Coralife Super Skimmer

[Reefstalker]

I've had CSS running in my tank for about 2 months now. After the intial 1 week break-in period, the bubbles disappeared and it worked great. However, every time I do a 25% water change, bubbles start up and it takes a day before they subside.Two days ago, I took out the bubble diffuser and cleaned the sponges of accumulated gunk. But now the bubbles won't stop...I feel like I'm breaking it in again.

 

Is this normal with CSS? Am I doing something wrong? Are the bubbles harmful to corals? Thanks.

[bigbabich]

Mine works fine, but I do have to clean out those sponges too.

Make sure the bottom sponge is pushed up against that outflow slot.

Not sure what will help, I never get bubble probs.

Do a search on coralife skimmer in this site.

Lots of people have modded them a bit.

[Reefstalker]

I already regret buying CSS over Remora. Since I cleaned out the bubble diffuser, it took 3-4 days before the bubbles disappeared, and it took another 3-4 days before it started skimming dark skimmate again. Within that time period, I basically had to deal with both microbubbles and constant overflowing. It required continual adjustment. I came very close to just ripping it out of my tank and throwing it away. My understanding is that Remora is plug-and-play. CSS is a pain in the ass.

[jeremai]

Some salts have binding agents added to them. This means that freshly mixed saltwater will produce bubbles that 'hold' longer than normal, making it into your tank and becoming an eyesore.

 

Let the water sit a day or more before doing the water change - that was the problem I had with my CSS. If you are aging the water, well, I don't know what to tell you.

[Reefstalker]

I age my saltwater at least a week...so not the issue, unfortunately. I think CSS is just finicky and overly sensitive to changes in water chemistry. It's what I would consider "not user-friendly".

[jeremai]

Shame. I adjusted mine once and it worked perfectly for the six months I used it - never overflowed, never produced bubbles in the tank, never required adjustment.

[proraptor2]

people that have problems with it just dont know how to use it. Ive been running one on a 20H prop tank for 4-5 months now and it works awesome! Almost as good as my lifereef VS 24 ($400 skimmer)

[ezcompany]

people that have problems with it just dont know how to use it. Ive been running one on a 20H prop tank for 4-5 months now and it works awesome! Almost as good as my lifereef VS 24 ($400 skimmer)

 

i disagree. the fact that i dose everyday, feed a few times a week always made the CSS hypersensitive to me, which is why i switched to the Remora, which skims considerably less, but is more stable. now the Deltec pwns both

[Reefstalker]

people that have problems with it just dont know how to use it. Ive been running one on a 20H prop tank for 4-5 months now and it works awesome! Almost as good as my lifereef VS 24 ($400 skimmer)

 

What is there not to know how to use? You stick it in the water, make sure the pump is 3-4" from the surface, and adjust the water height on the skimmer. Is there a special, super secret adjustment that I don't know about? This is not rocket science...and I should know as I'm an aerospace engineer. Let's face it, it's a poorly designed product and priced accordingly. Sometimes, you just get what you pay for. I'm sorry I bought it.

[Fishfreak218]

My understanding is that Remora is plug-and-play. CSS is a pain in the ass.

My CSS is absolutly fine and is the better of my two skimmers

 

I'm sorry I bought it.

thats what im saying about my Remora

 

For me, my remora sucks @$$.... i could go w/ out it and their would be no difference.. the thing is a POS... My CSS is by far a better skimmer....

i should have just gone w/ the Deltec

[mikedege]

My understanding is that Remora is plug-and-play.

 

haha, far from it, I had many way more problems with microbubbles on the Aquac remora than on the CSS65.

 

Ive had expierience with both, CSS65 and remora, In my opinion, the CSS65 is a much better skimmer.

 

Maybe they just work differently on different setups. But in my case I wouldnt use an aquac remora again, if you gave it to me for free.

 

Mike

[TikiJosh]

I'm running a coralife skimmer on my 60 gallon tank at home, and it works like a charm. My favorite protein skimmer ever.

It does get a little finicky after water changes, so I usually give it like 15 to 20 minutes for things to settle down, and then no problem.

I do have the skimmer placed in my sump, though, so if I was getting a few microbubbles, they'd probably never make it back to my display tank. I've never had the types of problems that other people are complaining about. I usually buy Catalina water, or something like that from a LFS, and don't usually mix my own.

[Jim_i]

Would everyone please post which model you are using! I'm curious to find out if those with problems (and those without) are having them on similar models. I'm currently in the market for a new skimmer and would like to know how the Coralife's stack up across all models. Thanks....

[spitfire]

quick and easy fix to the bubbles

[msn711]

IME, the CSS works much better in a sump than it down hanging on the tank. When I had mine on the tank, it required constant adjustment. In the sump, I never touch it except to remove the cup once a week. For the record, i have the 125.

