Via Aqua Skimmer Club - Page 12

luke33 · 07/03/2007, 10:43 PM

I personally think UV is wack. It helps with algae control but as far as ick is concerned it only zap's the free swimming stage. Which doesn't take care of the prob. So today, as frustrated as i am, i pulled a frustrated thing. I took all my rock and inverts and corals and threw them into my 75g qt. I'm treating my main tank with hypo. I'm about done with the hobby if this doesn't work.

OnlyCrimson · 07/03/2007, 10:54 PM

NOOOOOO we can't lose you! Just set up a smaller tank and start it again. Like a 50 or 60.

luke33 · 07/03/2007, 10:59 PM

The prob with a smaller tank is it would mean more mula. ANyhow, i'm guessing this is going to fix ti or start from the beginning. Damnit, i'm just not happy with the hobby, but i'm building my cheapo hood this weekend. I really don't know, i'm borderline donedeed.

GuySmilie · 07/03/2007, 11:58 PM

Ahhhhhhh....a few beers and you'll be just fine.
Works for me!

OnlyCrimson · 07/05/2007, 05:04 PM

Luke my poor skimmer isn't skimming. It's only been in there fore 3 days, but i thoguth it should do something. It has plenty of bubbles and i can see them forming bigger bubbles near the base of the neck. But nothing is going up the neck. Any ideas?

kodyboy · 07/05/2007, 06:19 PM

Luke,
Ick is a real PITA! Hypo plus warmer water plus LOTS of cleaner shrimp (afterwards they do NOT appreciate the above conditions!) have worked for me in the past. I have found water changes can help too as the better the water quality and nutrition the better they do. I have had a tomato clownfish live through an outbreak that made him look like he was covered in salt! Good luck.

skwirl · 07/05/2007, 07:09 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by OnlyCrimson
Luke my poor skimmer isn't skimming. It's only been in there fore 3 days, but i thoguth it should do something. It has plenty of bubbles and i can see them forming bigger bubbles near the base of the neck. But nothing is going up the neck. Any ideas?

you have gotta be patient.. it may take 2 weeks to start skimming..

and luke.. dont feel bad.. im battling an outbreak as we speak.. its getting a little better, but it got so bad i though my clown trigger has been tarred and feathered. he looked like somebody took some chocolate covered dougnuts, and powdered em. like he was stuck in the 80's and having a blast if you know what i mean lol its still not gone by any means though.. i'll keep you posted.

luke33 · 07/05/2007, 08:13 PM

Thanks for the pep talk guys, man this 3rd battle of ick is a real pita. Unfortunately reefin is just in my blood, i can't stop. I'm trying something new this time. In the last 2 times in the last 8mths of ick outbreaks i've moved my fish to the 75g qt and treated them with hypo in there. I'm using a refrac so please don't ask about that. ANyhow this time, i moved all my inverts and LR and corals into my 75g qt. All seems well, hey, if there still alive, there gonna make it ; ) lol. I'm hypoing my main tank and really doin a # on it. I had a 1" CC bed and a 2" ugly sand on the top of it. Well, i went ahead and added a 3.5" white sand bed and took all teh crap out. I added 2 emperor 400's running alot of carbon, phos and amm reaction media, and so far so good. My damg fish have been thru so much this ain't squat to em. Like dolph lungdred said " If he dies he dies" a poor attitude, but i'm pretty frustrated at this point and i'll do all in my power to keep the fish a goin.....for teh record i've never lost a fish to ick.......ever. Anyhow, the skimmer is donedeed with the .09 so anyhow, to the question.

Crimson man, it'll take around a week or more than likely two with this skimmer to start skimming well. Just set the bubble level at the bottom of the riser tube where you can see it. And let it rock out my man. When it starts skimming you set. But patience is the biggest key with this fat guy. Believe me though, you'll be a happy guy in a month after you make buddies with em. Especially with the price you paid. It'll skim you just as good as a $400 skimmer with the mods you did. Keep me posted and relax, thats normal.

OnlyCrimson · 07/05/2007, 10:31 PM

ok so it skimmed a little today even though the water was set pretty high. It was real wet stuff. So now im just waitin i guess. seems like it should work well.

kodyboy · 07/05/2007, 11:54 PM

a Rocky 4 quote how funny......
Good luck with your fish, and the longer you can keep them in quarantine the more ick will hatch and die without a host.

luke33 · 07/06/2007, 05:50 AM

Crimson, your pry getting the soda fiz now and will continue for a few days or so and then it'll start to turn into a foamish head, then you'll start to get some good stuff, like i said you just have to be patient with a new skimmer.

