Aquamaxx WS-1 Skimmer Issues

[Bubba30]

I have an Aquamaxx WS-1 running in my sump in 10" of water. I set it up and slowly lowered the cup to try to achieve a dark dry skim. I have been getting a ton of build up in the neck of the skimmer collection cup. If I lower it from there the skimmer will eventually overflow. I just can't find the sweet spot and have been trying to move slowly. Should I raise the skimmer up to 8" will that make it any easier to dial in? Anything else I can do?

[jcreefer]

Is the skimmer new?

Bioload?

 

If I recall, the recommended water level is 8-9in, though adjusting the height of the collection cup can help with the overflowing issue. If anything, the buildup on the beck tends to reduce the effectiveness of skim collection (at least for this skimmer).

 

If your bioload is low, or the tank is relative low in nutrient, the skimmer won't be able to fractionate anything from the water column.

 

I found You can also further finetune the bubble by adding an air valve at the end of the muffler inlet.

 

Jeff

[Bubba30]

I've got 4 fish; two clowns, a midas blenny, and a cardinal. I feed about a cube of mysis every 4 days. About 30 gallons total system volume.

 

Skimmer has been running for 6-8 months on the tank and it's been giving me this problem the whole time. Once overflowing so hard it was splashing water out for a while setting off my osmolator alarm for pump run time and lowering salinity.

 

I'll look into the air valve.

 

I'm wondering if I need to downsize. I don't plan on adding more fish; I may be feeding more once I add coral.

[jcreefer]

With this skimmer, there are three area you play with

 

1)overall skimmer water level

2)Skimmer cup height

3)air regulation

 

I recommend working on #1 first: with the cup set as high as it goes adjust the height of the skimmer in the water (either raise to 8 or 9 in of water) and see if that improves. If it doesn't overflow, lower the water level and see if that causes overflow. If it doesn't, then work on adjusting the cup height. Finally, fine tune the bubble size by managing the air inlet amount/velocity.

 

Your target is to have the bubble near where the cone of the collection neck starts to taper, this allows the bubble to coalesce and form a head. By adjusting the air valve, you can tune the head to be thick/dense or think/wet.

 

Jeff

[Bubba30]

I can't get it for the life of me. I'm moving in such slow increments only to come back the next day to see the cup full of water. Something is not right. I am going to disassemble it and clean it and see what happens. I'm going to move it to lower water as well.

[Nola Bear]

I have the same one. It took a little bit of work, but now I am pulling a really dark skim. Mine just overflowed like nuts when I first put it in, and so i pulled it out and ran in a mixture of RODI and vinegar, something like 3:1, for 12+hours. Then I rinsed and ran it in a five gallon bucket of saltwater filled up to where it would hit the skimmer at the 8-10" area. I dialed it in in the bucket, letting it run and overflow for days to break in. Once I got it to where it wasn't overflowing, I put in the tank. It still overflowed a few times as I found the right height of the collection cup. My biggest issue now is microbubbles, but it says they can last around 6-8 weeks to go away for a full break in period, and they have certainly gotten better over the last 3 weeks. Only have had this thing for roughly 4 weeks tops. BTW, I do not have an air valve.

 

Hope this helps~

[Bubba30]

Thanks. I had crazy microbubbles and ended up taking it apart to find the venturi wasn't seated to the pump well. It solved the issue right away.

 

 

 

It is now sitting in exactly 9" of water; I just rinsed it out with water and brushed it out. Should I make any changes or does this look like it will work once I get the cup to the correct height?

[Nola Bear]

Thanks. I had crazy microbubbles and ended up taking it apart to find the venturi wasn't seated to the pump well. It solved the issue right away.

 

IMG_5106.JPG

 

It is now sitting in exactly 9" of water; I just rinsed it out with water and brushed it out. Should I make any changes or does this look like it will work once I get the cup to the correct height?

Looks right to me. Just so you know, I have to keep my collection cup pretty damn high~

About as high as what you have in your pic

[jcreefer]

Looks right to me. Just so you know, I have to keep my collection cup pretty damn high~

About as high as what you have in your pic

That's where the air valve comes in. With a air valve, you can regulate the volume of intake air and adjust the "bubble size" if you will. When you decrease the size or the reaction of the bubbling, you can lower the collection to a spot you prefer. I've found this doesn't affect the performance of the skimmer.

 

Jeff

[Nola Bear]

That's where the air valve comes in. With a air valve, you can regulate the volume of intake air and adjust the "bubble size" if you will. When you decrease the size or the reaction of the bubbling, you can lower the collection to a spot you prefer. I've found this doesn't affect the performance of the skimmer.

 

Jeff

Where would I install this?

[jcreefer]

You can grab a airline valve, install a tubing between the muffler and the valve.

[Bubba30]

 

 

I swear it's the most frustrating thing to come back to this. Why would it skim so wet and then the bubbles are no where near the neck when I find it...

[jcreefer]

Are you dosing any additives? Reaching into the tank often? Did you recently use epoxy for frags? All of those things drive the skimmer crazy, particularly the epoxy.

 

Jeff

[Bubba30]

I added Phosguard 3-4 days ago to treat some GHA. I keep my hands out of the tank; there are no coral yet or anything to fuss with.

[jcreefer]

So this is a new tank? If it is, I don't believe there's sufficient organics (dissolved or otherwise) in the tank to skim. In other words, if there's no fish or coral poop, the skimmer doesn't have enough "fatty acids" to fractionate to cause the bubbles to build up. The overflowing generally is cause by residue grease introduced into the body of the skimmer if all the equipment are relative new since there's no biofilm buildup yet.

[Bubba30]

Newer tank; I guess it has been up 6 months with fish. I have been doing a lot of large water changes to battle GHA around 8 gallons a week to keep my live rock from getting nasty.

[Bubba30]

I can't get this thing to skim properly. I am ready to just remove it from the system. It is constantly going from pulling nothing out, neck filling up with crap, to skimming so wet it is overflowing while making NO adjustments. Manic. The water level is consistent. I am wondering if it may just be oversized for the tank with my water change schedule. Should I try something smaller? I'd run with no skimmer however the shit that is in the neck of the skimmer is nasty... I am traveling Tuesday to Orlando and just don't trust leaving the thing running.

[emily97]

I've got mine sitting in 9inches of water and water level in skimmer is at the start of the second a on aquamaxx

[Bubba30]

I took mine apart recently and found a bunch of salt creep in the inside of the air intake. It was most likely the reason for the inconsistency of skimmate. I've got it cleaned up and it has been pulling a lot darker and much more consistently.