Jump to content
ReefCleaners.org

IM desktop Ghost...MICROBUBBLES!


zstriker

Recommended Posts

Ok, so I have read that these skimmers have tons of microbubbles during break-in....but it has been running on my tank for 4 weeks now and still produces a hefty amount of microbubbles....is there some secret to adjusting these? Any help is much appreciated!

Link to comment

Hi there,

 

I have a ghost skimmer and it took about 7-10 days to break in once I turned it on. I actually let it sit in my tank for 2 weeks or so before I turned it on.

 

Try tightening the knob on the top of it until the bubbles subside. Also, try lifting the cup up so there is maybe 1/2" of space between the red band and the bottom of the cup.

 

If that doesn't do it, make sure the pump is correctly hooked up at the bottom. My pump doesnt even touch the bottom glass so I do not know why it even has suction cups on the pump.

 

Hope this helps.

  • Like 1
Link to comment

thanks guys, i will take it out, check things over and see how it performs....as a side note, are both of you running the air adjustment nozzle wide open? I am confused how I should be adjusting that and perhaps this is one reason i am getting a lot of bubbles....

 

thanks

Link to comment
Obsessed Reefer

I have one in my 20G, and after about a week or so, the micro bubbles really died down, didn't completely stop, but almost, then after I did a water change, the tank was filled with them. I left the skimmer on, but didn't drain the chamber it was in. The next water change I did, I turned the skimmer off, and same thing happened. My question to others with this skimmer, what do I do during a water change to avoid issues like this happening?

Link to comment

Prior to a water change I turn the pump and skimmer off at the same time. The back chamber remains filled with water. Then I change out 12.5% of the water in the DT. I pour the new salt water back into the DT. Once it is about full I turn the pump back on and proceed to fill the tank to the top. Then, I clean the skimmer which takes 5-10 minutes post water change. After I put the cleaned skimmer cup back in and turn the skimmer on there are no bubbles.

 

I do this every Sunday. Never any lasting bubbles.

  • Like 2
Link to comment

Just the cup. I am not sure whether you are to clean the bacteria from the inside of the skimmer. I thoroughly clean the cup since i have crazy OCD. It gets caked with crap.

Link to comment

i took the thing apart and examined everything, seemed to be in order....i re-installed and adjusted air nozzle to the position that is barely opened enough to allow some foam, microbubbles are drastically reduced and the thing is actually skimming much better now, maybe I had too much air being allowed in.

 

on another follow up, I have to turn my skimmer off for an hour or two after a water change as it bubbles like crazy too....sometimes it bubbles even worse after feeding a particular potent food such as pe mysis....

 

i tried putting some filter floss in between skimmer and return water flow, but this messed up the water level in the chamber and didn't help with teh bubbles.

 

in short, the skimmer is working better now, microbubbles have reduced, but there are still a few....maybe needs more time

Link to comment

I use 1 piece of ESU Pad Pureflo 100 MIC on each media basket under the mechanical sponge. I change this once a week. It typically is the same color as the skimmer cup so it is cleaning something for sure. I started using this when I first cycled my tank to eliminate the debris from the sand and live rock.

Link to comment

What tanks are you running these on? I have the IM 10 and there is a line in the back chambers running horizontally. Steve Nguyen from IM told me that the ghost skimmers function best if the water line in the rear chamber is ~1" below the horizontal line. If you are on other tanks, check to see that the water line you have your skimmer in matches up with where the skimmer should be. He says they have been getting a number of questions/complaints about the skimmers and that almost every time it has to do with the skimmer being too low in the water.

 

4FviSnP.jpg

  • Like 5
Link to comment

Isn't the water line more or less determined by the height of the skimmer sitting flush against the bottom of the chamber?

 

I have a NUVO 40 and if it is filled "to the top" that means that in the center chamber in the back where the main pump resides the water level is about 1/4"-1/2" below the adjacent chambers. In other words you want to create a very slight waterfall from the side chambers which touch the center chamber down into the center chamber. This way the trickling water sound is very slight.

 

When I lift or push down the skimmer cup that changes the amount of skim that is collected.

Link to comment
Obsessed Reefer

Agreed, my skimmer is in the second chamber from the right in my 20G fusion, and it sits on the bottom of the chamber, and the water level is consistent in the chamber.

