Prizm HOT skimmer question

[Dinky]

I know I'll catch some flak for my skimmer choice from some people, but like
I say when ppl dis my car, "You roll what you got."
I'm having trouble determineing how to set the flow. In order to keep the
wet foam from filling the collection chamber, I have to have the flow set at
less than 50% of max. It doesn't seem to make sense to throttle the unit
back so hard, particularily since this results in so little water processed.
Any tips?

75 gallon
30 gallon sump
35 lbs uncured live rock
cycling

--

billy
--
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[Christ's Soldiers]

In the land of rec.aquaria.marine.reefs, the word of the Lord came
to Dinky and verily he spoke saying:

> I'm having trouble determineing how to set the flow. In
> order to keep the wet foam from filling the collection chamber, I
> have to have the flow set at less than 50% of max. It doesn't seem
> to make sense to throttle the unit back so hard, particularily
> since this results in so little water processed. Any tips?


The prizm I saw in action was very tempermental and required constant
adjustment. Assuming it is the same one my buddy had, the old
standard one before the pro/deluxe versions came out this is how he
tuned it in. First of all the little air intake on the top needs a
short piece of airline hose attached to it and a small valve of some
kind similar to the ones that come with any powerhead. I dont
remember if this came with his prizm or he had from a seperate
powerhead he bought. Anyway open both the water valve and the air
valve all the way. the more open the water valve is the lower the
water level should be. Lower is better.then just slowly VERY VERY
slowly adjust the airline valve and close it little tiny amounts and
wait a good minute to see how much foam is being produced. That's
about all there is to it. If you have to close the air valve more
than halfway and you still aren't getting good foam then close the
water valve a tiny bit to raise the water level some. Although I
never did see the thing make really good foam it did work well enough
on a ten gallon nano with two fish and about six soft corals and one
LPS coral. Everything seemed to do very well and I got the impression
that this guy was quite lax on his water changes. There is a picture
in this thread from reefcentral.com of a prizm working very well but
I have never seem one work this good first hand.

http://tinyurl.com/24uvp

--

-John

[Joel]

"Christ's Soldiers" > wrote in message
. 1.4...
> In the land of rec.aquaria.marine.reefs, the word of the Lord came
> to Dinky and verily he spoke saying:
>
> > I'm having trouble determineing how to set the flow. In
> > order to keep the wet foam from filling the collection chamber, I
> > have to have the flow set at less than 50% of max. It doesn't seem
> > to make sense to throttle the unit back so hard, particularily
> > since this results in so little water processed. Any tips?
>
>
> The prizm I saw in action was very tempermental and required constant
> adjustment. Assuming it is the same one my buddy had, the old
> standard one before the pro/deluxe versions came out this is how he
> tuned it in. First of all the little air intake on the top needs a
> short piece of airline hose attached to it and a small valve of some
> kind similar to the ones that come with any powerhead. I dont
> remember if this came with his prizm or he had from a seperate
> powerhead he bought. Anyway open both the water valve and the air
> valve all the way. the more open the water valve is the lower the
> water level should be. Lower is better.then just slowly VERY VERY
> slowly adjust the airline valve and close it little tiny amounts and
> wait a good minute to see how much foam is being produced. That's
> about all there is to it. If you have to close the air valve more
> than halfway and you still aren't getting good foam then close the
> water valve a tiny bit to raise the water level some. Although I
> never did see the thing make really good foam it did work well enough
> on a ten gallon nano with two fish and about six soft corals and one
> LPS coral. Everything seemed to do very well and I got the impression
> that this guy was quite lax on his water changes. There is a picture
> in this thread from reefcentral.com of a prizm working very well but
> I have never seem one work this good first hand.
>
BUMMER -- I just got one and I came home today to find sal****er all over
the floor. The g*ddamn thing filled up completely and started dripping out
of the collection chamber. I'm embarrased I bought such a piece of junk. I
have lowered the intake to minimum. I guess for $100 you should not expect
much from a skimmer??
-Joel

[Christ's Soldiers]

In the land of rec.aquaria.marine.reefs, the word of the Lord came
to Joel and verily he spoke saying:

>
> "Christ's Soldiers" > wrote in message
> . 1.4...
>> In the land of rec.aquaria.marine.reefs, the word of the Lord
>> came to Dinky and verily he spoke saying:
>>

