seaclone protein skimmer question

[howman1]

ok,
so i'm a novice with a newly acquired reef system, i bought the whole system kit and kaboodle --75 gallon with sump, halide lamps lots of live rock, coral......

1 thing i have figured out is that sea clone skimmers have a bad rap, but they must work at some basic level?

-skimmer is attached to 20 gallon sump under aquarium
-the skimmer wasn't foaming, so i bought a maxi jet 1200 (rated at 290 gph), now i see the tornado effect, which is active under the filler container, but NO FOAM, no collection in cup.....what is going on... shouldn't there be foam oozing and flowing into cup or water getting high up into collection chamber , water does not rise pass the area where the collection cup can be taken off....

am i doing something wrong, is it broken
help please

howard

 

[Anonymous]

howman1, that skimmer is way too small for the 75 gallon tank. i had one for my 29 and i think it was okay for that size but i wouldn't go above that. there are some mods you can make to the skimmer to make it more efficient. do a google search for "seaclone mods". unfortunately; i think you're eventually going to have to get a better skimmer. for a 75g, the remora pro should do a decent job for around $200. sorry.

 

[fusion]

Skimmers usually take a little while to "break in". I'd give it a week or so to see how it will skim and then you can make the adjustments to the mixture as needed.

Good luck.

 

[howman1]

thanks for the response,

fusion, what kind of adjustments to the mixture????

i want to hold off on new expenditures...my next big one will probably be an ro/di, any suggestions?????

 

[fusion]

You can adjust the mixture by adjusting the nozzle on the end of the rubber tubing used for air intake. I like to use a small piece of cotton. Push it to far in and you get mostly water flowing thru the skimmer. Leave the airline completely open and you get too many bubbles. You'll have to fiddle with the mixture of air and water flow to get the skimmer to work at it's peak.
The modifications mentioned above will make the skimmer perform much better. For now though, I'd just become familiar with it before you start taking things apart....

Good luck.

 

[Mouse]

The sea clone need the following adjustments to get it to work properly, there a bit ballsy though but if your confident then they will be worth the effort. Firstly you need another air stone in there so drill a hole in the collection cup and run some airline to a block in the bottom of the skimmer. This can be done vertically through the top of the collection cup. The second adjustment is to get rid of that dumb looking (and completely useless) seacloney bit in the middle. Its the central tube inside the fraxination camber, you need to cut it so that there is only about an inch of tubing left rising from the base of the fraxination chamber. Now that you have extra air flow and increased water/air contact area it should work well, just have an adjustable valve coming from the air pump to drive the secondary air flow (the additional block) to controll bubble size. This will completely bastardise your skimmer voiding the warranty, but it will work. Check out Reefsuk.org for diagrams. After this is done it really kicks ass.Just got to the website and look under the left hand column for marine aquariums - articles. Its called Suggestions for improving your Seaclone Skimmer by Richard Clayton.

 

[howman1]

hey, thanks for the advice
i found the problem, boy am i a novice

it was the pump, i had just put a maxi jet, fusion, take notice, the air valve is spitting water!!, it is not sucking air, i think the gravity pressure against the water flow combined with the shape of the maxi jet is causing water to come out of the venturi instead of sucking in air

i put one of my other pumps on (not 295 gph but 135gph) that has a different shape and now i see bubbles and can expect foam 1 day in the future.

does this sound more on track??

mouse--thanks i will check out site, but i am not prepared for those steps yet.

howard

 

[fusion]

Glad to hear you worked it out....

Is the skimmer hanging on the back of the tank or is it in a sump?
It's been so long since I used one hanging on the tank with all those twisting tubes. Perhaps the maxijet is worn out or dirty and could not pump the water through all those twists and turns with the venturi open.
Either way, as long as your getting bubbles your on the right track.

Will the maxijet put out bubbles if it's just placed in a bucket with the venturi open. Also I think that it said in the directions that the pump works best when it is somewhere between 3-5" below the water line.

 

[srbayless]

Howdy,

I too had a seaclone on my first tank. I found the best modification was shortening the center tube. It is too long when you pull it out of the box. There is only a few inches for the water and air to mix at the top, which is just not enough.

Take a look at most other skimmers on the market. Most have a much larger area for the air-water mixture to really churn. If you are not satisfied with its performance in a while, try cutting the center tube.

Good luck,

Scott.

 

[Blue_Mosquito]

I use a sea-clone. I cuit down that centre tube, about 4 inches off of it... I may do more in the future. Also, today I installed a plumbing gasket in between the collection cup and that inner tube; sealing it off completely. The foam now rises more easily upwards.

I've been thinking about the airstone mod. Perhaps later this week. All in all I do not mind the skimmer... I find it VERY touchy though...

Thinking about making my own Bak-Pak 2R

 

[Grandczar]

I too am a seaclone-a-holic. Started off with a better air control valve. Then went to hardcore stuff by cutting inner riser tube.
By the time I was done I had also cut down the riser tube in the collection cup. Also sanded off that foam guard to the cap. Drilled hole in center cap for addition of air stone. Wait I also added a seal/ring to collection cup where it mounts on unit to make air tight. Any more mods? I listening

I can clean this thing and have it spitting foam in less than 10 mins. Actually works better for me when I keep it clean

Anything can be done... Just a matter of will power!

My final and last mod will prolly be a drain from collection cup to a bucket!

HTH

 

[Anonymous]

The final modification to my SeaClone was to replace it with an Aqua-C Remora Pro.

Now it works like a charm.

Peace,

Chip