 

When I did my water change yesterday, I did what NYfishies said, and killed the skimmer and return pump at the same time, and did the change straight from my display tank. When I powered the skimmer back on after I was done, it filled the display with bubbles, but it did die down and go back to 'normal', which for me still isn't microbubble free, but pretty damn close, so I'm very pleased with it that time.

Link to comment

I am also having greater succes....microbubbles as of recent are almost gone....just a few hanging around...maybe just needs quite a bit of time to break-in, especially since my tank is new

Link to comment

so I tried something out....I flipped the skimmer around, so the output grill is facing the side overflow, rather than the middle of the tank where the return is....no more microbubbles in display section....just wanted to share

Link to comment
  • 2 weeks later...
reefernanoman

Mine is pretty tightly closed actually

You mean the ventury air valve? I just installed the Desktop version of this skimmer and the valve was completely closed, so now I opened a little, but now it's making noise. Now my question is, how much noise is this skimmer supposed to do? I can hear the pump at the bottom working and such. I thought it was supposed to be completely silent? but it is less loud than my AquaC nano remora. I went ahead and closed the valve all the way, then opened it just slightly so that it could let air in(just barely) and it's more silent now.

Link to comment

You mean the ventury air valve? I just installed the Desktop version of this skimmer and the valve was completely closed, so now I opened a little, but now it's making noise. Now my question is, how much noise is this skimmer supposed to do? I can hear the pump at the bottom working and such. I thought it was supposed to be completely silent? but it is less loud than my AquaC nano remora. I went ahead and closed the valve all the way, then opened it just slightly so that it could let air in(just barely) and it's more silent now.

 

Your last comment is the answer. Mine is quiet - not silent. You can hear the pump, but that is it.

Link to comment
reefernanoman

Your last comment is the answer. Mine is quiet - not silent. You can hear the pump, but that is it.

Thanks, but I'm assuming that you HAVE to see some bubbles in there right? Can you hear the skimmer creating bubbles though? Is yours skimming already?

Link to comment
reefernanoman

Are you guys following the recommended water heigh? If I did this, I would have to lower my water level in the back chambers, since right now the water level inside the skimmer is almost all the way to the top. I only have about 1 inch from the top of the skimmer currently.

Link to comment
  • 2 weeks later...
reefernanoman

OK so I adjusted the water height to the recommended level, and it's been two weeks as of today 11/6/14. I barely opened the ventury valve to let in as little air as possible but I'm still getting tons of micro-bubbles and no skimming at all. I have the collection cup right where it meets the bubble line. I'm assuming this thing needs more time.

Link to comment

just curious what kind of skim you guys are getting with your ghosts? I have a Nuvo 30L and started with the tunze 9001 which I had to put in the return area which I dod not like. I had Microbubbles with the Tunze and light to no skim, but my tank was less then 2 months old, so I has little to no bio load

 

I upgraded to the Ghost and it's been in my tank for almost 2 months. Micro bubbles went away after about week 4. I have increased fish and corals but I keep a very clean tank. I alternate feeding frozen Mysis and pellets for 5 fish. My skim is tea colored. I have seen skimmers pull some nasty black slime from the water. I hope it is just that my bio load is low and not that the ghost just doesn't perform like other models at a lower price range. Any of you guys getting black skim??

Link to comment
reefernanoman

after a WC, this skimmer stopped producing bubbles completely? Even if I open the ventury valve all the way. I spoke to IM and was told that the water level should actually be only 1 inch from where the body begins. So I went ahead and made my water level higher. I think I'm just going to give with this a vinegar bath.

 

Edit: today I took the skimmer out and checked everything, since I knew something was wrong with how much air was going into the skimmer. While giving it a vinegar bath, I took the ventury valve, and found out that it was 99% clogged! It had some little tiny object after the ventury seal. I found this out by blowing on the ventury valve, and felt that it was clogged. So I blew on it hard and BAM, something came out of it, but it was so small that I didn't even find it. I know it wasn't salt creep. Well now I see way more foam production. Now I just have to wait for the micro-bubbles to calm down, since I haven't been running this thing correctly for more than two weeks.

Link to comment

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

  • Recommended Discussions

×
×
  • Create New...