It foams. I’m back.

Tuesday, September 15, 2009

atb_skimmers

After months of problems I think I’m finally back on path to a nice reef aquarium. The problems started when I made the stupid decision to replace a well working nutrient export strategy overnight to something I had no experience with. I stopped vodka and sugar dosing and started dosing moderate amounts of Tropic Marin Reef Actif instead.

What made that decision especially stupid was the way I came to the conclusion that something like that would work. Basically I did something what I tell all starting reef aquarists not to do: I based my decision on a few threads on one forum without even knowing the exact configurations people who had good results had. Neither did I know how much they fed nor what other nutrient export methods they used. I also did not monitor the nutrient levels as frequently as I should have. For someone who has more than 20 years of experience with reef aquariums I think that is as idiotic as it gets.

The final blow that almost killed all my azooxanthellae corals and sponges was a broken skimmer pump. The problem was that ATI was not interested in helping to fix the issue so I had to find a new protein skimmer from someone who would be willing to support their products. After a lot of thinking and research, I ended up buying a skimmer from Aquarium Technik Burian or ATB.

atb_medium_skimmer

Naturally I was aware of the excellent support ATB provides to it’s customers but I certainly was not expecting the owner of the company, Mr. Burian, to engage in a lengthy email conversation about the skimmer model and configuration I should get. Needless to say I was impressed and since I already knew the performance of ATB skimmers to be very high I didn’t hesitate to place an order.

It is too early to evaluate the performance of the skimmer in my tank but it is refreshing for once to have aquarium equipment where you really can’t find any flaws. All pieces fit exactly, attention to details is great, everything is where it should be and design just works. Not completely different from the experience I had when I switched from PC to Mac…

I also have recently found two other really great products, Biopellets and Reef Pearls, of which I will be writing in near future.

Related Posts

  1. Back to spirits (Updated)
  2. New ideas for reef aquarium filtration
  3. ULNS is not really L and far from UL
  4. Weapons of Nutrient Destruction: cone and pellets with sugar on top
  5. NP-Biopellets, the story so far

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, September 15th, 2009 at 21:53 and is filed under Husbandry, News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.

23 Responses to “It foams. I’m back.”

  1. Kevin
    September 16, 2009 at 02:46

    Hi Tatu

    Is that the skimmer you own or do you have the Deluxe model. Is that considered the small.

    #393
  2. Grumpy Old Reefer
    September 16, 2009 at 07:15

    Kevin,

    Yes, that’s the model I have. It’s the Medium :)

    #394
  3. Kevin
    September 21, 2009 at 21:14

    Tatu

    I received my ATB medium(1050) today. Everything looks great.
    Does your skimmer have a screw to remove the base plate or is it fixed?

    Mine you can not remove the base plate.

    Thanks
    Kevin

    #395
  4. Grumpy Old Reefer
    September 21, 2009 at 21:26

    Hi Kevin :)

    Yes, mine has detachable base plate (and bubble plate).

    Did you get red or white model? Do you have two Sicces or one Airstar? Any pictures? :D

    #396
  5. Kevin
    September 21, 2009 at 22:11

    I have the white and one airstar pump.
    Pictures will come soon as I figue how to do it:)

    #397
  6. Kevin
    September 21, 2009 at 22:29

    Tatu

    I think you got one of the newer ones with the seemless body.
    I got one with a seem on the body therefore one of the older ones and they must have not got the removable base plate.

    #398
  7. Grumpy Old Reefer
    September 23, 2009 at 23:17

    Kevin,

    Actually, mine has a seam :D

    I think all models now have removable base? The “econo” models used to have fixed base plates but didn’t they change that some time ago?

    #402
  8. Kevin
    October 3, 2009 at 03:00

    Tatu

    We still have the econo here. I suppose not a big deal just take it out and give it a vinegar bath.

    Kevin

    #413
  10. Kevin
    October 3, 2009 at 16:09

    Tatu

    Are you happy with it’s skimming performance?

    #416
  11. Grumpy Old Reefer
    October 3, 2009 at 18:02

    Absolutely! Water clarity is so much better and the little cyano I had has disappeared completely.

    #417
  12. Kevin
    October 5, 2009 at 04:32

    I was wondering if it is normal that when you pull the air line off the silencer you wattage goes down and so does the foam head on the skimmer. Seem like the silencer provides some resistance.I don’t know if you notice this, but give it a try and let me know if yours does the same.

