A word of warning

[Will]

this low nutrient system doesnt half make your skimmer fing reak !! :eek: felt sick going into the garage today with the skimmer cup pulling out around 6 litres {or whatever the 703 holds} in less than 5 days with about 10 fish in the 3500 litres :whistling:

[Stevielad]

You should be cleaning it more frequently than every five days - so whats the problem ;) :D

But yes I agree - skimmer does seem to be pulling out a lot :)

[Will]

You should be cleaning it more frequently than every five days - so whats the problem ;) :D

But yes I agree - skimmer does seem to be pulling out a lot :)

sod that im barely used to once a week :whistling: its the smell that is unreal the normal skimate is pungent once its moved or the lid is removed but this overpowers the entire garage :eek:

[markey]

you sure the dogs not left something in there :laugh:

[Will]

you sure the dogs not left something in there :laugh:


pmsl, no not this time :eek:

you wont belive it when you come round this week

[instantsquid]

Totally agree, Will.

Since starting with the Bak, the skimmate in my AP850 has been much darker - almost black in colour. And the smell? :sick:

[ickypimp]

I am using prodibio and have seen the same thing.... double the volume produced and it is like raw sewage... I empried the cup down the loo the other day, cleaned the cup and went back to the tank.... the next thing i heard was the missus shouting

"you dirty sod, you need to see a doctor"

[Will]

I am using prodibio and have seen the same thing.... double the volume produced and it is like raw sewage... I empried the cup down the loo the other day, cleaned the cup and went back to the tank.... the next thing i heard was the missus shouting

"you dirty sod, you need to see a doctor"

just put it in the garden and blame the dog :p

i dont dare empty the 703 inside i would be shot the cup is to big for any sink and i would miss the loo :whistling: and thats not an area that she would find funny

[ickypimp]

I bet it would do the borders a power of good... i may try that, dilute the skimmate into a watering can and put it on the flowers..

[KeithM]

How wet/dry are you guys running your skimmer now that you've started on the probiotic systems?

[ickypimp]

I have always skimmed wet, on my mce 600 i have the cup as raised about 2 cm from the lowest it will go

[Ducati916]

funny as i have a 703 but havent found any increase in waste since going down the fm route in the last 3-4 weeks and it dosent smell much. although its is dark brown.

im skimming direct from a down pipe from the surface of the tank, maybe not enough flow??, what are you using to supply your 703..

cheers

[Will]

sequence 10000 ;) but i also feed to coral trays with that as wellbut i find they work much better if you put a lot more water than they say through them ;)

[Will]

How wet/dry are you guys running your skimmer now that you've started on the probiotic systems?

as long as its dark imo thats all that counts i feel a wet skimate is better as you have peace of mind your not wasting any of the skimmer potential

[instantsquid]

Yeah, I agree with jimmyjayz - in addition, I seem to recall reading that dry skimming causes the skimmer to lose efficiency much more quickly, due to the build up of skimmate in the neck of the riser.

[Ducati916]

quick bit of advice, i bought my 703 second hand and it never had the little valves on the air tubes comeing off the 1060's, so is this running fully wet. i never bothered to replace them as it seems to pull nice brown sludge out although i do get a pretty thick build up in the skimmers neck..

its hard to gauge the flow rate but its coming down an inch thick pipe from the top of the tank which is about 3-4 foot above the top of the skimmer.
suppose a similar rate to a 1060.

cheers

[Will]

quick bit of advice, i bought my 703 second hand and it never had the little valves on the air tubes comeing off the 1060's, so is this running fully wet. i never bothered to replace them as it seems to pull nice brown sludge out although i do get a pretty thick build up in the skimmers neck..

its hard to gauge the flow rate but its coming down an inch thick pipe from the top of the tank which is about 3-4 foot above the top of the skimmer.
suppose a similar rate to a 1060.

cheers

i dont have them on mine either there is no need for them on this style of skimmer i have the bubbles breaking at the line of the cup base if that makes sense works for me :p

on closer inspection it is wetter now but that will be down to the increased ammount the skimmer is removing.

heres a piccy for all you wierdos :)
http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b117/jimmyjayz/2007_0404Image0002.jpg

[ickypimp]

yep... thats the good stuff alright....

[instantsquid]

Looks like mine :D

[Will]

just for size thats about 14" across i think something like that the cup is big :whistling:

[Ducati916]

yeah thats the same gunk im getting, although it takes several weeks to fill mine right up, which seems odd as i have a lot of large fish..

wonder if i should try to increase the flow through.

ps, is there a way of ajusting the height the bubbles break at. or is it set by the pump size..

cheers

[Will]

best way is to fit a tap to the outlet mate then its very easy to adjust

[Ducati916]

thanks

[Will]

40mm and if you use a blue handled vdl it will look like the latest versions :D

[The Wizard.]

I am using prodibio and have seen the same thing.... double the volume produced and it is like raw sewage... I empried the cup down the loo the other day, cleaned the cup and went back to the tank.... the next thing i heard was the missus shouting

"you dirty sod, you need to see a doctor":applause: :applause: :thumbsup: ;) :whistling: Absolute quality your missus must know mine :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: