Admit Defeat CSS

Reverend Reefer · 03/23/2010, 10:04 AM

ok ive admit defeat on this coralife super skimmer! ive added a durso standpipe mod instead of the stupid bubble diffuser basket, i added a gang valve to the air inlet and ive whispered sweet nuthins in its ear. i give up. this damn thing is so fickle, no consistency, ive had it. now it wont produce any bubbles. i hate this thing. ive tried to be patient. its been working on and off, its has good days and bad days, from the very beginning. its clearly not german! haha.

anyways, sorry for my lil hissyfit. ok thats done with.

my question is, as a temporary solution til i get a REAL skimmer (doing research now), ive attached the air intake to an air pump. is this an ok temporary solution? it makes bubbles....

scottwhitson · 03/23/2010, 10:47 AM

Your tank should do fine without a skimmer until you can buy a real one. Just do more frequent water changes. There are alot of skimmerless tanks out there.

Vin7250 · 03/23/2010, 11:18 AM

I have owned three and they have worked pretty well for me. Try THIS

ull the airline tubing from the silencer that is mounted to the body of the Skimmer and blow in the end pretty hard. That happened to me once and that is how I fixed it.

thegrun · 03/23/2010, 11:21 AM

Welcome to the army of dissatified former corallife skimmer owners!

Vin7250 · 03/23/2010, 12:05 PM

try what i said before you scrap it. I have had a css 65 css 120 and a css 220 all three of them were quite challenging to set up but they work. Also are you sump mounted or h-o-b?

Reverend Reefer · 03/23/2010, 12:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Vin7250

try what i said before you scrap it. I have had a css 65 css 120 and a css 220 all three of them were quite challenging to set up but they work. Also are you sump mounted or h-o-b?

i have it hob. the level in display stays the same, it tends to work better when the water level is constant. its the css 65. ive read a million threads on this damned thing, it does work. just not reliable. some days it spits out the microbubbles, even with the durso mod, and some days it makes no microbubbles whatsoever in the chamber. when i pulled out the airline, i did blow on it and it worked while i blowed on it, then stopped when i stopped blowing. this is what gave me the idea to attach an air pump to the air intake and its working now with the air pump. just wanted to know if this is a good long term solution. ive never read about a venturi skimmer that needs an air pump attached to it but i guess its possible? hard to tell at this point if its going to make foam skimmate but it is making bubbles.

Vin7250 · 03/23/2010, 12:48 PM

all this means is your pump is malfunctioning....call up coralife....i belive their website is esuweb.com i have called on my 65 and my 220 they replaced the pump and a few accessories on the 65 3 years after i bought it with no receipt....and replaced the 220 completely 2 years after purchase no receipt. They are willing to help, trust me.

CleveYank · 03/23/2010, 01:01 PM

About the only thing that coralife carries that isn't junk is their hqi de pro light (it's got some weaknesses too) and the luft pump which was a design they bought from tetra.

Overall I wouldn't hit a bull in the can with almost everything with their name on it.
Basically most of their stuff is all over priced over marketed JUNK!!!!!!!!!!!

Vin7250 · 03/23/2010, 01:14 PM

ill go home and take a picture of my CSS 220 in action tonight and post it.....it gives me more bang for the buck than my old ETSS downdraft drivin by a mag 7 that cost me nearly 3x as much as the CSS

ibefishy · 03/23/2010, 02:40 PM

My CSS 125 with the standpipe mod worked great. Never had any problem with it. The only reason I dont use it now was it was pretty tall in the sump and when I had to remove the cup for cleaning I didnt have much room to work with. And I found a EuroReef RS80 on CL for $60. As far as cheaper skimmers go, I think they are one of the better "budget" skimmers out there.

STiTCH87 · 03/23/2010, 02:43 PM

Get an Eshopps, set it, and forget it. :P

And yes, I am very biased toward Eshopps, cuz I have owned 3 skimmers before then that were all problematic, and this one I just plugged in, adjusted within 5 minutes, and have a cup of dark brown skimmate everyday, and no microbubbles at all. And it didn't even seem to have the "new skimmer break in period". Pretty damn quiet too.

