Help with SRO-2000EXT Skimmer

cs3gallery · 06/23/2014, 09:16 AM

First off, I would like to say hi to all my fellow reefers. I am very new to posting to these forums... been reading here for years

On this topic I am pretty perplexed and frustrated and thought I jump out to the community to see if maybe I could get some help. I have a 135 gallon reef tank running for about 3 months now skimmer less. Due to the stand not being so big it holds a custom 29 gallon sump. I couldn't fit a skimmer worth having in their so I thought I go big or go home. I ended up purchasing the ever so massive Super Reef Octopus 2000 External. I have this bad boy sitting to the left of the tank propped up on a stand. I ended up extending the output plumbing to reach behind the stand then into the sump. However I made sure not to have any extra incline. It simply stays even with a couple 45 elbows and then declines into the sump under the water for noise sakes. To feed this I purchased a Danner-Mag 5 Supreme pump with no ball valve or anything... its a direct feed. I would say the most the water has to rise is about 15 inches. So the Mag 5 is running at full speed.

Now to the problem. Before I turn on the bubble blaster I notice the water level in the reaction chamber keeps going up and down.. albeit not very fast. This is with the gate valve wide open. I would say it varys a good 1 and a half inches. Of course when I plug in the bubble blaster this sucker overflows within the first several seconds. I couldn't figure out what was going on. I tried a few things and I think I am getting a little closer to solving the mystery..... One... I'm thinking maybe I have way too much flow for the feed. I notice when I plug the air vent on the drain lines that the water in the reaction chamber goes down and stays pretty stable in height. I then popped off the air vent to see how full the drain pipe is... and it is full and running fast. I mean no room for air movement. So I am thinking the water level going up and down may be caused by too much water flowing in the outlet and sometimes it catches the air bubbles and lowers it etc. What do you guys think?

Also... just to make sure we get this part out of the way... I have used no chemicals in the water.. no two part, conditioners etc... and I run carbon. All chemicals are in check... Salinity is 1.025, temp 78, CA 420, KA 8.5, PH 8.2, Mag 1250, Phosphate 0.04, Ammonia 0, Nitrite 0, Nitrate 0.25.

What on earth am I missing here?

Thanks in advance!

cs3gallery · 06/23/2014, 02:06 PM

bump

Mark Bianco · 06/23/2014, 04:41 PM

I am in no way a skimmer expert, but I do run an SRO6000 EXT with a mag 18. The one difference is I notice in your setup is you are running the return down into the water there by creating a restriction. This can be tested by getting something to put underneath the skimmer and raise it until the exit pipe is out of the water. Second is when I turn off the pinwheel pump my water comes up past the base then up past the first section of clear acrylic and stops at that first ring. You could try restricting the outflow on the mag with a ballvalve and that may help, but the skimmer is designed to able to use a pump up to 500 gph and that is about what the mag 5 will produce without and head pressure.

The only other issue is there is something in the water that causing this issue. I had a slight issue with cyno and used a small amount of chemiclean. within 3 minutes the skimmer was overflowing and had to be shutdown until I did a massive waterchange..

Mark

cs3gallery · 06/23/2014, 08:51 PM

Mark, you have been awesome help. Yeah... I was thinking that my mag shouldn't be too much flow so I never bothered checking it. So here is what I did and I think it may actually be working ha ha. I first cut the outflow pipe so its no longer sitting in the water in the sump. I turned it back on and it was just a tad better.. not much. I then went out to Lowes and grabbed a 1 inch ball valve for my mag. It was all I had left to try. Sure enough I started to build a think dry foam in the neck once I turned it half way down.. so I'm guessing its pushing about 200 gph now. Ha.. I will update if it works out. This will hopefully save others some headache. I guess every tank, skimmer, and water is different ha ha.

AcroporAddict · 06/24/2014, 12:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mark Bianco

The only other issue is there is something in the water that causing this issue. I had a slight issue with cyno and used a small amount of chemiclean. within 3 minutes the skimmer was overflowing and had to be shutdown until I did a massive waterchange..

Mark

Mark,
Over foaming happens to everyone after treating with chemi-clean. It goes away after a week or so. My Vertex Alpha 300 cone did it as well.

Chief Tang · 07/03/2014, 11:42 AM

I am no skimmer expert either, but I run an SRO 3000 EXT in a similar setup like yours, I have a MAG 18 feeding it and a filter sock on the drain line. I don't normally have issues, the drain line is 2 inch ID on mine. Simply adjusting the valve on the drain usually does the trick.

CaptJackalope · 11/22/2014, 10:09 AM

Hi guys, I know old thread but I was looking into buying the sro 2000 external. How has it been running for you? My plan would be similar to how you set up. I have a 110 tank and 30 gal sump. I would put skimmer up on small table next to the tank and plumb the return how you did. Any suggestions on feed pump?

