I recently bought a super skimer 65 from a fellow board member to replace a cheep skimmer what is the trick to dial it in I thought it was and it went probably 24hours and nothing was in the cup so I moved the needle wheel ever so sightly and woke up this morning and the cup for overflowing and probably drained 2in out of the tank maybe not that much but some
dialing in a coalife 65 skimmer
- Thread starter ls1boost
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I had very similar experience with this skimmer. It works very well for the price, but it is very tempermental. In my experience, the most critical factor in getting these dialed in is a constant water level. I had problems with these skimmers until I had added an ATO and kept the water level constant. Not sure if this is a problem for you. It also took some time for the skimmer to start producing skimate in the cup, I had a lot in the neck for a few weeks until it settled in, so I would run it on the wet side.
It's just hard to adjust without a constant level... if you get it set right with a "full" tank, then it'll stop skimming when the level drops. If you adjust it with the tank (sump) less than full, it'll overflow when you top off. Plus you are probably dealing with normal break-in time on top of that, assuming you have a new skimmer (or a freshly cleaned one).
While I don't understand WHY it is, basically any skimmer needs to be running for a while before it settles down and stays adjusted. Some break in in a few days, some take longer. All you need to do is keep tweaking the adjustment until it quits "moving around" on you.
The Coralife skimmer is a very good and capable skimmer. I have the larger version. It needs to be in a sump section where the water level will not drop even with evaporation. If the water level fluctuates, you will never get it dialed in. Once it has an established water level which will not drop, it works great and virtually never needs readjustment.
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I have a CSS 65 running HOB on my Aquapod24. I made a plexiglass divider to maintain the water level height and the thing runs like a champ. I feed one fish very lightly and it still pulls out a dark cup every week.
How low is the pump in the water? Do you have the valve opened all the way? How low in the water is the drain tube? Are you still using the box/foam?
How low is the pump in the water? Do you have the valve opened all the way? How low in the water is the drain tube? Are you still using the box/foam?
the inlet is about 3to4inches in the water. what valve the only one I see is the red needle valve? yes use the box and the pipe is a couple inches out of the water and from the foam. the person I got it from said it ran like a champ he just upgraded to a ss 125
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Ok, well my 65 has a valve between the pump and the skimmer body that you can adjust as well (though I think it's only for the break in period anyways). See if you can raise the pump up a little bit, the inlet to my pump is about 1" below the surface, just enough not to create a vortex.
I found the skimmer to be horribly loud if the water exited above the surface. I have my output hose about 1" below the water, and I am not using the foam insert or box (no space and didn't use them on my CSS 125 in my big tank anyways).
I found the skimmer to be horribly loud if the water exited above the surface. I have my output hose about 1" below the water, and I am not using the foam insert or box (no space and didn't use them on my CSS 125 in my big tank anyways).
ok mine just has a clear tubing from the pump to skimmer so I will shorten that then, ok I thought the outlet had to be above water opps that will quiet things down too I'm going to try some of thees things hopefully I can get it to work good and not soak my floor again thanks for the info
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If you're worried about overflows since you're running HOB, no sump, you could always install an ATO kit for about $40. Mount the float in the lid and run the skimmer pump's power through a relay so that when the float trips (the cup fills with water/skimmate) it cuts power to the pump. I'm planning to install one of those in my setup since my tank is on carpet.