OnlyCrimson · 07/07/2007, 09:51 PM

Oh man started pulling some awesome first skimmate! Pics to follow tomorrow.

OnlyCrimson · 07/07/2007, 09:53 PM

my skimmer ( insert in sentence above to make complete)

luke33 · 07/07/2007, 10:32 PM

I was wonderin about ya man. My night wasn't as exciting. I built a canopy for my 125g was 90% done with it and i turn around and my 3yr old boy had dumped the wood finish all over himself, from head to toe. Scarred me shoutless. I was then on the phone with eroom and poison control. In teh end, he is just gonna have a blotchy tan for a bit. lol, i just finished the painting, only have the water sealer to go, then the lights! lol

Now about my skimmer, its pretty wild, with hypo there's not a ton of bubbles, but its still pulling some sick stuff! I'm amazed.

GuySmilie · 07/07/2007, 11:52 PM

Luke, I've lost track of your progress on the VA.
Where do you stand now with it, as far as mods, etc?

luke33 · 07/08/2007, 08:54 AM

I stand at 35scfh in a recirc mod fed with a maxijet. It took a week to tune but its been sick ever since. Well, ever since until I had to hypo the tank, but its still producing some skimmate.

OnlyCrimson · 07/12/2007, 04:49 PM

Sorry about the little wait. I was gonna post a couple days ago, then the power went out and i was all ****ed and runnign around trying to get the genorater online whne the power comes on again. So im sittin there and it goes out again and i repeat the motions. Then it comes on again. Anyway. Heres 2 days skimmate. So i'm really working on tuning this thing. I think im gonna buy the octo pump for it.

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OnlyCrimson · 07/25/2007, 10:49 PM

I know no ones been in here lately, but i have to say my skimmer is starting to work very well. I pulled a rather large amount in only 2 days. Probably 4x as much as in the last photo. I dont feed too much, but this thing works great!

luke33 · 07/26/2007, 06:14 AM

I haven't been doing any updates here lately since my main tank is in hypo and i've been going through alot of changes with it as well. I did however take a few pics of the hypo skimmate i've gotten in the last few days and let me tell you it was freakin sick. The most dry skimmate i've ever gotten. I'll try and post tonight. There's just hardly any bubbles in the skimmer since the sg is so low. Once i raise the sg back up, i bet it has alot of catchin up to do.

brownsugar · 07/30/2007, 07:08 AM

Ive been lurking for the past few months - long time follower second time poster.

I have a Via Aqua - multi which was on a 30 gallon project - it has been shelved until now.

I must have changed the water from salt to fresh 4 times by now and its even got substrate, driftwood & a cannister for a freshwater planted setup - but for some reason i want to go reef again.

Ive just battled the red slime algae on my 150 gallon - still not totally over the outbreak need to invest in a UV to get all the free floating stuff. Using Aqua Medic's anti-Red aswell.

Also went to the effort of changed a DSB substrate from Aragonite to coral sand - all 30 kg/sandstorm inducing bit of it .

Ammonia spiked and despite precautionary bottle after bottle of Prime and water changes there were various losses unfortunately both my dwarf angels flame & coral beauty

My ramblings are not pointless - as luke33 says reefing is in our blood its what defines us from those who keep fishbowls containing plastic plants, goldfish and tap water.
Even when there are frustrating times when all they are just glass boxes with salty water and algea that never dies.

Ive come to the realisation that life is too short not to go reef.

Hence my decision to proceed with the 30 gallon Via Aqua Multi setup

luke33 · 07/30/2007, 07:28 AM

You'll be our first multi user on here, so it'll be good to see how well it skims. I have heard mixed emotions about this skimmer so some skimmate pics are definately in order. Sorry you lost some fish, but ammonia is always a killer. The key to saltwater is patience and consistent water quality, and finding what works for you. I have been slacking in teh pics department but when the tank is in hypo, the skimmer doesn't work to well, although its given me the nastiest dry skimmate i've skimmed so far, it takes a while to produce a few cups. Usually a week instead of a day. Anyhow, i'll try to post a few pics. I've pretty much redone my tank from top to bottom, with no loses ofcourse ; )

