Aqua C EV 180

The valve sometimes gets clogged w/salt creep. My hand doesnt fit down into the smoked part of the base so it only gets cleaned when i pull out the whole unit which isnt very often.
I run my valve wide open ive found that it runs best that way.
John is right on shutting down the skimmer if your med directly into the tank,but if youre mixing it w/food you should be alright as the fish ingest it directly

 

Do I really not even need to worry about cleaning out the black box of the skimmer? I figured when I move my tank I would try to clean it out as best I could cause I know it has never been cleaned and it is about 1 yr old.

How open is your gate valve? I'm still trying to determine where that needs to be set. Mine is not closed down very much, its pretty open.

I turned my mag 7 over so that it could more directly suck in the water that is coming from the tank it had been turned where the intake was on the opposite side of the sump from where the overflow pipes come in. Its a pretty small sump so I don't know if that actually made any difference or not.

Is yours constantly bubbling and flowing over the top. Mine doesn't and so that's why I was thinking I didn't have it set right. It will bubble over for a while and then just stop for no reason. When I have fed the medicated food or used the garlic oil it will also stop flowing over the top and usually the bubbles that are there are almost down to the black box. Is this normal?

Cindy

 

John I know ya'll told me to turn off the skimmer while medicating but the last two nights I have forgotten. Will this harm my skimmer in some way? I did take ithe collection cup out of the sump yesterday to wipe and rinse it out. I also wipped out the tower as well as I could.

Cindy

 

You want to run the gate valve to where the level inside the skimmer is right to the bottom of the clear tower. on mine the valve is wide open.
How high is your sump level in relation to the opening on the gate valve?Mine is right at the bottom  of the G valve. If the level is  low the water (falling) coming out the valve will cause bubbles to be pulled in by the pump slowing the foam action

 

Mine is not open all of the way. I started it out like that but closed it up a bit. I think I'll go open it back up.

My water level had been a little high and I built a little pvc stand for it that raised it around an inch or so. Now the water flows out freely . The water level is probably about 1/4 -1/2 of an inch from the bottom of the gate valve, and certainly no more than an inch. It varies a bit from time to time. There doesn't seem to be any bubbles caused by this. There are bubbles that come up from the overflow into the sump. As I said before I have turned the mag7 so that the intake is next to the pvc where the water is coming out. Would it be better for me to turn the mag around the other way again so that the input on the mag is on the opposite side of where the water comes into the sump? Hopefully when I get my new sump installed all of that will be better.

Cindy

 

You should be ok any which way it faces as long as it doesnt draw in bubbles

 

I just finished cleaning out my skimmer. I opened it up all the way and left it that way for over an hour but it never did start bubling up into the tower. A few minutes ago I started closing it down. I went one full turn. I haven't looked at it again to see if it is doing anything. And you say you keep your gate valve open all of the way?

Cindy

 

The gate valve needs to be adjusted until the water level (not the foam level) is as close to the internal plate as possible, but not touching it.  You can't copy somebody elses setting and expect it to work for you because their pump may be stronger or weaker, etc. Even the outlet plays a signifigant role. (Make sure you have NO backpressure ... a submerged outlet can cause this.) I have to use a flashlight to see the water level in mine (I have an EV 240) and it's easiest to tell in the corners farthest away from the jet, because it's less turbulent there.

Dosing with garlic will probably reduce your skimmer's efficiency.  Garlic products have oil in them that inhibits bubbles from forming.  It's similar to when the unit was new and needed "breaking in."  (New plastics have oil residue on them.)  Once the oils have disapated, it will make thicker foam again.

-Mickey

 

Thanks mmakay! But what are you referring to as the internal plate? The top of the platform? I do use a flashlight to see where the water is inside. It is usually .5-1 inch from the top of the platform and my tower is nothing but bubbles that flows up into the overflow cup and gently falls down the sides. That's how I've had it the last week or so. Before that you really didn't start seeing the foaming action until the valve was closed down enough that water was in the tower about 1/3 of the way and it was still bubbling over in the flow cup. Maybe its skimming better now with the valve open more. Any more tips. Oh and what do you mean by the back pressure.

Thanks, Cindy

 

[quote author=beamer link=board=General;num=1098752328;start=15#18 date=10/31/04 at 08:05:48]what are you referring to as the internal plate?[/quote]

On the diagram (stolen directly from the EV180 manual ... available on-line
) it is labeled "internal platform."

As far as "back pressure", what I mean is that the water flowing from the gate valve must be allowed to run down into the sump without any restriction. In other words, the tube must be above the sump's water level, and if you have a elbow on the gate valve which directs the flow below the surface of the sump water, then that must be vented.