Reverend Reefer · 03/23/2010, 04:30 PM

a pic might be more encouraging but i might just email coralife. thanks for the advice.

i guess this is the random devil in a blue dress. randomly, she loves me, she loves me not...

scottwhitson · 03/23/2010, 04:34 PM

Trust me I thought that my "Prizm" skimmer did ok until I got a real skimmer. The CSS skimmers are JUNK!! No two ways around it. Yeah they may work sometimes if you fiddle with them enough but not only do you have to play with them they NEVER work as good as other skimmers out there. I would just do your research and then cruise the "for sale" forums and get a REAL skimmer.

Vin7250 · 03/24/2010, 06:58 AM

I never got a pic posted last night obviously (just plain forgot) but i love when people who have probably never tried the product type crap like this:

"Trust me I thought that my 'Prizm' skimmer did ok until I got a real skimmer. The CSS skimmers are JUNK!! No two ways around it."

Your advice is junk

If you follow the instructions and actually know what you are doing the CSS works very well. For all of you out there that are looking for the easy way out and dont want to read and set up a product according to the manufacturers instructions that is YOUR fault. I paid a very small amount for a VERY good skimmer...... how much did your "REAL" skimmer cost.

dadowd · 03/24/2010, 07:31 AM

Mine works very well too. I had the problem with the air line, but I had salt in it.

NYDiesel · 03/24/2010, 12:47 PM

what you can also do is take the line off the venturi top and stick it in the mouth of the pump and zip tie it,take the other side off the silencer and let it hang over. got better air and more bubbles

ibefishy · 03/24/2010, 02:04 PM

Some people feel if its really expensive it must be better than all the others. I cant complain about my CSS. I was trying to sell it when I got a smaller skimmer but alot of people replied negetively about them and the buyer backed out.

Vin7250 · 03/25/2010, 07:45 AM

I know exactly how that is. THe only thing im prejudiced about are low quality lighting fixtures. Im not taking any chances on a device that is designed to get super hot and stay on all day while im out. Not gonna take the chance of a fire and getting my dog trapped in the house while im at work. Ill spend the extra money on that. But a CSS skimmer, its just good quality cheap filtration.

03/23/2010, 10:04 AM	#1
Reverend Reefer Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Toronto, ON, Canada Posts: 883	Admit Defeat CSS ok ive admit defeat on this coralife super skimmer! ive added a durso standpipe mod instead of the stupid bubble diffuser basket, i added a gang valve to the air inlet and ive whispered sweet nuthins in its ear. i give up. this damn thing is so fickle, no consistency, ive had it. now it wont produce any bubbles. i hate this thing. ive tried to be patient. its been working on and off, its has good days and bad days, from the very beginning. its clearly not german! haha. anyways, sorry for my lil hissyfit. ok thats done with. my question is, as a temporary solution til i get a REAL skimmer (doing research now), ive attached the air intake to an air pump. is this an ok temporary solution? it makes bubbles....

03/23/2010, 11:18 AM	#3
Vin7250 Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: Connecticut "The Big East" Posts: 1,144	I have owned three and they have worked pretty well for me. Try THISull the airline tubing from the silencer that is mounted to the body of the Skimmer and blow in the end pretty hard. That happened to me once and that is how I fixed it.

03/23/2010, 10:47 AM	#2
scottwhitson Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Lewiston, Idaho Posts: 1,395	Your tank should do fine without a skimmer until you can buy a real one. Just do more frequent water changes. There are alot of skimmerless tanks out there.

03/23/2010, 11:21 AM	#4
thegrun Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Garden Grove, Ca Posts: 17,023	Welcome to the army of dissatified former corallife skimmer owners!

03/23/2010, 12:05 PM	#5
Vin7250 Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: Connecticut "The Big East" Posts: 1,144	try what i said before you scrap it. I have had a css 65 css 120 and a css 220 all three of them were quite challenging to set up but they work. Also are you sump mounted or h-o-b?

03/23/2010, 12:48 PM	#7
Vin7250 Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: Connecticut "The Big East" Posts: 1,144	all this means is your pump is malfunctioning....call up coralife....i belive their website is esuweb.com i have called on my 65 and my 220 they replaced the pump and a few accessories on the 65 3 years after i bought it with no receipt....and replaced the 220 completely 2 years after purchase no receipt. They are willing to help, trust me.

