Coralife super skimmer 65G question.

The skimmer is still in it's break in period and I have not cycled the tank yet, but the so called microbubble diffuser is not working properly as 100's of microbubbles are escaping in to the tank, I had placed an additional piece of material on the sponge already in there, it worked for a period of time, but now I am getting bubbles in the tank again, anyone knows a good rememedy for this or know why it's doing this? in the pic you can't actually see the microbubbles, but you can see it all over the equipment.

 

I used to have that skimmer, i found it to be junk IMO. The microbubble problem you are facing is widely known amognst users of this skimmer. I had to remove all the sponges it came with, and just put a bit of filter floss in the bottom. I also removed the extension tube so it had a little time to fall before hitting the water, this helped reduced bubble output as well. Good Luck.

 

I wouldn't call it junk. I have one and am still using it. I started using it as a HOB, but now have it in my sump. I like it both ways, but it was a little finnicky as an HOB. I actually added a piece of pvc with a tee in between the skimmer and the diffusion box. It helped significantly. It seemed like the tee gave it a spot for the bubbles escape before getting to the box. In the sump I have been very happy with it. Not the best, but I like it and have been able to make it work well for me.

 

I have the a bigger size one and I took off the diffuser and added a longer hose on the return. Hope this helps.

 

I stumbled across this link one time. It might help. I haven't tried any of the mods except for cutting the return line a bit.

Tyler Merrick » Blog Archive » Modifing the Coralife Super Skimmer CSS

 

yeah if you mod them i hear they work really well

 

Third pic down in the blog is basically what i did and it helped alot. By routing that into the diffuser, I got no microbubbles into the tank.

I have been very happy with mine. I know everyone says you should not have to mod a good product, and I somewhat agree. However, for what this skimmer costs, I didn't mind spending another $5 and about 10 minutes to make it work how I wanted. To me, even the best products cannot be made in an absolutely one size fits all format and may need a little tweak here and there to fit an exact situation. I think this setup was designed to be an in sump skimmer, but can be an effective HOB as well.

 

Thanks for the help, I took that flex tube completely off, helped a little, surely a lot of air getting in to that diffuser, hahaha! that's why I called it the so called diffuser, it's really ain't diffusing anything, I will look that over and try to work it out, I don't like that stuff in the tank to began with, I guess my next project will be either an HOB refugium or maybe a sump, it's only 40gals not sure if maybe a sump is a little much for a tank that size.

 

Its been ok for me. The only complaints I have is the PITA removal of the collection cup and the huge diffuser box. Definitely will upgrade after I get more on my "equipment list".

 

Not really. If you're into modding something just to get it to work properly, why not just order up a $35 skimmer from China on eBay? Same results in the end. The super skimmers are terribly overpriced for what they are.