Skimmer tweaking..

[MarineFlake]

While I cannot for the life of me follow his DIY plan, I took notice of his update from 12/03

http://www.geocities.com/josh_shilling/skimming.html

I reduced the amount of air by kinking the line going to my RIO 800 (CPR bak pak) and like he said, its skimming like nuts. Obviously this parameter requires some tweaking as well, but seems just finding the water column height isn't good enough. You need to actually 'tweak' the bubbles a little too. Usually takes hours to days after cleaning my skimmer. It took all about 5 minutes after cleaning the collection cup tonight for it to start skimming again.

hth someone..

GL!

 

[WhiteCloud]

I had thought that reducing the airflow to the BakPak increased the amount of microbubbles that get pushed through the unit, as the pump is now pushing more water than air through the system. I would think kinking the air intake would cause more microbubbles.

I am having a HUGE microbubble problem with my Bak Pak 2R. I was going to take it clean it and and clean the pump to see if this will help. I am thinking my air intake is getting clogged after 2 months of use.

WC

 

[malkore]

it could be the crappy Rio 600. I have a CPR also, running since October 2004. I've cleaned the pump's internal parts twice now, so they were shiny and new. Hook it back up, and I'm still getting a lack of good skimming...its not like it used to be.

Thus I'm going to swap the Rio for a Maxi-Jet powerhead, which has a better design for whipping the air into the water, and is a better brand all around. My goal is to do this tomorrow or Sunday. I have a thread started in the Hardware section, and I'll post some photos, since I'll probably need a connector, and because visuals should help others pull off the same 'upgrade'.

 

[MarineFlake]

I did at one point have to replace my air line because salt kreep..However, its been about 24 hrs and after 'adjusting' the airflow I still seeing better skimming..

GL!

 

[MarineFlake]

CPR Bak Pak mod..

This is a mod for bak pak and the like skimmers. I've got the parts here and intend to try next cleaning. ..

http://www.reefcentral.com/diy/bakpakmod.htm

Also, this fellow believes this mod can double or triple output...

http://www.athiel.com/lib10/bakpak.htm

 

[RocketSeason]

my bak pak has never skimmed to much, But since I removed my carbon from my canister, I am getting better skimming.

I also have the pre-skimmer on it. which should help it skim more, but for the most part, just makes it look alot nicer.