Teenyreef's IM40 Not-So-Teeny Tank - August FTS

[teenyreef]

I don't think I've ever really complained about it, but I've never really been completely in love with the Tunze 9004 skimmer. It's a good skimmer, but it's a very tight fit in the first chamber, which is the only chamber it fits. And because it's such a tight fit, there's barely any room for water to flow around, making the water level go up and down very easily. Which of course causes the skimmer to go out of adjustment. I'm constantly playing with it, trying to keep it from overflowing at one extreme, and making annoying loud popping noises from cavitation on the other.

 

Recently, it gave me a good month where all I had to do was empty the cup every four or five days, but all of a sudden it started overflowing. And after two weeks of messing with it, I still haven't been able to find the sweet spot again.

 

I considered going with the newer model with the DC controllable pump, but I don't think it would solve the fundamental problem of the tight fit in the chamber. So I started looking around for other skimmer options...unfortunately there's really nothing else that will fit in the chamber beside the IM Ghost, which I never liked in my IM10, and hasn't improved its reputation at all over the years. The other option is a hang on back skimmer, but there's only about two inches between the back of the tank and the wall, and since the tank fills the whole top of the cabinet, there's no way to move it forward to make room.

 

I did find one recommendation to use the CAD Lights PLS-50, a venerable and fairly well-proven choice, but it was still a tight fit and required some special handling. Plus, sadly, it was discontinued, so the only way to get one was on the used market.

 

However, as I was searching for information on the PLS-50, I found a post right here on N-R, from last December, announcing the third generation PLS-50, the Elite II. It hadn't shown up in any of my other searches because none of the vendors carry it yet, but at the end of the post, @CAD-Aqua provided an update, letting us know it was now available as of about two weeks ago. So I booked over to their website, and sure enough, it's available, so I ordered one.

 

 

I'm a little nervous being on the bleeding edge with a version of the skimmer that hasn't really been reviewed or widely used yet, but the earlier version generally worked well, and the icing on the cake is that the new version is significantly smaller, and should fit quite easily in either the first or second chambers in the IM40.

 

I haven't bought anything from CAD Lights since I got my 4g CAD Lights Pico tank from them. But that was a fantastic tank (with a few modifications), so I'm willing to take a chance and try it out. I'm really looking forward to getting the new skimmer and reviewing it here!

[RIP Sebastian]

Just caught up on this thread. WOW is all I can say, but that's the norm for your tanks.  That Blue Kenya Tree is a stunner-if you ever frag it, send some of it my way. 

[Orangutran]

On 2/10/2018 at 12:10 AM, teenyreef said:

 

I've been wanting T5 hybrids for a long time, but I never found single bulb fixtures that were small enough to place on either side of the wide quad. When I saw what @markalot used, I was sold immediately!

Those single sun blasters are perfect! I am surprised the new aquaticlife hybrid did not come out with a single bulb on each side version!

[Sancho]

Tank is looking amazing! That skimmer looks very promising. CAD has a bad name but everything I’ve had from them works well, I loved my CAD 8. 

[4x5]

The tank looks incredible Teeny. Those colours. 

[teenyreef]

2 hours ago, 4x5 said:

The tank looks incredible Teeny. Those colours. 

Thanks, Shaun! Nice to hear from you

9 hours ago, Orangutran said:

Those single sun blasters are perfect! I am surprised the new aquaticlife hybrid did not come out with a single bulb on each side version!

Yeah, I looked hard at it, but it also wasn't wide enough for the Nanobox wide quad (about an inch too small). 

 

Although four T5's would be nice 

[teenyreef]

5 hours ago, Sancho said:

Tank is looking amazing! That skimmer looks very promising. CAD has a bad name but everything I’ve had from them works well, I loved my CAD 8. 

I agree! My 4g and my air-powered skimmer were good products, and the PLS-50 had a good reputation too. Their weak point has always been customer service, it seems. 

