Coralife Super Skimmer 65

[glxtrix]

divecj5 - that mod link doesnt work. Can anyone else link us up to some mods please. Thanks.

[Nano_reeflover]

Look at the last couple pages of this thread:
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/sh...hreadid=694835

[glxtrix]

sweet deal, thanks

[mhj1580]

sory to link to anouther forum but here ais a few picks of what I did to my css 65
http://www.mbrk.com/viewtopic.php?t=3485

[Galloyien]

I have the CS125 on my 90 Gallon. I've flooded the floor 5 or 6 times. It is very sensitive to change. All the same, I'd still buy this skimmer. When I get my sump installed I will attach a line on the drain into a milk container or bucket. I screw around with my tank too much.... so the floods are probably my fault.

[glxtrix]

hahaha, holly monster skimmer! Think that would be an overkill for an 18g tank? LOL. Great find tho, thanks.

[weld1jac]

It was great to find this thread today as I just installed my Coralife super skimmer 65 last night. It's installed in the sump and seems to be working fine.....I'm not really seeing anything in the collection cup yet (I've got it set for dry skimming). Will it need to go throught the 24-72 hour "break-in" period before it starts pulling anything out of the water? If I turn up the volume much higher the water/foam rises into the collection cup which would, if I didn't immediately adjust, overflow big time. When I have it turned down to keep the water at the proper level in the skimmer (right at the collection cup threads or a littel above) I really don't see tons of bubble action. So far no "gunk" in the collection cup....don't have a large bio load though. Any thoughts???

[glxtrix]

yeah they need that three day breakin period, tho sometimes they start right away....but it could be due to your low bio-load as well. Dont worry you'll be rewarded soon with nasty gunk

[weld1jac]

Thanks for the reply glxtrix. I guess I was kind of expecting brown gunk to immediately start foaming (I know, not realistic). My 55 gal currently has only 3 fish (2 percula's and a lawnmower blenny) so there's likely not much of a bioload. Do crabs or snails add much to the bioload??

[glxtrix]

I really dont think so, then again, I'm not an expert on bio-load, lol. Yeah you ahve a lot of water to dilute the waste, dont worry tho it'll start to pull some nice stuff out inna few days. Does anyone know if there was a way to solve the issue if the red knob on top starts to leak? Mine is kinda leaking, not much but water is forming; any tricks?

[newreefbishop]

I keep saying this, I love My CS 65. It works great, I will post a pic of the stuff it pulls out of my tank to show you. It works great...bottom line...and I got it for lest than 100. It completely blows seaclone out of water.... COMPLETELY.

[mhj1580]

I would just replace it with a gate valve. That red valve was not designed to be water proofand mine use to leak all the time.

[glxtrix]

I was thinkning that but i didnt know if that would cause any issues with the skimmer.

[mhj1580]

acualy in the thread they have in diy (an old one) it tends to make the leval ajustment of the skimmer easy unlike the supper touchy red knob.

[glxtrix]

so technically that red knob is a like a gate valve then huh. Does it matter if you get a gate or ball valve?

[mhj1580]

the red knob is more like a messed up ball valve. a pvc gave valve would allow a lot finer and more ease of ajustment then the red valve ever did. and that will save you a lot of headachs.

[The Saltwater Kid]

newreefbishop i am certain that the css65 will blow away my seaclone, I'm not disagreeing with you there...it's the overflow part of the super 65 that scares me as it seems not to be an isolated occurance as many posters here have flooded their floors, some more than once...that's what worries me! I want a skimmer that I can trust to be reliable and not leak or overflow. I want a piece of mind when i go away on vacation that my apartment isn't being flooded!!!

[glxtrix]

The Saltwater Kid FWIW, I bought mine used, and I have it running the same way it "should" be ran from out of box, just hanvt had the time to do the mods yet, and it has not overflowed on me yet, and yes I'm using the huge black box with it too that creates back bressure. If you set the water lower than normal on it, you'll still get smimmate, but run a less risk of it overflowing. I dont know if you have a float swith on there to help with evap, but I think thats def. key to helping mine run betterl it;s all about constant water level with needlewheel skimmers. I dont thinkn you need to worry, just as long as you maintain it and do those mods, you shouldnt have any issues. But then again it is solely your decision and as a renter as well, i can understand where you are coming from. Good luck in finding the skimmer you need.

[Nano_reeflover]

I just got a used one about two days ago and its going strong. So far i love it! Very dark skimmate.

[glxtrix]

awesome, great news! Have you done any of the mods to it yet?

[Nano_reeflover]

Nope no mods. In fact even though some say the distance between the pump output and the skimmer should be short, mine works better at stock distance. Here is a pic of two days of dry skimming:



I think it may actually be making my water too clean cause my xenia are closed up. It could also be that I started dosing sugar, so I stopped doing both for today to see how my xenia reacts.

[Ripside]

I have the 125. Love it, but it is sensitive. I modified my sump to provide a constant water level, even with tons of evaporation, or during water changes.

They take a few days to break in, until then you just get tea-water.

Once they are broken in, if you have a bubble trap in your sump, you can eliminate the bubble box, which is a source of overflow problems - if that box gets clogged or dirty, it increases pressure to the skimmate collection cup, and it will definately overflow. I run mine without the box, and have no bubble problems at all, but again, it takes awhile for them to break in.

[bluerug]

Just like to say i love my coralife, could not be more happier.

[glxtrix]

Nano_reeflover can we get a pic of it in the sump?

[newreefbishop]

Originally posted by The Saltwater Kid
newreefbishop i am certain that the css65 will blow away my seaclone, I'm not disagreeing with you there...it's the overflow part of the super 65 that scares me as it seems not to be an isolated occurance as many posters here have flooded their floors, some more than once...that's what worries me! I want a skimmer that I can trust to be reliable and not leak or overflow. I want a piece of mind when i go away on vacation that my apartment isn't being flooded!!!

Understandable. TO give you an example. During breakin period I ran it full blast and it overflowed. I followed instructions and since then it hasnt. I just got back from a long weekend and didnt even have to empty the cup. I actually had it skimming very dry during this period. The cool thing is that there a a few mods that can be done to curtail this. I plan on drilling a small hole in bottom of collection cup and have it run into a small bucket. I will empty this once a week, and clean cup every 2 weeks. This way when I do take a weeks vacation I can just have someone feed my fish. I love the skimmer but from what I read most quality skimmers have a chance of overflowing during breakin period. When I get home from work I will take some pics and show you what 3 days of extra dry skimming pulls out.....trust me its gross greenish black goo and smells even worse, like 10 day old poo.