Airlift protein skimmer tuning

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Jun 5, 2005
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Ok, first off, I know I bought the wrong protein skimmer, Red Sea Berlin Airlift 60. But my wife will leave me if I spend any more money on this tank. I've done a protein skimmer-less nano for 6 months so I'm not too new to marine aquariums, just new to protein skimmers.

Of course if I turn the airpump too high, It foams and fills the cup with pure water within a couple minutes. I have turned the air-flow down so that it foams right to the bottom of the collection cup. Is this where I want it to be? It just seems to me that nothing will ever make it to the cup if it's this low. I've read tons of posts on this and other forums and the information seems a little more vague than I would like.

Any information would help.
 
I know how you feel. My directions said to close the venturi air valve all the way then open it 1/2 to 1 turn. Did say how it was suppose to look after I did that. I checked it after about 3/4 of a turn on and saw a really good tornado swerl going so I figured that was what it should look like. :roll:
 
I tinkered some more with it last night. Got the foam to reach just the bottom of the cup. For some reason I woke up at 2 a.m. and decided to go check on things, and the cup was full of clear water with the foam coming out of the air vent hole in the top of the cup. I lowered the air down some and put some airline hose in the top leading back into the tank so if it overflowed today while at work, it wouldn't flood my floor.

If I can't get any results from this, what is a good in-tank skimmer that works at the minimum decently.
 
You'll need to ask someone who has had one for a while. I'm just starting my tank and haven't added the live rock yet. That happens in two weeks after I get back from vacation.
 
Eventhough it is a bit more then you might be thinking of spending, the remora is an excellent skimmer that does not require a lot of tuning.
 
Thanks. I finally got mine working ok now. It took about 4-5 days of running with the foam running halfway up the tube for it to start foaming more. After that it just started moving it's way up and now I get about 1/4 cup a day of thin brown liquid. This is a fairly new tank to I don't expect it to get thicker until a few weeks from now.

Hind sight being 20/20, I would've went with the Remora or the BakPak. Live and learn.
 
What size air pump are you using? I've had an Airlift 90 for a couple of weeks and its not foaming up. I think my pump is too small.
 
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