[ODOG]

msn, thats what I was just going to ask. Is it being used in sump or tank? Any skimemr will be finniky if used in the display becasue of the constant change in water height. I liked my CSS and I found that it skimmed even better teh more I cleaned it. I was cleaning everyday and getting a 1/4 to half cup per day of a chocolate milkshake color skimmate. Using it in the sump I didn't even use the bubble trap that was provided. The bubbles won't hurt anything they are just an eyesore.

[msn711]

I may have to try taking my bubble trap off then Odog. God only knows what that sponge is collecting.

[spitfire]

you could also take out that white filter on the bottom and switch it with filter fiber. That just work great for me. I took off that filter bag because it looked like crap.

[matt510]

keep this thread going im lookin for a new skimmer too and need some options! thanks

[cpllongjk]

once you figure out how to properly use this skimmer it rocks. For the price you cant beat it. Ive had the aquac remora for 4months, and the skimmate this produces compared to my remora just blows it out of the water.

I tested it, every 3 days i collect 1/3cup of very dense skimmate, only because im skimming very very dry. I have the microbubbles set way low. So i would assume every week im getting 1cup or more. But this is very concentrated skimmate, my aquac remora was pulling out the same ammount but it was very wattery and no density.

 

One thing I do before feeding my fish is turn it off. That way i dont dump excess microbubbles in my tank. Also I Modded the output elbow, added a T joint with 3/4"pvc and the T is open, not capped. When the skimmer first comes on, it is normal for the elbow to overflow just a bit, but it will normalize after a minute or so. I have my return line about 1/2"below the water just to minimize noise issues. Anything more than 1/2" and i would have to much backpressure and my elbow would overflow.

Mainly what my mod does is, bypass the little breathe hole. If that thing clogs with salt creep/calcium, your skimmer will overflow from back pressure, this is just a precaution so it doesnt.

I was affraid to reconnect my css65, but after much thought and thinking about how much i needed it back, it was worth a try.

No doubt that coralife designed it very badly, but another thing their tech support told me to do was, reduce flow going into the skimmer. It would let you use your fine tune knob more.

Right now the way my skimmer is set up, the valve is almost fully open, and my fine tune(red knob), is all the way closed. My pump is 3-4" from the water line.

ABOVE ALL ELSE! WATER LEVEL MUST BE CONSTANT! If the water level goes down say 1/2" your skimmer will too, if it goes up, your skimmer can overflow depending.

 

Sorry for the long message, but this was a big deal for me, after my skimmer overflowed about 6 times in my house before i disconnected it... but I gave it another chance!

[flick]

I have a Ramora on my cycling 46g bow, and i notice a lot of macro bubbles are in the tank...coming out of the skimmer (where water goes back into tank). How can i stop it?

 

Is that what you guys are talking about? Or... Thats CSS? lol Im clueless to skimmer! I just got this skimmer from the same guy i got my Live rock and sand from for $100

 

Kirby

[MJD]

If you have the money and a sump go Deltec, ASM, or Euroreef. If not the CSS could be a good choice as long as you know how to use it. If not it will overflow like what happened to me. I hung my CSS on the back of my tank, water would spill everywhere. So far after cutting the output tubing it hasnt overflowed once and is producing pretty good skimmate.

 

MJD

[dga]

Maybe they just work differently on different setups.

Mike

 

bingo! i could say what is in the water column in 100 different tanks, not one would be the same...

[Reefstalker]

Update on my original post:

 

After my CSS overflowed the 3rd time, I decided to just rip it out of the tank and throw it in the trash can where it belongs. Look, I'm sure you can do all sorts of mods on this thing to make it work better. But doing mods only serve to highlight a glaring fact -- it's a very very very poorly designed product. Yes, it puts out very thick and very dark skimmate. But you have to deal with microbubbles all the time, and you're constantly faced with the threat of flooding due to leaks/overflows. If you travel a lot like my family does, you just can't trust it to leave it alone for a weekend. And if you can't trust a product, why use it??? Life is too short to be worrying about your tank in the middle of Disneyworld.

 

I decided to spend $200 and got an AquaC Remora. I've been using it for almost 2 months now. Yes, it doesn't produce as dark and as thick a skimmate as the CSS. But you know what? After the initial break-in period, it doesn't product microbubbles. And the way it's designed means it's impossible for it to leak. I think it's a fair trade-off.

 

I can finally enjoy 1 week vacations with my family. Hoo Rah!

[Beretta]

I've got a CSS65, and had problems when I first got it. It's extremely loud, and the muffler doesn't work worth a damn, so toss it in the trash. The other problem is keeping the airflow at a steady rate. Do the fishing line mod around the needle wheel, it helps chop the bubbles even more. Secondly, get an air pump, put in an adjustable air valve, and plumb this into the venturi. You will have to restrict the airflow some, or you'll pump too much air into the venturi and break the siphon. Basically, open the valve until the siphon breaks and dial it back just a bit. With this mod, you're pumping as much air into the pump as it can handle. All this helps ensure a steady, even airflow, and I haven't had an overflow problem since.

 

Also, if you have to turn the skimmer off, leave the air pump running. It will keep water from getting into the venturi and clogging it.