fatrip · 07/30/2007, 07:39 AM

hey luke i am wondering if you could post a recap of what pump you have used and how they have worked...i am thinking of upgrading my pump and i am not sure which pump i want to go with...thanks

luke33 · 07/30/2007, 08:06 AM

Hey Fatrip, here's the list of pumps. Stock va2600, genx2400, genx4100, wp1000(odyssea) and i'm now in testing with sicce and Quiet one pumps. The genx2400 maxed at 15scfh, which wasn't enough. The genx4100=40scfh but turned into 30 when put on the skimmer. The wp1000 would pull 45-50scfh and when put on the skimmer would be 30scfh which i think 35-40scfh is all the skimmer can take. the only prob i have with it is the watts are listed at 130w. I'm sure with the mesh mod and all the air being pulled the watts are down around 100 or less but its still to much. Thats why i have a couple other pumps that i'm testing now. I think the new sicce pump is going to be a winner. I think its going to be around 30-35watts and pulling 55-70scfh but when added on teh skimmer i think it'll drop to around 45. So more air and less turbulence and way less wattage. An all around winner. I've been testing alot of pumps and different impeller's as of lately but once i get my hands on the sicce pump that should be here this week i'll know for sure what the best pump will be. So far the wp1000 is the best as far as air, but its pretty turbulent. My plan is to build my own skimmer thats 12" diameter with a 8" diameter neck thats 6" long. the skimmer will be 24" in length and over 100scfh and less than 100watts.

fatrip · 07/30/2007, 08:23 AM

which sicce pump did you get and from where???

luke33 · 07/30/2007, 08:34 AM

http://www.sicce.co.uk/suprema.htm

There's the pump and specs. More scfh, less turbulence and wattage. I'm keeping my supplier kinda under wraps for a bit. If it turns out to be a great pump, i can always pick one up for you if you need me to. There around 55bux + shipping. There pretty much the same pump as the quiet one 4000. But like i said, i'd wait for a week or so before you got one to make sure it works well.

07/03/2007, 11:58 PM	#279
GuySmilie Premium Member Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Land of Lincoln Posts: 943	Ahhhhhhh....a few beers and you'll be just fine. Works for me! __________________ Guy Smilie

07/07/2007, 11:52 PM	#290
GuySmilie Premium Member Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Land of Lincoln Posts: 943	Luke, I've lost track of your progress on the VA. Where do you stand now with it, as far as mods, etc? __________________ Guy Smilie

07/30/2007, 07:39 AM	#297
fatrip Yup That Stuff Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: , ny Posts: 4,317	hey luke i am wondering if you could post a recap of what pump you have used and how they have worked...i am thinking of upgrading my pump and i am not sure which pump i want to go with...thanks __________________ Vince "We learn from history that we never learn anything from history." Hegel

07/30/2007, 08:23 AM	#299
fatrip Yup That Stuff Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: , ny Posts: 4,317	which sicce pump did you get and from where??? __________________ Vince "We learn from history that we never learn anything from history." Hegel

07/03/2007, 10:43 PM	#276
luke33 Moved On Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Indiana Posts: 8,375	I personally think UV is wack. It helps with algae control but as far as ick is concerned it only zap's the free swimming stage. Which doesn't take care of the prob. So today, as frustrated as i am, i pulled a frustrated thing. I took all my rock and inverts and corals and threw them into my 75g qt. I'm treating my main tank with hypo. I'm about done with the hobby if this doesn't work.

07/03/2007, 10:54 PM	#277
OnlyCrimson Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Royal Oak,Michigan Posts: 863	NOOOOOO we can't lose you! Just set up a smaller tank and start it again. Like a 50 or 60.

07/03/2007, 10:59 PM	#278
luke33 Moved On Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Indiana Posts: 8,375	The prob with a smaller tank is it would mean more mula. ANyhow, i'm guessing this is going to fix ti or start from the beginning. Damnit, i'm just not happy with the hobby, but i'm building my cheapo hood this weekend. I really don't know, i'm borderline donedeed.

07/05/2007, 05:04 PM	#280
OnlyCrimson Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Royal Oak,Michigan Posts: 863	Luke my poor skimmer isn't skimming. It's only been in there fore 3 days, but i thoguth it should do something. It has plenty of bubbles and i can see them forming bigger bubbles near the base of the neck. But nothing is going up the neck. Any ideas?