[Sancho]

Had drinks with the new customer service rep at MACNA. She seemed like she actually gave a shit and promised that things are changing at CAD. 

 

[Pjanssen]

Tank is looking amazing teeny. How is the new skimmer working out?

[teenyreef]

On 2/14/2018 at 8:33 PM, Pjanssen said:

Tank is looking amazing teeny. How is the new skimmer working out?

I hope so! It shipped promptly and arrived quickly, and I got timely email updates about the purchase and shipping status, so that's a major improvement from the past already.

 

On the down side, when it arrived it was packed in styrofoam and foam pad, in the styrofoam formed box. But there was no cover on the box - it was like they just took one that was already open and just threw it in a box with some padding. There were little bits of styrofoam all over the skimmer and all over the inside. And there was no manual or warranty card, just the skimmer itself. On the other hand, it was packed well to prevent shipping damage, all the parts were still in their original plastic bags (the styrofoam got into the skimmer body via the open bottom of the bag), and everything looked brand new once I rinsed off the styrofoam.

 

 

So on the whole I give them a B- just because I paid for a new product and I don't think it's unreasonable to expect it to come in a new box with a manual and warranty card. But as always, the product itself is great.

[teenyreef]

On 2/14/2018 at 8:33 PM, Pjanssen said:

Tank is looking amazing teeny. How is the new skimmer working out?

Thanks! I just got it hooked up tonight, after giving it a vinegar bath for an hour or so last night. In spite of no manual, the setup was obvious and easy. If this was my first skimmer, I would have been a little lost and would have had to look for pictures online. But anyone who has run a standard skimmer would know that the air line goes to the pump, the pump goes into the skimmer body, and the cup goes on top. That's really all there is to assembling it.

 

The depth adjustment is done via an adjustable hook. There's a lot of range in the adjustment, but you have to loosen screws that are on the body of the simmer to adjust it, so you have to set the depth with the skimmer out of the tank. 

 

That's not a big deal, though, because it's super easy to adjust to flow rate into the body, just by rotating the body by less than half an inch. So you just move it a tiny bit at a time until the bubbles are up to the neck, and I was getting good skimmate ten minutes later.

 

So far I'm very impressed. It's small and quiet but it's a beast 

[teenyreef]

Here's a shot of the skimmer cup at work. The light is in the way so I can't get a better picture of the whole skimmer.

 

 

[Sancho]

12 minutes ago, teenyreef said:

I hope so! It shipped promptly and arrived quickly, and I got timely email updates about the purchase and shipping status, so that's a major improvement from the past already.

 

On the down side, when it arrived it was packed in styrofoam and foam pad, in the styrofoam formed box. But there was no cover on the box - it was like they just took one that was already open and just threw it in a box with some padding. There were little bits of styrofoam all over the skimmer and all over the inside. And there was no manual or warranty card, just the skimmer itself. On the other hand, it was packed well to prevent shipping damage, all the parts were still in their original plastic bags (the styrofoam got into the skimmer body via the open bottom of the bag), and everything looked brand new once I rinsed off the styrofoam.

 

 

So on the whole I give them a B- just because I paid for a new product and I don't think it's unreasonable to expect it to come in a new box with a manual and warranty card. But as always, the product itself is great.

 Thats the same packaging and condition my cheap Chinese Coral Box S150 (PLS50 knock off) came in. 

[teenyreef]

10 minutes ago, Sancho said:

 Thats the same packaging and condition my cheap Chinese Coral Box S150 (PLS50 knock off) came in. 

Lol! 

 

I have to confess I totally forgot Coral Box had that skimmer when I was looking for other options. But this is the new and improved PLS-50, and it's definitely a lot smaller which is nice in this tank.

[Tamberav]

Interested to see how this skimmer works out! It looks great. I have the Tunze 9004 (which I'm not using because no nutrients) as well, definitely a tight fit but I must have more room than you because it wasn't messing with my chambers levels. I hate taking it apart though!!! 

