End-all AquaC Remora Skimmer Overflow Problem!

For the past 3 or so months, i have been digging through the interwebs trying to find a way to stop my AquaC Remora skimmer (paired with MJ1200) to stop overflowing and filling a 5gallon bucket full of water everyday. I know many other people with this skimmer (and the pro version) are having the same problem. The skimmer worked great for about 3 months and then after cleaning it with r/o water one day, it went WILD. It was almost to the point where it would be pumping almost a gallon of water into the drain bucket in 1hour, this lead to a flood, and to my tank being starved of water circulation from the sump to the DT every day while i was at work. :headwallblue:

One note, I was not using medications and had not changed anything in my tank except clean the skimmer.

Anyways, the other night i was staring at the skimmer while it was once again filling my 5gal drain bucket full of (for the most part) perfectly fine saltwater and then i realized.... Wait, all i need to do back down the flow from the pump into the skimmer.. But how do i do that?
Simple! (and on the cheap!)

Take the hosing off of the skimmer and go to the nearest hardware store, pick up a 6" chunk of the same tubing, find a ball valve that the tubing fits into (i think mine was a PEC valve) slap some glue inside the valve to hold the hose in, i used coralfix frag glue and it worked great. Put the valve inline between the pump and the Remora and voila! Adjustable Remora!




Finally some REAL skimming

Hope this helps all of you remora owners, if your skimmer is running fine, next time you take it out for a full cleaning i would definitely recommend doing this simple fix for future precautions. It takes about a day for the skimmer to begin working again, there is some lubrication inside the valve that hinders the skimmer from creating its nice bubbles, but it will wash away after about a day and begin to work like a charm.

 

Great ingenuity. I hope that helps other fellow reefers with that type of skimmer or other type of skimmer.

 

Me too, I love the skimmer, it does a great job, all it needs is one minor little upgrade.

 

Great idea. I have the same skimmer. It skimms fine but also draws a bit too much water into the cup. Not as bad as your situation was - but I still have to empty the cup once or twice in 24 hrs. Maybe the MJ1200 is a bit too much pump for the skimmer.