Vermonter Posted February 22, 2011 Share Posted February 22, 2011 Does anyone have any experience with these Coralife super skimmers? I have tried numerous times to set this thing up, and all it does is overflow. Not with bubbles, but with water. I plug it in, the pump comes on, and it just keeps filling all the way up. I have shortened the inlet so the pump is approx 3" below the water surface, made sure all line are cleaned, have dial adjusted all the way down. Nothing changes. So am I missing something? ...are these skimmers junk? ...not opposed to buying a new one, but I already have this one if it will work. Any input is appreciated, Thanks. Link to comment
EventHorizon Posted February 22, 2011 Share Posted February 22, 2011 Hello, I just recently purchased a Coralife 65 g super skimmer on Saturday. I am pleased with it because its more powerful than the other comparably sized skimmers, but I am having trouble with the over flow problems as well. Ive had it for a little over 48 hours and slowly beginning to control the overflow. If water is flowing into the collection cup, it could mean that the skimmer is creating a siphon. There could be a clog somewhere, so it might be prudent to wash everything out and check for plugs if you haven't done so. I initially had the same problem you did, and was able to get rid of it by turning the power off and draining the remaining water in the skimmer. Apparently the water level was too high, and this was causing it to be "sucked up" into the collection cup. Are there any microbubbles below the collection cup? If it is not creating bubbles then the air line could be blocked. Mine is creating small amounts of foam (tank is clean so there is really nothing coming out), but I'm having trouble using the fine adjustment to control the wet/dry skimming. For me, it's just one level. No, I don't think the skimmer is junk. I have had skimmers that are junk, that don't even create foam properly. This one gets the job done, but the fine adjustment can be a hassle until you learn to control it. It's not the type of "plug and play" skimmer, and requires constant adjustment. I found the Remora and Octopus a bit easier to use since they don't require much adjustment, but I think the performance of the coralife is comparable in my opinion. Link to comment
Vermonter Posted February 22, 2011 Author Share Posted February 22, 2011 I guess I will disassemble it tonight and see if I missed anything. I would like it to work since i already have it. Thanks for replying, I'm glad to hear someone is having good luck with it and I'll just keep trying. Link to comment
Vermonter Posted February 23, 2011 Author Share Posted February 23, 2011 I think I am going to set a 10g tank in a 50g rubbermaid container to set flow rates and such. I do not have a problem with bubbles overflowing, since there are no bubbles to speak of. I plug it in and the water fills all the way up and over the cup. I cleaned everything out again last night, but it seems as though something is wrong with the return pipe. I can't get any water to go through the return once its set up on the tank. If I put it in the sink, the tube is clear and flows great. I spent about 2 hrs on it last night, got it all back together, put it on the tank, and as soon as I plugged it in, it overflowed again. Link to comment
Vermonter Posted February 23, 2011 Author Share Posted February 23, 2011 Is there water at least coming out of the exit tube? Is there any air at all going through the air tube and into the main chamber? Did you ever try to mod it or put anything into the main chamber? Did you take the motor apart and take the black impeller off at all? Did you try my priming method at all? Try lowering the bubble box as far as possible and trim the black exit tube if you need to. There should be nothing within 2 inches of the exit tube (3 to be safe). Do this simple test as well. Fill up the sink with some water. Run the pump totally submersed making sure you don't get the air tube in the water (if you do its no big deal, take it out and it will clear it when it runs). Does the water at the back end of the pump shoot out air in the water, or is it just water alone? There are definitely coralife's out there that work well and people are happy with them. Any video I've seen and my personal experience, it works fantastic. So far I cannot see any water coming out of exit tube. ( I am going to try to prime it like you said when I get home and see if this will help force the water through the exit tube). At the moment, I do not see any bubbles coming into the chamber at all, unless I blow into the airline. Just a question, should there be an air pump set up with this unit? I thought the pump would just pull the air in as it ran. I did take the inlet off the pump to be sure the air inlet was clear, but everything seemed OK. I haven't done any mods to the unit or anything. I got this skimmer off of a temporary tank they had set up at my LFS and it seemed to work fine. The unit is only a couple of months old, but I have no box or instructions, but I downloaded instructions online and tried following them. I will try placing the unit in the sink like you recommended and see what I come up with. Thanks for all the input Fish, I'm sure I'm just missing something stupid. Link to comment
gutterguy Posted February 25, 2011 Share Posted February 25, 2011 Are you testing it in saltwater?? If not set it up with saltwater. My skimmer did not make any bubbles when I leak tested my tank with freshwater. When I set it up with SW tons of bubbles. may not solve the overflow but who knows. Link to comment
Reefer69 Posted February 25, 2011 Share Posted February 25, 2011 http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/index.php?...=258966&hl= thats my review on the skimmer Link to comment
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