Aqua C Urchin Help

[Anthrax15]

I've had this skimmer for about a year now. It doesn't produce amazing skimmate but still works. Lately it hasn't been producing much thick, "proper" skimmate that is should. My tank has a medium bioload so I know it's not that clean. Is there anything I can do to help make it produce better results? I've played with the adjustment level on the collection cup. A new skimmer is not an option due to the limited space I have. Its running with a Maxijet 1200.

[Anthrax15]

Bump

[Useful_Idiot]

My Aqua c remora works a lot better with a Rio 1100 pump (380) gph instead of the maxi-jet (295) gph. Can't skim that dark but it pulls more junk out. Some people use mag drive pumps too. Make sure the nozzle is clean too. When that is dirty it will still skim but not nearly as well. Googling Aqua c remora mods brings up some things you can do to modify the collection cup too. I'd post a link but don't know how.I put sliced airline tubing around the square bottom of the collection cup to seal better and that helped too. And the paper towel silencer is a must. HTH.

[alton]

Get a mag pump. Maxi jet is just not enough. I actually added a urchin to my tank that had an urchin pro with a mag3 pump already installed. I dumped the pro cup every 3 days, the urchin with the maxi jet never got dumped.

[Reefer94]

Few things you can do:

1. Upgrade the pump... No way a Maxi Jet is going to pull what you need... I'm pretty surprised it ever pulled much skimmate.

2. If it's anything like the PRO, you can unscrew the little venturi screw (it's white, at the top of the intake) and clean the inside with a pipe cleaner of some kind. This works WONDERS.

3. Clean the whole thing - I recently gave mine a vinegar bath when I had to move my tank. There are tons of calcified tube wormd and so forth on the inside. The will effect a skimmer's ability to skim. They end up catching tons of bubbles and preventing proper flow through the skimmer. After cleaning it was like a new skimmer.

4. Contact AquaC. They are one of the most helpful companies on the market today. They will respond quickly and can provide very very precise instructions on how to service the skimmer.

Overall, skimmers will get your tank to a baseline so to speak, and over time naturally produce less as the gunk levels out in the tank. So, you can expect a certain amount of natural decline in the skimmate produced.

Good luck!

[haikufriday]

Originally Posted by Reefer94

Few things you can do:

1. Upgrade the pump... No way a Maxi Jet is going to pull what you need... I'm pretty surprised it ever pulled much skimmate.

2. If it's anything like the PRO, you can unscrew the little venturi screw (it's white, at the top of the intake) and clean the inside with a pipe cleaner of some kind. This works WONDERS.

3. Clean the whole thing - I recently gave mine a vinegar bath when I had to move my tank. There are tons of calcified tube wormd and so forth on the inside. The will effect a skimmer's ability to skim. They end up catching tons of bubbles and preventing proper flow through the skimmer. After cleaning it was like a new skimmer.

4. Contact AquaC. They are one of the most helpful companies on the market today. They will respond quickly and can provide very very precise instructions on how to service the skimmer.

Overall, skimmers will get your tank to a baseline so to speak, and over time naturally produce less as the gunk levels out in the tank. So, you can expect a certain amount of natural decline in the skimmate produced.

Good luck!

Great pointers. I had a Remora and did all but step 4 (but I highly recommend calling them as I have heard great things). The steps helped alot.

Keep in mind that by cleaning the skimmer, your skimmer may have to "break-in" before it starts skimming to its fullest.