07/05/2007, 06:19 PM	#281
kodyboy Moved On Join Date: May 2003 Posts: 2,990	Luke, Ick is a real PITA! Hypo plus warmer water plus LOTS of cleaner shrimp (afterwards they do NOT appreciate the above conditions!) have worked for me in the past. I have found water changes can help too as the better the water quality and nutrition the better they do. I have had a tomato clownfish live through an outbreak that made him look like he was covered in salt! Good luck.

07/05/2007, 08:13 PM	#283
luke33 Moved On Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Indiana Posts: 8,375	Thanks for the pep talk guys, man this 3rd battle of ick is a real pita. Unfortunately reefin is just in my blood, i can't stop. I'm trying something new this time. In the last 2 times in the last 8mths of ick outbreaks i've moved my fish to the 75g qt and treated them with hypo in there. I'm using a refrac so please don't ask about that. ANyhow this time, i moved all my inverts and LR and corals into my 75g qt. All seems well, hey, if there still alive, there gonna make it ; ) lol. I'm hypoing my main tank and really doin a # on it. I had a 1" CC bed and a 2" ugly sand on the top of it. Well, i went ahead and added a 3.5" white sand bed and took all teh crap out. I added 2 emperor 400's running alot of carbon, phos and amm reaction media, and so far so good. My damg fish have been thru so much this ain't squat to em. Like dolph lungdred said " If he dies he dies" a poor attitude, but i'm pretty frustrated at this point and i'll do all in my power to keep the fish a goin.....for teh record i've never lost a fish to ick.......ever. Anyhow, the skimmer is donedeed with the .09 so anyhow, to the question. Crimson man, it'll take around a week or more than likely two with this skimmer to start skimming well. Just set the bubble level at the bottom of the riser tube where you can see it. And let it rock out my man. When it starts skimming you set. But patience is the biggest key with this fat guy. Believe me though, you'll be a happy guy in a month after you make buddies with em. Especially with the price you paid. It'll skim you just as good as a $400 skimmer with the mods you did. Keep me posted and relax, thats normal.

07/05/2007, 10:31 PM	#284
OnlyCrimson Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Royal Oak,Michigan Posts: 863	ok so it skimmed a little today even though the water was set pretty high. It was real wet stuff. So now im just waitin i guess. seems like it should work well.

07/05/2007, 11:54 PM	#285
kodyboy Moved On Join Date: May 2003 Posts: 2,990	a Rocky 4 quote how funny...... Good luck with your fish, and the longer you can keep them in quarantine the more ick will hatch and die without a host.

07/06/2007, 05:50 AM	#286
luke33 Moved On Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Indiana Posts: 8,375	Crimson, your pry getting the soda fiz now and will continue for a few days or so and then it'll start to turn into a foamish head, then you'll start to get some good stuff, like i said you just have to be patient with a new skimmer.

07/07/2007, 09:51 PM	#287
OnlyCrimson Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Royal Oak,Michigan Posts: 863	Oh man started pulling some awesome first skimmate! Pics to follow tomorrow.

07/07/2007, 09:53 PM	#288
OnlyCrimson Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Royal Oak,Michigan Posts: 863	my skimmer ( insert in sentence above to make complete)

07/07/2007, 10:32 PM	#289
luke33 Moved On Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Indiana Posts: 8,375	I was wonderin about ya man. My night wasn't as exciting. I built a canopy for my 125g was 90% done with it and i turn around and my 3yr old boy had dumped the wood finish all over himself, from head to toe. Scarred me shoutless. I was then on the phone with eroom and poison control. In teh end, he is just gonna have a blotchy tan for a bit. lol, i just finished the painting, only have the water sealer to go, then the lights! lol Now about my skimmer, its pretty wild, with hypo there's not a ton of bubbles, but its still pulling some sick stuff! I'm amazed.

07/08/2007, 08:54 AM	#291
luke33 Moved On Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Indiana Posts: 8,375	I stand at 35scfh in a recirc mod fed with a maxijet. It took a week to tune but its been sick ever since. Well, ever since until I had to hypo the tank, but its still producing some skimmate.

07/12/2007, 04:49 PM	#292
OnlyCrimson Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Royal Oak,Michigan Posts: 863	Sorry about the little wait. I was gonna post a couple days ago, then the power went out and i was all ****ed and runnign around trying to get the genorater online whne the power comes on again. So im sittin there and it goes out again and i repeat the motions. Then it comes on again. Anyway. Heres 2 days skimmate. So i'm really working on tuning this thing. I think im gonna buy the octo pump for it.