[Sps_Addicted964]

On 2/16/2018 at 9:35 PM, teenyreef said:

Here's a shot of the skimmer cup at work. The light is in the way so I can't get a better picture of the whole skimmer.

 

 

I just got mine and I'm still learning how to dial in and set up skimmers. How high do you have it and what chamber? I've been experimenting with it but I for sure only want to have it in the 2nd chamber. 

[teenyreef]

23 hours ago, Sps_Addicted964 said:

I just got mine and I'm still learning how to dial in and set up skimmers. How high do you have it and what chamber? I've been experimenting with it but I for sure only want to have it in the 2nd chamber. 

I've got mine in the first chamber. You can get an idea of the height from the picture, but basically I just hung it using the bracket as it came from the factory. Then I rotated the body until the bubbles were rising to the bottom of the skimmer cup - pretty much even with the top of the plastic ring that the skimmer cup fits in.

 

I'm getting great skimmate. By making tiny adjustments one way or the other with the skimmer body I can make it dry or wet pretty easily.

 

So far there are only two things I don't care for: the skimmer cup is really tight so it's a pain to pull out, and after the first couple days it got really noisy and rattly. But I pulled it out and reseated the pump, and it's been quiet ever since. So really nothing to complain about.

[teenyreef]

On 2/21/2018 at 1:40 AM, Tamberav said:

Interested to see how this skimmer works out! It looks great. I have the Tunze 9004 (which I'm not using because no nutrients) as well, definitely a tight fit but I must have more room than you because it wasn't messing with my chambers levels. I hate taking it apart though!!! 

Mine did fine for weeks or months at a time. But then suddenly it would start bubbling up and down and getting really noisy. I suspect it would to clean it regularly, but it's such a pain to pull out and take apart for skimming that I rarely did it 

[teenyreef]

I've been out of town and haven't had time to post recently - the night before I left, I heard the ATO alarm going off. When I checked the tank I could hear water drizzling down into the cabinets below the tank, and the ATO had been running continuously to replace the water that was lost. 

 

It took me a minute to figure it out while running around in full panic mode. I couldn't see where the water was coming from, but it was dripping down in the back corner of the cabinet. At first I thought the tank was leaking, but it turned out the air line for the new skimmer was hanging down below the water line just outside the tank, and was siphoning the tank water onto the back corner of the cabinet. I'd guess about a quart of water went down into the cabinet.

 

I really lucked out - the only equipment that was damaged due to the water was the Tunze ATO controller, which stopped working. I took it apart, dried it out, and sprayed electrical contact cleaner on the circuit board. It still didn't work, and I ran out of time because I had to go out of town, so my wife added some water every night while I was gone.

 

When I got back, I plugged that controller back in and now it works fine! It just needed to dry out some more.

 

So lesson learned: watch out for potential siphons in all tubes that enter the water: air lines for skimmers, dosing lines, ATO fill lines, etc.. Make sure there's something preventing a siphon like a check valve, or leave the other end of the line above the tank. Most ATO systems have some capability to prevent back siphoning, so they are less of a worry. This is reef keeping 101 stuff, but even after years of experience it's still way too easy to ignore the basics and get in trouble.

[Tamberav]

Yikes! Glad everything is okay!

 

I don't like adding new stuff unless I have a few days off. I have been meaning to put an ATO on my 10g but I've been lazy and now I will have to wait again... I don't want to add it the day before I work 13 hours. I have had too many crazy things happen with a new piece of equipment. 

 

I would have never thought the air line could cause a siphon. 

[YHSublime]

This happened to me, also Tunze top off, and got the high pitched squeal. Was siphoning back into my ato top off and leaking into the stand. 

[teenyreef]

On 2/23/2018 at 12:52 AM, Tamberav said:

Yikes! Glad everything is okay!

