ETSS Skimmer Club!

[Indyws6]

GASMAN - Greetings
That's awesome! My tank wants to be yours when it grows up

I'd love to see a photo of the equipment in use to support that tank. I love the tank views, but I also enjoy the equipment side of things. Clearly you are doing something right!

P.S. "Gasman" - as in the gas man on a pit crew?

Take Care

[pdelcast]

My baby -- an ETSS 900


Sucking out the skummy bits.

[gasman059]

Originally posted by Indyws6
GASMAN - Greetings
That's awesome! My tank wants to be yours when it grows up

I'd love to see a photo of the equipment in use to support that tank. I love the tank views, but I also enjoy the equipment side of things. Clearly you are doing something right!

P.S. "Gasman" - as in the gas man on a pit crew?

Take Care

LMAO gasman as in knock u out for surgery.
Many gadgets- aquatronica-u/v-geo rx-denitrator etc.

[Indyws6]

GASMAN - I get it! I made an assumption and (once again) was WAY off. Quite a bit more lucrative than trying to shove 25 gallons of fuel into a car in 13.8 seconds (I'm guessing...)

Whatever you had running on the tank must have been a good combination - it looked great...

Take Care

[pdelcast]

Oh -- and here's a picture of the skummy bits...

[njtogger]

Hi everyone,
I just wanted some feedback on your overall experience with etss. i have a 210, and was looking at the 800 xr and the 900. i am wondering if you current etss owners had to start over would you stick with etss or go with something else. With the sump/fuge, 2 iwaki 50 pumps, 800xr, and fittings coming close to 2k i wanted to get some opinions. what do you like/ dislike?

[thecichlidpleco]

Finally got my 600(older version), but have two different sources saying that a mag 5 or 7 should be used and another saying that a mag 12(the etss manual) should be used. Which is suggested?

[Indyws6]

I think the Mag 12 would be correct. My Reef Devil Deluxe, which is a smaller skimmer, requires a CA1800 or Mag 7, so it wouldn't make sense that a 600 would use that small of a pump. Plus, the new version of the 600 (XR) requires larger external (Iwaki, etc.) pumps...

Hope this helps...

[Zen685]

I have a question for any Reef Devil Deluxe owners out there. I just bought a used RDD from someone in my local club who has been using the skimmer successfully for awhile now. I set it up in a tub with a few pieces of dead rock so I can seed the dead with some live to be purchased later. So far (8hrs) I haven't been able to get any bubbles to flow over the top of the collection cup. I've adjusted the back pressure to allow the water level to rise but the amount of bubbles just isn't high enough. I noticed that there are only 6 bio balls in the downdraft tower. Could that be the problem?

FYI, I don't expect to make any skimmate right now, I just want the bubbles and this is my first skimmer so I don't really know what I'm doing.

[Indyws6]

Greetings...
A couple of things...

First, if you only have "clean" saltwater with a few pieces of base rock in a tub, there really won't be enough disolved organic compounds for the skimmer to act upon.

Second, even if you put the skimmer in action on a running tank, 8 hours is not enough time to expect the bubbles to flow over into the collection cup. For reference, after a thorough cleaning, my Reef Devil Deluxe can take as long as 24 hours before it produces enough foam to start overflowing into the collection cup.

You might want to consider putting more bio-balls in the tower. Using fewer balls creates more turbulence (and more foam), but it also makes the skimmer "twitchy" and more sensitive to tank changes. I tried using fewer balls to increase foam production and found that there were wild swings between no foam production and overflowing the cup. I eventually settled on using 9 balls in the tower, which seems to be the "sweet spot" for my tank.

P.S. If you haven't already done so, get a piece of fishing line and tie it to the first bio-ball that goes into the tower, leaving some hanging out. You can use it to pull all of the balls out for cleaning, or if you decide to change the number. Beats disconnecting the skimmer so you can dump them out...

Hope this helps...

[Zen685]

Thanks Indy! That's a great idea on the fishing line. I was wondering how to get them out without tearing the skimmer completely down.

The rock I put in the tub is pretty nasty so I'm not worried about having enough organics. I've gotten the skimmer to pull some stuff out but so far the skimmate has been too wet. I adjusted the back pressure and brought the foam head down the bottom of the tower so that very little water is actually visable. This seems like it will work if I can just get enough surface tension to build the bubble column to the top.

I noticed what you mean by the skimmer being twitchy. Everytime I reach in the tub the bubbles collapse and it takes a few hours to get them back. I may end up getting some more bioballs from ETSS. Has anyone tried anything else besides the ones that came with the skimmer?

