New SWC 120 skimmer bubble level

Took delivery of a nice new shiny SWC 120 cone today. put it the sump, turned it on, then double checked it was working because I couldn't hear a sound. Yep just nice and quiet.

Anyway my question is, what level should I set the bubbles until it has broken in? I have the outlet fully open and the bubbles are about halfway down the main body. If I want them to be just below the cup then I have to almost shut the outlet completely.

It says to be in 5-8" water, I have it at 7.5". Could this be why I have to almost shut the outlet off to get the bubbles to just below the cup?

Edit:

I took the padding out I used under the skimmer, now with the skimmer sitting in 9.25" of water, the bubbles reach about 2.5" below the cup, this is with the valve fully open. So now I am 1.25" deeper then the suggested range, is this too deep and will I suddenly get an overflow, or does it sound about right?





Thanks

 

I just started up my 160, I have it in 10", I've got it set low until it breaks in. As it does get broken in it will produce better bubbles, better to keep it low than have it over flow. It'll take a little bit to get set up, make an adjustment and give it a day or two before adjusting again. If you don't give it good time between adjustments you're just gonna cause headaches for yourself lol.

 

Thanks coylee,

As I mentioned above, I have sat it in 9.25" of water and the bubbles with the valve fully open sit 2.5" below the cup. Is this too deep? Bearing in mind the specs say 5-8"

When you started up your 160 in 10", that is 1" above the spec for your model (6-9), so do I assume that I am safe setting mine in 1.25" deeper then spec? Also when you say you have it set low, how far are the bubbles from the cup?

 

^The recommendation for the 160 is 7 - 10".

SWC Xtreme 160 Cone Protein Skimmer SWC Xteme 160 cone protein skimmer [Xtreme 160 cone] - $274.99 : SWC - Salt Water Connection, Protein Skimmers, Calcium Reactors, Filters & Lights

I'd raise the skimmer an inch or two with egg crate. I don't really know how well it'll work at 9.25", but it's probably safe to say that you should go with SWC's recommendation.

I started my 160 with the bubbles level with the bottom of the skimmer cup. After 4 days (which is today) I had about 1/6 - 1/5 of a cup of tea-colored skim.

 

Thanks Jake,

I did up it to 8" last night and this morning I had a dribble in the cup, however I set my bubbles to about 2" below the cup, maybe I should up them a bit then.

Can I ask you, was your valve almost closed? That's what I'm not sure about. Too get my bubble level to the bottom of the cup, the water valve is almost closed, I figured this wouldn't leave much room for adjustment, unless once broken in it will require me to open it more? New to this, so not sure how these things work out.

 

It's nearly impossible to tell how you will need to adjust it until after break in, so just run the bubbles low in the body until about a week. I've found that the 120s run really well with the fine bubbles ending right at the transition between body and cup. The 160s seem to run better a bit lower.

There will be differences in water depth vs settings depending on where you live due to air pressure, so don't rely to much on matching where the level end up with your settings compared to others. If you have any specific questions, feel free to pm me.

Michael Rice
Marine Engineers
Sent from Tapatalk

 

mabbus -

I have kept the valve almost closed. It seems to be working well. The skimmate isn't so wet anymore.

Like Mikejrice said though, it will vary a lot tank to tank.

 

Sorry I'm just getting around to getting back to you. I have mine in 10" as we talked about and I'm getting really wet skimmate, gonna try and raise it up to help dry it out a bit. How are you making out?

 

I've opened up the valve a bit now as the skimmer seems to be producing a nicer foam.

 

The image below is how it looks after 48 hours. Just prior to taking this photo I did clean the neck. The bubbles were set about 1-2" lower and the neck was a mass of brown gunk.

I am really pleased with it, it is pulling large pieces of matter out and is so much better then my previous skimmer. I have just raised the bubble level a tad more and will see what happens over the next 24