> BUMMER -- I just got one and I came home today to find sal****er
> all over the floor. The g*ddamn thing filled up completely and
> started dripping out of the collection chamber. I'm embarrased I
> bought such a piece of junk. I have lowered the intake to minimum.
> I guess for $100 you should not expect much from a skimmer??
> -Joel

Yuck! man that is a bummer. Guess it's true you get what you pay for
:^(

--

-John

[Joel]

"Christ's Soldiers" > wrote in message >...
> In the land of rec.aquaria.marine.reefs, the word of the Lord came
> to Joel and verily he spoke saying:
>
> >
> > "Christ's Soldiers" > wrote in message
> > . 1.4...
> >> In the land of rec.aquaria.marine.reefs, the word of the Lord
> >> came to Dinky and verily he spoke saying:
> >>
>
> > BUMMER -- I just got one and I came home today to find sal****er
> > all over the floor. The g*ddamn thing filled up completely and
> > started dripping out of the collection chamber. I'm embarrased I
> > bought such a piece of junk. I have lowered the intake to minimum.
> > I guess for $100 you should not expect much from a skimmer??
> > -Joel
>
> Yuck! man that is a bummer. Guess it's true you get what you pay for
> :^(


For a 40 gallon tank, how much should you spend? What would YOU get?

[Christ's Soldiers]

In the land of rec.aquaria.marine.reefs, the word of the Lord came
to Joel and verily he spoke saying:


> For a 40 gallon tank, how much should you spend? What would YOU
> get?


I have found that the average price for a decent skimmer is between
$200 and $350. I have a 29 gallon tank running a somewhat effective
custom made skimmer that is better by far that anything I have seen
the prizm do firsthand but seconded by any, and every real (defined
as an in-sump or inline skimmer rated to be effective at or above 100
gallons) skimmer by far I bought it locally for $150 and it is about
the equivilent of the CPR BakPak.

I have heard that the remora series of hang on skimmers, and the CPR
BakPak skimmers are good. Unfortunately I can not speak from
experience having never had a 40 gallon tank (I've had a 3 gallon
going on two years 5.5 gallon sold it after 1.5 years, 10 gallon that
I upgraded to 29 gallon after 1.5 years, 29 gallon just over three
years, and am setting up a 75 gallon) and as such can only parrot
what I have heard. You should definetly consider a sump for a tank
that size. It will increase your water valume and thus allow you to
more easily recover from mistakes and allow for the tank to handle a
larger bioload. It will also drasticly improve the astethics of your
tank by hiding the heater, thermomiter, skimmer, filter intakes if
applicable etc. All you need to set one up is a small rubbermaid
container full of sal****er, an overflow box of some kind (check ebay
for a deal on one) and a decent pump to return water to the tank.
Good luck!

--

-John
Because it makes things difficult to understand.
Why shouldn't I top post?

[Marc Levenson]

Definitely put a Aqua C Remora on that tank. If you *think you might upgrade*
then get a Remora Pro.

Buying a used one will save money. The only part that can break is the pump
itself, assuming the acrylic unit has not been dropped / cracked / or smashed.
I've bought two used ones and am very happy.

Marc


Christ's Soldiers wrote:

> > For a 40 gallon tank, how much should you spend? What would YOU
> > get?
>
> I have found that the average price for a decent skimmer is between
> $200 and $350. I have a 29 gallon tank running a somewhat effective
> custom made skimmer that is better by far that anything I have seen
> the prizm do firsthand but seconded by any, and every real (defined
> as an in-sump or inline skimmer rated to be effective at or above 100
> gallons) skimmer by far I bought it locally for $150 and it is about
> the equivilent of the CPR BakPak.
>
> I have heard that the remora series of hang on skimmers, and the CPR
> BakPak skimmers are good. Unfortunately I can not speak from
> experience having never had a 40 gallon tank (I've had a 3 gallon
> going on two years 5.5 gallon sold it after 1.5 years, 10 gallon that
> I upgraded to 29 gallon after 1.5 years, 29 gallon just over three
> years, and am setting up a 75 gallon) and as such can only parrot
> what I have heard. You should definetly consider a sump for a tank
> that size. It will increase your water valume and thus allow you to
> more easily recover from mistakes and allow for the tank to handle a
> larger bioload. It will also drasticly improve the astethics of your
> tank by hiding the heater, thermomiter, skimmer, filter intakes if
> applicable etc. All you need to set one up is a small rubbermaid
> container full of sal****er, an overflow box of some kind (check ebay
> for a deal on one) and a decent pump to return water to the tank.
> Good luck!
>

--
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