07/25/2007, 10:49 PM	#293
OnlyCrimson Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Royal Oak,Michigan Posts: 863	I know no ones been in here lately, but i have to say my skimmer is starting to work very well. I pulled a rather large amount in only 2 days. Probably 4x as much as in the last photo. I dont feed too much, but this thing works great!

07/26/2007, 06:14 AM	#294
luke33 Moved On Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Indiana Posts: 8,375	I haven't been doing any updates here lately since my main tank is in hypo and i've been going through alot of changes with it as well. I did however take a few pics of the hypo skimmate i've gotten in the last few days and let me tell you it was freakin sick. The most dry skimmate i've ever gotten. I'll try and post tonight. There's just hardly any bubbles in the skimmer since the sg is so low. Once i raise the sg back up, i bet it has alot of catchin up to do.

07/30/2007, 07:08 AM	#295
brownsugar Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: Sydney Australia Posts: 194	Ive been lurking for the past few months - long time follower second time poster. I have a Via Aqua - multi which was on a 30 gallon project - it has been shelved until now. I must have changed the water from salt to fresh 4 times by now and its even got substrate, driftwood & a cannister for a freshwater planted setup - but for some reason i want to go reef again. Ive just battled the red slime algae on my 150 gallon - still not totally over the outbreak need to invest in a UV to get all the free floating stuff. Using Aqua Medic's anti-Red aswell. Also went to the effort of changed a DSB substrate from Aragonite to coral sand - all 30 kg/sandstorm inducing bit of it . Ammonia spiked and despite precautionary bottle after bottle of Prime and water changes there were various losses unfortunately both my dwarf angels flame & coral beauty My ramblings are not pointless - as luke33 says reefing is in our blood its what defines us from those who keep fishbowls containing plastic plants, goldfish and tap water. Even when there are frustrating times when all they are just glass boxes with salty water and algea that never dies. Ive come to the realisation that life is too short not to go reef. Hence my decision to proceed with the 30 gallon Via Aqua Multi setup

07/30/2007, 07:28 AM	#296
luke33 Moved On Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Indiana Posts: 8,375	You'll be our first multi user on here, so it'll be good to see how well it skims. I have heard mixed emotions about this skimmer so some skimmate pics are definately in order. Sorry you lost some fish, but ammonia is always a killer. The key to saltwater is patience and consistent water quality, and finding what works for you. I have been slacking in teh pics department but when the tank is in hypo, the skimmer doesn't work to well, although its given me the nastiest dry skimmate i've skimmed so far, it takes a while to produce a few cups. Usually a week instead of a day. Anyhow, i'll try to post a few pics. I've pretty much redone my tank from top to bottom, with no loses ofcourse ; )

07/30/2007, 08:06 AM	#298
luke33 Moved On Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Indiana Posts: 8,375	Hey Fatrip, here's the list of pumps. Stock va2600, genx2400, genx4100, wp1000(odyssea) and i'm now in testing with sicce and Quiet one pumps. The genx2400 maxed at 15scfh, which wasn't enough. The genx4100=40scfh but turned into 30 when put on the skimmer. The wp1000 would pull 45-50scfh and when put on the skimmer would be 30scfh which i think 35-40scfh is all the skimmer can take. the only prob i have with it is the watts are listed at 130w. I'm sure with the mesh mod and all the air being pulled the watts are down around 100 or less but its still to much. Thats why i have a couple other pumps that i'm testing now. I think the new sicce pump is going to be a winner. I think its going to be around 30-35watts and pulling 55-70scfh but when added on teh skimmer i think it'll drop to around 45. So more air and less turbulence and way less wattage. An all around winner. I've been testing alot of pumps and different impeller's as of lately but once i get my hands on the sicce pump that should be here this week i'll know for sure what the best pump will be. So far the wp1000 is the best as far as air, but its pretty turbulent. My plan is to build my own skimmer thats 12" diameter with a 8" diameter neck thats 6" long. the skimmer will be 24" in length and over 100scfh and less than 100watts.

07/30/2007, 08:34 AM	#300
luke33 Moved On Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Indiana Posts: 8,375	http://www.sicce.co.uk/suprema.htm There's the pump and specs. More scfh, less turbulence and wattage. I'm keeping my supplier kinda under wraps for a bit. If it turns out to be a great pump, i can always pick one up for you if you need me to. There around 55bux + shipping. There pretty much the same pump as the quiet one 4000. But like i said, i'd wait for a week or so before you got one to make sure it works well.