Bubble magus curve 5 help!!!!

[Aurgustus]

Hello all, I'm new to this forum and am after a little help and advice if you fellow reefer could help. 

 

I have a red sea reefer 170 with the red sea sump it comes with, I m running the bubble magus curve 5 (well trying) but can not get it to skim. 

 

I know the skimmer is ment to be in 9inch if water, how ever I have heard of people running it in a lot less. My water level sits at 8inch bang on. I have tried nearly everything I've found online to fix the problem.

 

I'm hoping someone in the forum can lend a hand as I'm close to replacing the skimmer.

 

Thanks in advance ?

[Aurgustus]

Is there anyone that can kindly give me a little advice 

[Lawnman]

I ran a Curve 5 in my 170 sump with no problem so I know it can be done. Ok how long has the skimmer been in there? Is there any bubbles or is the cup continue to overflow no matter what setting? Give me some more info and I can help. 

[Aurgustus]

Perfect Mate, thanks for replying.

 

So it's been in there for about 3 weeks. It was bought from my friend, it was skimming great for the first 4/5days then I just could not get the bubbles go past the base of the neck.

 

I've tried every (FIX) solution on line I can find such as, strip and check for debre, reposition the inlet, higher it with egg crate and cleaning it, but I just can't get the bubbles up to the collection cup anymore. 

 

The bubbles themselves look spot on it's just the height I can get them too is the issue.

 

Thanks for the reply, I look forward to your response.

 

[Aurgustus]

Bump

[mrhighline]

They are notorious for needing  a constant water level. I have an A5 on my 45 cube, It's super finicky ... Good luck. ALSO make sure the red plug is in the extra hole on the side. 

[Boggers]

first a questions:  do you have any fish in the system already or are you cycling? If cycling it might have pulled as much organics as it can.

 

Your biggest issue is height and it wants to be lower in the water instead of higher so anything you can do to get closer to the 9" mark the better. Be sure you clean off the neck and cup since it has been hanging at that level for a bit. Stuff on the neck will disrupt the bubbles as well.

 

last thing you can try is to block off the air input just a little. This is not optimal but a last resort to try.

[lake985]

I have a BM Curve 7 and also had a lot of difficulty finding the sweet spot, which I think is a common occurrence with these skimmers. It took weeks of trial and error to find the right height--I didn't think to the adjust the air intake as Boggers suggested. Often times it would work great for a few days and then get out of wack. I chalked it up to the fluctuating parameters of a new tank. After about two months, it was smooth sailing without any height adjustments, only minor adjustments to the water output.

 

Have you dosed anything in the tank since setting up the skimmer?

 

Keep at it!

[Aurgustus]

Thanks for the response guys, appreciate it. Boggers, I have a few fish I have two clowns, 6-line wrasse, yellow goby, and a CUC. Tank is fully cycled also. I did think about blocking off the intake slightly but wasn't sure if it would put to much stress on the pump. Theres really no way I can get the skimmer any lower, unless you have any ideas? 

 

Hi lake985 what height is your curve running at, is it below the required? And no I haven't dosed anything since the tanks been up and running.

 

Thanks for the responses guys. 

[lake985]

The standard water height for the Reefer 425 is 10.6". Have you already adjusted the water output to maximum/minimum and noted the impact?

[Aurgustus]

I've got a reefer 170 so my sump level sits at 8inch. Yeah I started on max adjusted it over a few days, had a perfect skim on level 1 for around 4/5 days. Then all of a sudden nothing 

[Lawnman]

55 minutes ago, Aurgustus said:

I've got a reefer 170 so my sump level sits at 8inch. Yeah I started on max adjusted it over a few days, had a perfect skim on level 1 for around 4/5 days. Then all of a sudden nothing 

So no matter what you turn the dial to it won't  raise the bubbles? Are you dosing any additives or liquids? When I would dose coral amino mine would quit skimming for 6-10 hours then the bubbles would rise back up. I will say it skimmed great but was a temperamental little sucker!