[diverdick]

bump - want to keep an eye on this thread....I love my 800

[ReefEnabler]

Originally posted by Zen685
Thanks Indy! That's a great idea on the fishing line. I was wondering how to get them out without tearing the skimmer completely down.

The rock I put in the tub is pretty nasty so I'm not worried about having enough organics. I've gotten the skimmer to pull some stuff out but so far the skimmate has been too wet. I adjusted the back pressure and brought the foam head down the bottom of the tower so that very little water is actually visable. This seems like it will work if I can just get enough surface tension to build the bubble column to the top.

I noticed what you mean by the skimmer being twitchy. Everytime I reach in the tub the bubbles collapse and it takes a few hours to get them back. I may end up getting some more bioballs from ETSS. Has anyone tried anything else besides the ones that came with the skimmer?

just an additional note, if you dont have enough flow in a rock curing bin type setup, alot of the organics will form into a film on the surface instead of dissolving into the water column. Make sure there is surface agitation so you skim the film instead of letting it build too much.

[MarineGirl411]

Is it possible to overskim with these skimmers or is that just a myth?

[pmoneyt]

anyone with a sump buddy 40 i would like to know how to get a ticker skimmate

[Iostream]

pmoneyt: To get thicker skimmate, open the gate a little bit more and drop the water level in the skimmer. You will get dryer skimmate, but do it in small increments until you find the level you really want..

[pdelcast]

Originally posted by MarineGirl411
Is it possible to overskim with these skimmers or is that just a myth?

I guess that depends on what kind of tank you want. If you are growing echinophyllia, zoas, or other things which like "dirty" water (high protein and bacteria content in the water column,) then yes, it would be possible to overskim (with almost ANY skimmer.)

Otherwise, no -- it's a myth. My 500 gallon total capacity system (300 gallon SPS dominated show tank) runs on a modified ETSS 900, and I keep ORP levels around 420-440 without ozone. Very efficient skimmer.

[pmoneyt]

hey isotream and pdelcast thanks for the input i will look into it later when i get home

[MarineGirl411]

Would an Etss 600 work on my 65+ gallon tank until I set up my 110+ gallon system? Or would it not pull anything at all? Please let me know. Thank you

[Iostream]

Originally posted by MarineGirl411
Would an Etss 600 work on my 65+ gallon tank until I set up my 110+ gallon system? Or would it not pull anything at all? Please let me know. Thank you

It will work just fine. I ran my Sump Buddy 40 on my 34g RSM while waiting for my 90G setup. It tended to skim in spurts, but was plenty effective. Basically you just have to remember that there wont be as much to pull, so the performance you see on your 65G is not an indication of what the skimmer is really capable of.

[porthios]

for any of you that have run both a downdraft (etss) and a beckett (pm, mrc, etc.) would you mind comparing the two? i'm interested in the recurring maintenance that's required for each.

how often do you have to tune each? ym understanding is that the downdraft is more set and forget while the becketts require a bit more frequent tuning. i've also heard that the becketts themselves need to be cleaned out every couple of weeks or so?

would love to hear any thoughts as i'm looking at both for the next build..

[pdelcast]

Originally posted by porthios
for any of you that have run both a downdraft (etss) and a beckett (pm, mrc, etc.) would you mind comparing the two? i'm interested in the recurring maintenance that's required for each.

how often do you have to tune each? ym understanding is that the downdraft is more set and forget while the becketts require a bit more frequent tuning. i've also heard that the becketts themselves need to be cleaned out every couple of weeks or so?

would love to hear any thoughts as i'm looking at both for the next build..

The main difference is that a beckett skimmer needs to be cleaned fairly often (once a week or so) and a downdraft doesn't really need to be cleaned more than once every month or longer.

A beckett skimmer can clog very easily (the air intake.)

The ETSS skimmers are a bear to tune the first time, but then after that it is pretty much forget about the skimmer.

When tuning, remember that 1/8th turn on the valve can mean the difference between overflowing with wet skimmate, and perfect dry skimmate.

[Duckster]

New to the hobby, I have a ETSS 600, getting conflicting thougts on where the water level should be, two inches below the top of the black box or two inches up into the first cylinder?

[diverdick]

I run my 800 ~ 1" into the bottom tube.....always a good producer

[Iostream]

Originally posted by Duckster
New to the hobby, I have a ETSS 600, getting conflicting thougts on where the water level should be, two inches below the top of the black box or two inches up into the first cylinder?

It has been a while, but I recall that the water level should be just slightly into the first cylinder. I think 2 inches is a bit much, maybe 1 inch?