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Official PLS-50 Elite Q&A Thread


CAD-Aqua

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Hey everybody

 

Congratulations on being a new owner of our new PLS-50 Elite.

 

Please feel free to send us any questions by email (sales@cadlights.com or customerservice@cadlights.com) or post here on this thread and we can answer your questions regarding the PLS-50 Elite professional Nano skimmer.

 

Other PLS-50 Elite skimmer owners, feel free to post your results and progress of the Elite skimmer here as well.

 

CAD (as in Autocad :) ) Drawing of the PLS-50 Elite Nano skimmer

post-38260-0-03618300-1408487649_thumb.jpg

 

Written instructions step-by-step:

PLS-50 Elite written Instructions.doc

 

 

Thank you so much

Scott

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Don.Chaneaux

Thanks for this ... when you get a chance ... can you please post a pic for "Solution 1" under the troubleshooting section? just want to make sure. Don't feel like pulling my skimmer out :) Thanks!

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Hi, Don

 

Ill try to get a picture of it. but in the meantime, simply put, just look right into the intake of the pump and see if you see the stem's hole. if you don't see it then it is facing inside, if you do see it then it is facing outside. normally, you shouldn't see it at all.

 

Thanks

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Hey Tron

 

Not too sure. but the foam is basically the product of what is in the water itself. are the bubbles fine?

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Don.Chaneaux

My tank is about 3 weeks old but no fish or any type of waste yet ... hoping a foamhead builds and microbubbles go away when some waste gets introduced. Been running skimmer for about a week now just to break it in.

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SouthFlorida_Tron

Hey Tron

 

Not too sure. but the foam is basically the product of what is in the water itself. are the bubbles fine?

I will try to get an animated GIF from my GS4 later once the lights better illuminate the skimmer... Its frustrating the heck out me...

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Don.Chaneaux

its like magic, came home from work, we have foam!

 

Now the real tweaking begins...

 

Nice! I'm jealous. haha. hopefully I come home from work one day and I see foam and all the microbubbles gone.

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SouthFlorida_Tron

Hey guys, how does the level look, need to lower to allow for more foam build up? I'm still getting clear water in the cup

 

14847969230_c0b72901f0_o.gif

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  • 2 weeks later...

My tank is at the very end of the cycle, just started seeing some diatoms in the past 2 days. I decided it was time to fire up the PLS-50 Elite. I have had it running for about 4 days now, nonstop, and have had a ton of microbubbles. They may have gotten slightly better over the past 24 hours, but still quite a bit. I checked "Solution 1" and it seems to be oriented correctly. Anything else I should consider, or is this just a case no nutrients/waste in the water and still needs time to break-in?

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SouthFlorida_Tron

As I found, it simply takes time to build bacteria and create seals, as was the case with the non elite. Then one day, it starts foaming.

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it best to turn on the skimmer when the tank has reached its full nitrogen cycle and is producing organic waste. skimmers are designed to attach and process only organics and anything else can throw it off.

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SouthFlorida_Tron

What I'm finding is that even though broken in and foaming, the concentration of the bubble action appears to occur midway up the cup neck. Not sure why this is happening.

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  • 2 weeks later...

September Skimmer tip!

 

Just a quick tip for anyone starting up a new tank with a skimmer.

 

Typically protein skimmers are turned on after the aquarium has reached a full cycle which usually is around 4-6 weeks. Protein skimmers are designed to remove DOC's (Dissolved organic compounds) using micro fine bubbles that attract and attach itself to the Organic waste. newly uncycled tanks don't produce enough for the skimmer to have any effective production of skimmate. any other chemicals than DOC's produced by the fish and corals, rocks can throw off the skimmers production of foam and skimmate.

 

 

so if your skimmer isn't working properly yet, make sure your tank has reached its full cycle and is producing DOC's.

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  • 5 weeks later...

September Skimmer tip!

 

Just a quick tip for anyone starting up a new tank with a skimmer.

 

Typically protein skimmers are turned on after the aquarium has reached a full cycle which usually is around 4-6 weeks. Protein skimmers are designed to remove DOC's (Dissolved organic compounds) using micro fine bubbles that attract and attach itself to the Organic waste. newly uncycled tanks don't produce enough for the skimmer to have any effective production of skimmate. any other chemicals than DOC's produced by the fish and corals, rocks can throw off the skimmers production of foam and skimmate.

 

 

so if your skimmer isn't working properly yet, make sure your tank has reached its full cycle and is producing DOC's.

 

I am considering your skimmer. It will be used in a new tank with nearly everything transferred over from Tank 1 (except the sand). I have two fish, some inverts, live rock, and a ton of coral. At what point should I start running it after the tank transfer?

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Hey Jgaepi

 

The typical best time to turn on the skimmer is when your tank is starting to produce organic waste or DOC's. if your tank is new, then it will be shortly after the full nitrogen cycle. if it is a transfer then, it can be right away if you are using a significant amount of your "old water".

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I am still having some trouble with this skimmer. My tank has been running appx. 10 weeks now. I have appx. 1-2 ppm of nitrates and phosphates are reading 0.06 on a hanna meter, so I know there are DOCs in the tank. The problem I am having is I cannot seem to get it to make a nice skimmate. First off, tuning the skimmer is not easy at all as it is VERY touchy. I was told to try tunning it with the cup off and to get the bubbles right at the top of the neck. I have done that. Unfortunately, all I have been able to get out of this thing is a very wet skim. I usually find about 3/4" of dirty water in the cup after about 3 days or so. I have yet to see anything but pure liquid skimmate. If I tune it down even the smallest amount, then I get nothing.

 

Any tips or pointers? Is it possible that I have defective unit? I feel like I have given this skimmer plenty of time to make sure it is not a break-in issue or a new tank issue. I do not want my nutrients going any higher and was hoping that getting the skimmer running properly would take care of this for me but am not sure what else to try at this point. Thanks in advance.

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The main things you can check for on the skimmer is that the pump is running correctly by pumping water ad producing microbubbles. then check for the skimmer body itself to make sure it is holding its level which ensures its water sealed. other than that, the skimmate really is just a reflection of whats in the tank itself. wetter or dryer skimmate really is pretty much the same thing except the concentration of water in it making it more or less diluted.

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The main things you can check for on the skimmer is that the pump is running correctly by pumping water ad producing microbubbles. then check for the skimmer body itself to make sure it is holding its level which ensures its water sealed. other than that, the skimmate really is just a reflection of whats in the tank itself. wetter or dryer skimmate really is pretty much the same thing except the concentration of water in it making it more or less diluted.

Well, it definitely is pumping both water and bubbles. The microbubble issue I had in the begining has gone away, so I am assuming that it is broken in and is water sealed now. Last night, I did realize that my water level in that chamber was a bit over 7". After bringing the water level down a bit, it seemed like it was a little bit easier to dial it in, but we will see over the next couple of days whether it made a difference in the output of skimmate.

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that's normal. the higher the water level, the less of he reaction chamber is being utilized which can sometimes have skimmate that isn't fully processed making it seem more diluted.

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