03/23/2010, 01:01 PM	#8
CleveYank 20 Years and Over Join Date: Feb 2000 Posts: 3,052	About the only thing that coralife carries that isn't junk is their hqi de pro light (it's got some weaknesses too) and the luft pump which was a design they bought from tetra. Overall I wouldn't hit a bull in the can with almost everything with their name on it. Basically most of their stuff is all over priced over marketed JUNK!!!!!!!!!!!

03/23/2010, 01:14 PM	#9
Vin7250 Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: Connecticut "The Big East" Posts: 1,144	ill go home and take a picture of my CSS 220 in action tonight and post it.....it gives me more bang for the buck than my old ETSS downdraft drivin by a mag 7 that cost me nearly 3x as much as the CSS

03/23/2010, 02:40 PM	#10
ibefishy Moved On Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Grover Beach, California Posts: 307	My CSS 125 with the standpipe mod worked great. Never had any problem with it. The only reason I dont use it now was it was pretty tall in the sump and when I had to remove the cup for cleaning I didnt have much room to work with. And I found a EuroReef RS80 on CL for $60. As far as cheaper skimmers go, I think they are one of the better "budget" skimmers out there.

03/23/2010, 02:43 PM	#11
STiTCH87 Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: Taunton, Massachusetts Posts: 112	Get an Eshopps, set it, and forget it. :P And yes, I am very biased toward Eshopps, cuz I have owned 3 skimmers before then that were all problematic, and this one I just plugged in, adjusted within 5 minutes, and have a cup of dark brown skimmate everyday, and no microbubbles at all. And it didn't even seem to have the "new skimmer break in period". Pretty damn quiet too.

03/23/2010, 04:30 PM	#12
Reverend Reefer Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Toronto, ON, Canada Posts: 883	a pic might be more encouraging but i might just email coralife. thanks for the advice. i guess this is the random devil in a blue dress. randomly, she loves me, she loves me not...

03/23/2010, 04:34 PM	#13
scottwhitson Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Lewiston, Idaho Posts: 1,395	Trust me I thought that my "Prizm" skimmer did ok until I got a real skimmer. The CSS skimmers are JUNK!! No two ways around it. Yeah they may work sometimes if you fiddle with them enough but not only do you have to play with them they NEVER work as good as other skimmers out there. I would just do your research and then cruise the "for sale" forums and get a REAL skimmer.

03/24/2010, 06:58 AM	#14
Vin7250 Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: Connecticut "The Big East" Posts: 1,144	I never got a pic posted last night obviously (just plain forgot) but i love when people who have probably never tried the product type crap like this: "Trust me I thought that my 'Prizm' skimmer did ok until I got a real skimmer. The CSS skimmers are JUNK!! No two ways around it." Your advice is junk If you follow the instructions and actually know what you are doing the CSS works very well. For all of you out there that are looking for the easy way out and dont want to read and set up a product according to the manufacturers instructions that is YOUR fault. I paid a very small amount for a VERY good skimmer...... how much did your "REAL" skimmer cost.

03/24/2010, 07:31 AM	#15
dadowd Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Central Indiana Posts: 61	Mine works very well too. I had the problem with the air line, but I had salt in it.

03/24/2010, 12:47 PM	#16
NYDiesel Moved On Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: Hopewell Jct, NY Posts: 145	what you can also do is take the line off the venturi top and stick it in the mouth of the pump and zip tie it,take the other side off the silencer and let it hang over. got better air and more bubbles

03/24/2010, 02:04 PM	#17
ibefishy Moved On Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Grover Beach, California Posts: 307	Some people feel if its really expensive it must be better than all the others. I cant complain about my CSS. I was trying to sell it when I got a smaller skimmer but alot of people replied negetively about them and the buyer backed out.

03/25/2010, 07:45 AM	#18
Vin7250 Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: Connecticut "The Big East" Posts: 1,144	I know exactly how that is. THe only thing im prejudiced about are low quality lighting fixtures. Im not taking any chances on a device that is designed to get super hot and stay on all day while im out. Not gonna take the chance of a fire and getting my dog trapped in the house while im at work. Ill spend the extra money on that. But a CSS skimmer, its just good quality cheap filtration.