cpr bakpak2 reef ready help

[Mghslowell]

hey uys my new protein skimmer from cpr bakpak2 caqme intoday i got the reefready with no biomaterial. but my question is this. if anyone has one? also should i have the air tube wide open or closed for more bubbles ect whats best

TIA

[malkore]

The reef ready should NOT have bio-material. That stuff increases nitrate production, which ain't good for many corals/inverts.

like ANY skimmer, its gonna take a week or so to break in, and if the tank is new, there may be nothing to skim.

eventually it'll give consistent production without much 'fiddling around' with the air flow or the collection cup height.

Hopefully yours uses a MaxiJet pump, not a RIO pump. The RIO's are junky and less efficient than the MaxiJet.

[Mghslowell]

as stated above no biomaterial so its all good . and it does have maxijet woot ! ! ok thought it took a while to balance this is a 4 year old established tank and there is plenty to skim hope for the best !

[philthefish]

Hi,

I have the very same skimmer. The way I have set it up is as follows.

1. Get 3 foot long piece of air tubing (this reduces the noise a bit)
2. Leave fully open (no valve on it or anything)
3. Adjust air intake so that stream of bubbles just about hits the bottom of the skimmer body. I adjust mine by tying a loose knot in the tubing and playing with it till it's right.
4. Adjust bottom of collection cup so that it is about 1/4 inch below water level

Hope this helps
Phil

[malkore]

ok, so the established tank should have something to skim. that helps.

I don't have mine set the same as Phil though.

I basically adjust my airflow as high as I can get it, before ti becomes too much. you have to listen to the power head, and watch the bubbles...because you'll hit a point where too much air slows the motor, and you'll hear it lugging, and you'll get fewer bubbles in the chamber. when you hit this, close the valve a touch.

then you just gotta watch the collection cup. try to get dark tea/coffee colored skimmate.

[hisc1ay]

I have one too. The only problem I have is every few months salt builds up in the air line where it attaches to the pump and eventually blocks the air, which then doesn't allow bubbles to be made. That might be part of regular maintenance though.

[malkore]

Originally Posted by hisc1ay

I have one too. The only problem I have is every few months salt builds up in the air line where it attaches to the pump and eventually blocks the air, which then doesn't allow bubbles to be made. That might be part of regular maintenance though.

Yep, that's happened with both the 'venturi style' skimmers I've used (but it was far worse on the Prizm skimmer).

I find if I just pinch the airline, sort of kneed it like a tube of glue that needs mixing, that breaks the salt up and it runs fine for a couple more weeks.

salt creep is just one of those SW maintenance issues we deal with.

[Mghslowell]

ok kids i found the problem on the cpr board,.


if you have a maxi jet pump remove the venturi adaptor and look into the inlet portion of it youll see 3 cresent shaped intake holes that mate to the pump make sure all of them are fully punched through

i just checked and 2 were only half through which only half the water was able to reach teh collector now its working like a charm !