Red sea prizm skimmer

Discussion in 'Protein Skimmers' started by Gaspare, Oct 9, 2003.

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  1. Gaspare

    Gaspare Astrea Snail

    Joined:
    Aug 8, 2003
    Messages:
    53
    Location:
    Ottawa, ON,Ontario
    Hello Everyone,

    I had a visi jet skimmer first and I found that the air inlet would always get clogged and it would stop skimming. I complained to Big Als where I bought it and the were nice enough to let me return it. I had read that the prizm is suppose to be a fairly good skimmer.
    I purchased a red sea prizm skimmer for my aquarium last night but I am having some trouble adjusting its flow. If anyone out there has ever used one of these skimmers I would like to know how you stop the skimmer from producing a wet skim. I have tried to adjust the water flow but now I don't get enough foam to reach the collection cup. It seems I either get wet skim or no skim. Is this normal at first?
    :-/
     
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  3. SS_Minnow

    SS_Minnow Plankton

    Joined:
    Oct 5, 2003
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    5
    Location:
    Palo Alto, CA,California
    I think the skimmer is just breaking in, it takes a bit of adjustment. Does anyone know of a way to make this thing quieter??!! My housemates are going to kill me soon if I don't find a way to shut it up! The berlins I've had before are nothing compared to the noise this one makes.
     
  4. SS_Minnow

    SS_Minnow Plankton

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    Oct 5, 2003
    Messages:
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    Location:
    Palo Alto, CA,California
    I figured out a quick and easy way to make the prizm skimmer quiet this evening!! The loud noise comes from air being sucked in through the relatively small air hose for the skimmer. Simply extending this tube with a section of air hose about 12" long gets rid of the noise, and keeps me and my fish from getting booted from the house! ;) Air flow in to the skimmer doesn't seem to be affected by the longer hose. The Prizm seems to work great so far, highly recommended after this small modification.
     
  5. Matt Rogers

    Matt Rogers Kingfish

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    Location:
    Berkeley, CA
    Hey that's great Jason!
    I just recommended the same fix the other day on the All-Glass Mega Flow thread. Glad it works.  8)
    In case you haven't thought of it, just make sure the hose isn't hanging down to prevent flooding if a back siphon were to occur.  ;) :)
     
  6. karlas

    karlas Fire Goby

    Joined:
    Feb 20, 2002
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    Location:
    berwick, PA,Pennsylvania
    yes give your skimmer at least a week or 2 they need there breaking in time. they work pretty good for the price but you do have to do some playing with the valve until you find the spot that works. after you set it take a permant marker and put a line on it so you can just turn it back to where you had it after cleaning and such.
     
  7. Gaspare

    Gaspare Astrea Snail

    Joined:
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    Location:
    Ottawa, ON,Ontario
    :D It is now working great. I will take your advice and mark the setting. I will also try to legthen the air tube to cut down the noise. Thanks for all the great advise.
     
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  9. eweldon

    eweldon Plankton

    Joined:
    Nov 12, 2003
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    Location:
    Reno, NV,Nevada
    I ran into the same problems, it just takes about a week to break in then you should have no problems. With regard to the noise problems, look to the upper left hand corner of the collection assembly. There are two plastic extension marked I and II. The I one, the one on the left you plug the air hose into to prime the unit. The second one on the right, II, you plug the air tube in and the unit will pull air from the collection assembly and will completely hush the unit.

    Good Luck,

    E
     
  10. karlas

    karlas Fire Goby

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    Location:
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    mine makes a bit of noise not much but maby i will try plugging it like you suggested thnx
     
  11. turbo4603

    turbo4603 Teardrop Maxima Clam

    Joined:
    Oct 31, 2003
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    Location:
    Miami,Florida
    hey guys, wut is better off, a seaclone 100 or a red sea prizm skimmer???
    THANX JOE
     
  12. Craig Manoukian

    Craig Manoukian Giant Squid

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    Dec 15, 2002
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    Location:
    Marina del Rey, California