Going to give the Prizm another try.

[sicklidkid]

Some of you may have seen my post about my prizm skimmer not working. Well it still isnt. So i have taken out and am gonna clean it and set it up again and hope it works!! Does anyone have any tips or ideas that could improve my chance of success? I really need to get it working its been driving me CRAZY!!! Any ideas are greatly appreciated! O and also it is the Prizm deluxe, (not to be confused with the Prizm pro deluxe)
THANKS!!

 

[SaltwaterTeen]

I dont like the prizm skimmers, the first one I bought was a piece of poo, it had leaks everywhere and didnt skim right, so I got a seaclone 100, im going to upgrade sometime, but the seaclone is doing fine for me ; )

 

[sicklidkid]

The thing is i would get a seaclone but i dont have the space, and i would get the remora but i dont have the money. I hate the prizm too but i gotta get it to work for now.

 

[fishfreek]

is this the old design or the new design? The old design had just one adjustment and it was a little knob at the top of the intake tube to adjust how much water was taken up by the pump.

 

[electrikat]

Just a question and this might not be a problem for you , but my seaclone is having an overflow problem and lots of bubbles released into the tank. The troubleshooting website says that if you are adding a slime producing additive it will cause these and other problems. My lfs suggested Prime to keep this from happening and it says right on the bottle that it does not overactivate skimmers.
I'm trying it out now. Hope this might help.

 

[malkore]

I have a prizm deluxe, and it skims just fine.
I'm assuming you've installed the pre-skimmer cup, and the carbon cartridge holder?
Mine never leaks...and I don't see how it could leak unless the unit had a crack in it.

I check mine daily, making sure the water level is just below the o-ring, where the collection cup connects. this can be a little tricky, because the aerated water makes it hard to see where the water stops, and the foam begins. But if you can get it set to that level, you should start seeing the collection cup fill.

What I collect ends up being the color of dark tea...not quite as concentrated as the 'coffee' color most describe...but it does skim.
I find that keeping my carbon changed every 7 days helps too.

 

[Brad]

My Prism Pro works fine and I rarely adjust it. I run the water line a bit lower than most...right at the bottom of the bubble neck.

The Prism Pro has two adjustments...one for overall water flow and the other to control how much air is sucked in. Adjusting one affects the other. But as I said, once set I don't find I need to adjust it much.

 

[malkore]

one thing I've heard too, is to modify the prizm by dropping in an airstone...you increase the bubbles, and get more 'gunk' removed.

haven't tried it yet, but i know a lotta people mod their SeaClones.

 

[sicklidkid]

OK well ill try. No i dont have the cup installed, i was told by a member here that if it isnt set perfectly it reduces the efficiency of the skimmer. And mine only has one adjustment valve , i think only the pro has 2. Thanks for all the responses, i think i will give it another try.

 

[kwan]

I have the Prizm Delux and it did take a while to run in. This may take a few weeks with fine tuning. I find the best result is running with the water level just under the rubber ring. Once it starts to skim probably, you should just leave it as is and don't clean the skimmer chamber or inlet pipe. Otherwise, it will need time to run in again. Thats my experience anyway. I have not cleaned my chamber for over 4 months now and it produces good skimmate every time after I empted and the cleaned the collection cup.

 

[indy]

I have to run mine at a lower level as well. If I run the water up to the o-ring I get a real micro bubble problem. I'm sure it would work better with the higher flow, but I don't like the looks of all the bubbles.

 

[malkore]

strange, i have no micro bubbles that escape the main chamber (i.e. flow back into the tank). I think the carbon cartridge might be helping prevent that.

I only clean the collection cup, and the outflow 'ramp' that dumps into the tank.

Also, I feel like i'm getting a little better collection (darker skimmate) with the pre-filter cup. Just make sure you set it's level so it can't run empty due to evaporation.