 

I don't like adding new stuff unless I have a few days off. I have been meaning to put an ATO on my 10g but I've been lazy and now I will have to wait again... I don't want to add it the day before I work 13 hours. I have had too many crazy things happen with a new piece of equipment. 

 

I would have never thought the air line could cause a siphon. 

That's a good policy. And I try to never change anything before I go out of town, too. 

On 2/23/2018 at 11:20 AM, YHSublime said:

This happened to me, also Tunze top off, and got the high pitched squeal. Was siphoning back into my ato top off and leaking into the stand. 

Wow, that's crazy. I didn't think a check valve was needed with the Tunze pump. I guess I should think about adding one to that line too.

[teenyreef]

I've had some folks ask for a more detailed review and pictures/videos of the new Cadlights PLS-50 skimmer. I've had it for a couple weeks, so here are my thoughts (spoiler alert: I like it).

 

There was no manual and the packaging was a little sketchy, but the manufacturer acknowledged that the first few units they shipped were still waiting for those items and they didn't want to hold up shipping. I've been promised a manual as soon as they're available.

However, setup was obvious and easy. If this was my first skimmer, I might have been a little lost, but I could have figured it out from the pictures online. But anyone who has run a standard skimmer would know that the air line goes to the pump, the pump goes into the skimmer body, and the cup goes on top. That's really all there is to assembling it.

 

The depth adjustment is done via an adjustable hook. There's a lot of range in the adjustment, but you have to loosen screws that are on the body of the simmer to adjust it, so you have to set the depth with the skimmer out of the tank. For my tank, I didn't have to change a thing. There's also a set screw to help hold it in place so the adjustment easy as tight or loose as you want.

 

It's super easy to adjust to flow rate into the body, just by rotating the body by less than half an inch. So you just move it a tiny bit at a time until the bubbles are up to the neck. I did a one hour vinegar bath, dropped the skimmer in on the hook, adjusted the flow, and I was getting good skimmate ten minutes later.

 

After the first day or two, it got noisy and rattly. I pulled it out, made sure the pump was seated all the way in, put it back in, and it's been very quiet ever since (about two weeks now). 

 

Here's a picture of it mounted in chamber 1 of the tank. The hook is on the right side, next to the red air line:

 

I'm getting awesome skimmate. This is about five day's worth, nice and dark:

 

Which brings me to the only thing that I don't like so far - I'm used to twisting the cup to work it out of the skimmer body. But that turns the skimmer body a little bit unless I hold it really tightly, and turning the skimmer body changes the flow rate that I had so carefully adjusted. Now, I just wiggle the cup back and forth to work it out, and then make whatever tiny adjustments are needed to get the flow readjusted again when I put the cup back in.

 

Here's a video of the skimmer in action. If you turn up the volume, you'll be able to hear it running. But it's really pretty quiet, I have to go over to the tank and listen for it before I notice it.

 

 

I'm very impressed. It's small and quiet but it's a beast 

[teenyreef]

I also picked up a new dosing tube holder on Amazon, made by Kamoer (the same manufacturer as my doser). At about $10, I like it better than my super fancy expensive Vertex holders with the titanium screws. It's different from any other cheap plastic tube holder because the tubes actually attach to little pipes which then squirt out the dosing solution. It looks nice and it's very compact, and has little holders for the wires for probes. As a probe holder, it isn't quite as good since it doesn't actually hold the probe. But for me it works just fine. 

 

The other big advantage is that it supports five tubes, which means one holder covers a four pump doser plus an ATO.

 

You can see it in the pictures of the skimmer above, but here's a closer shot:

 

The only thing I don't like is having the Ph probe dangling right where the dosing solution comes out. I'll probably break out the old Vertex probe holder just for that probe after I see how dirty it gets after a few days.

[Tamberav]

That skimmer looks great! Only downside I can see vs tunze is how high it sticks up. Do you a link to the tube holder?