    Thanks

    Kevin

    #418
  13. Grumpy Old Reefer
    October 5, 2009 at 07:26

    Kevin,

    Yes, I was also surprised to find out that the silencer restricts the air flow (about -100 l/h). What I did was I took a 4 mm drill bit and using pliers hand drilled the inner diameter of the air input on the venturi. The original has an inner diameter of 3.5 mm here in EU.

    This allows the pump to suck more air into the pump and compensates perfectly for the silencer resistance :)

    #419
  14. Kevin
    October 5, 2009 at 15:45

    Tatu

    But if you didn’t drill the holes on the silencer then you are restricted by them as well?

    #420
  15. Grumpy Old Reefer
    October 7, 2009 at 07:44

    Kevin,

    The venturi input is the smallest :) I don’t think it is the silencer input/output that is restricting the air flow.

    #421
  16. Kevin
    October 7, 2009 at 15:58

    Tatu

    Wow thats interesting because on mine when i remove the hose from the silencer the wattage goes down to 39 from 45watts also the foam head drops quite a bit when i remove the hose from the silencer which is telling me the water output has slowed down hence the restriction and lower foam head. I will do some measurements this weekend to see the diameter of the venturi and the silencer holes.

    #422
  17. Kevin
    October 7, 2009 at 16:39

    Tatu

    Yes! you are wright. I measured my venturi at 3.5mm and the silencer at 5mm. does your silencer measure approx the same?

    Thanks

    Kevin

    #423
  18. Grumpy Old Reefer
    October 7, 2009 at 17:47

    Kevin,

    Yes, mine is also about 5 mm. They probably use the same silencer for larger skimmers also, hence the “oversized” hose connectors.

    You see power and water level drop because of the increased air pull. More air = less water and less work.

    #424
  19. Kevin
    October 7, 2009 at 20:26

    Tatu

    Yes! but it should not make a difference if I pull the hose of the silencer since the silencer is bigger anyway so no restriction there.

    #425
  20. Grumpy Old Reefer
    October 7, 2009 at 20:49

    The restriction is caused by the internal structure of the silencer and not by the hose connectors :D

    #426
  21. Kevin
    October 10, 2009 at 02:48

    Hi Tatu

    I sent this email to Anton. I received a second pump today from Victor but I am getting same problem. I was wondering if you get the sam fluctuations when removing the air line from the silencer then measuring the air flow.Mine bounces around like craze . If I take an air flow reading from the top of the silencer by installing a hose on top it is not as bad but still some fluctuations.

    Thanks

    Kevin

    Hi Anton

    I’ve been monitoring the skimmer over the last couple of days. I must say I am not happy with it’s performance at all . When running the skimmer the water level inside the skimmer must run at about 3″ from the collar of the neck on the skimmer and at that it still performs poorly.
    Here are some numbers which I tried to get to see if I could solve this mystery.
    The wattage bounces around 36-42 Watts, which seems to be telling me its not running very stable.
    Power Factor is measured at 26-32. 26 is extremely low!
    Now on the other side of the story, when pinching the air line, the wattage is elevated upward, the actual water level in the skimmer drops lower, and the wattage does not fluctuate as much , things appear to be more stable.
    Also when installing an air meter, the air bounces around excessively, from 2100l/h-900l/h with 1200 being the middle point, but when pinching the air line it seems to stabilize at around 1500l/h.
    I would like to resolve this problem with you, but at this point I find this unacceptable.
    I sent this e-mail to Victor as well. Victor originally has sent me a new volute but that did not seem to help.

    Thanks

    Kevin

    #427
  22. Kevin
    October 10, 2009 at 06:16

    Hello Tatu

    If you would like to see a video of this issue, I would be happy to email it to you. Please send me an email address to forward it to.

    Thank you,

    Kevin

    #428
  23. Grumpy Old Reefer
    October 10, 2009 at 16:35

    Kevin,

    My pump fluctuates between 32-34 W (rarely 31/35 W) and the power factor stays between 0.31 – 0.33. Air flow is 1300-1400 l/h. I’m not sure why the air flow has dropped a little, it was 1500 l/h when new. It doesn’t seem to affect the performance that much…

    I would love to see the video, please send it to grumpy@grumpyreefer.net

    #429

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