just under the surface. That gave enough flow to run both pumps, a Tunze 9002, and a ball of chaeto with bubbles rarely occurring. I'd have to change the filter floss about twice a week to keep it flowing.

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I wouldn't not add filter floss to the heater chamber. Yes it sits snug in there but will eventually get pulled into the return pump chamber. Then it's a nightmare to get out by unhooking the pumps, and the pumps get clogged with floss. Another thing is the water suction in the chamber will move the floss with a slight touch. Just my experience.

 

I was going to try the large cell black foam that normally sits over the stock skimmer. I've got to clean my pumps soon, so I'll try it out and if it doesn't work the pumps were coming out anyway.

 

I'll try it out in the next couple of days.

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IT was a frustrating night. The cat woke me at about 3 am up because the tank was making an odd sound. turns out the impeller on one of the return pumps was rattling. I tried to turn it off and on in the hopes that it will jump start but it did not work. So I turned it off for the duration of the night.

 

This morning took it apart, cleaned it, put it back together and seems to be okay for now. But I also took the opportunity to move the heater out of the heater chamber and attached it to the media basket using the suction holders they provide (Jager).

 

Then I cut the stock black sponge that comes with the RSM and placed it at the top of the heater chamber. So far so good. Let's see if the mod works to keep the bubbles at bay.

 

Question:

The water cooling fan: is it supposed to blow air into the aquarium or suck it out?

Edited by metrokat
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