06/23/2014, 09:16 AM	#1
cs3gallery Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2014 Posts: 3	Help with SRO-2000EXT Skimmer First off, I would like to say hi to all my fellow reefers. I am very new to posting to these forums... been reading here for years On this topic I am pretty perplexed and frustrated and thought I jump out to the community to see if maybe I could get some help. I have a 135 gallon reef tank running for about 3 months now skimmer less. Due to the stand not being so big it holds a custom 29 gallon sump. I couldn't fit a skimmer worth having in their so I thought I go big or go home. I ended up purchasing the ever so massive Super Reef Octopus 2000 External. I have this bad boy sitting to the left of the tank propped up on a stand. I ended up extending the output plumbing to reach behind the stand then into the sump. However I made sure not to have any extra incline. It simply stays even with a couple 45 elbows and then declines into the sump under the water for noise sakes. To feed this I purchased a Danner-Mag 5 Supreme pump with no ball valve or anything... its a direct feed. I would say the most the water has to rise is about 15 inches. So the Mag 5 is running at full speed. Now to the problem. Before I turn on the bubble blaster I notice the water level in the reaction chamber keeps going up and down.. albeit not very fast. This is with the gate valve wide open. I would say it varys a good 1 and a half inches. Of course when I plug in the bubble blaster this sucker overflows within the first several seconds. I couldn't figure out what was going on. I tried a few things and I think I am getting a little closer to solving the mystery..... One... I'm thinking maybe I have way too much flow for the feed. I notice when I plug the air vent on the drain lines that the water in the reaction chamber goes down and stays pretty stable in height. I then popped off the air vent to see how full the drain pipe is... and it is full and running fast. I mean no room for air movement. So I am thinking the water level going up and down may be caused by too much water flowing in the outlet and sometimes it catches the air bubbles and lowers it etc. What do you guys think? Also... just to make sure we get this part out of the way... I have used no chemicals in the water.. no two part, conditioners etc... and I run carbon. All chemicals are in check... Salinity is 1.025, temp 78, CA 420, KA 8.5, PH 8.2, Mag 1250, Phosphate 0.04, Ammonia 0, Nitrite 0, Nitrate 0.25. What on earth am I missing here? Thanks in advance!

06/23/2014, 02:06 PM	#2
cs3gallery Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2014 Posts: 3	bump

06/23/2014, 04:41 PM	#3
Mark Bianco In Memoriam Join Date: Nov 2011 Location: Infinity and Beyond Posts: 2,445	I am in no way a skimmer expert, but I do run an SRO6000 EXT with a mag 18. The one difference is I notice in your setup is you are running the return down into the water there by creating a restriction. This can be tested by getting something to put underneath the skimmer and raise it until the exit pipe is out of the water. Second is when I turn off the pinwheel pump my water comes up past the base then up past the first section of clear acrylic and stops at that first ring. You could try restricting the outflow on the mag with a ballvalve and that may help, but the skimmer is designed to able to use a pump up to 500 gph and that is about what the mag 5 will produce without and head pressure. The only other issue is there is something in the water that causing this issue. I had a slight issue with cyno and used a small amount of chemiclean. within 3 minutes the skimmer was overflowing and had to be shutdown until I did a massive waterchange.. Mark

06/23/2014, 08:51 PM	#4
cs3gallery Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2014 Posts: 3	Mark, you have been awesome help. Yeah... I was thinking that my mag shouldn't be too much flow so I never bothered checking it. So here is what I did and I think it may actually be working ha ha. I first cut the outflow pipe so its no longer sitting in the water in the sump. I turned it back on and it was just a tad better.. not much. I then went out to Lowes and grabbed a 1 inch ball valve for my mag. It was all I had left to try. Sure enough I started to build a think dry foam in the neck once I turned it half way down.. so I'm guessing its pushing about 200 gph now. Ha.. I will update if it works out. This will hopefully save others some headache. I guess every tank, skimmer, and water is different ha ha.

07/03/2014, 11:42 AM	#6
Chief Tang Registered Member Join Date: Jun 2014 Posts: 7	I am no skimmer expert either, but I run an SRO 3000 EXT in a similar setup like yours, I have a MAG 18 feeding it and a filter sock on the drain line. I don't normally have issues, the drain line is 2 inch ID on mine. Simply adjusting the valve on the drain usually does the trick.

11/22/2014, 10:09 AM	#7
CaptJackalope Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2014 Location: San Diego, Ca Posts: 1	Hi guys, I know old thread but I was looking into buying the sro 2000 external. How has it been running for you? My plan would be similar to how you set up. I have a 110 tank and 30 gal sump. I would put skimmer up on small table next to the tank and plumb the return how you did. Any suggestions on feed pump?