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View Full Version : Why is my skimmer is getting clogged with slime.


b_james
09-25-2006, 04:20 PM
My Bullet 2 skimmer developes a milky/clear slime inside the becket injector that greatly reduces skimming potential. :cry: I am having to completly dismantle and clean out the becket every 2 weeks because of this slime build up. I was thnking of installing a foam prefilter on the skimmer inlet as I have a feeling it may have something to do with keeping leathers..?..

Joe Reefer
09-25-2006, 04:51 PM
What else is in the room with the skimmer ie. dryer, furnace etc.? Is the build up in the beckett more like a ca deposit or slime?

b_james
09-25-2006, 04:58 PM
It dosnt look like calcium deposit, When cleaning it out its like pulling out a huge 'lugie' - kind of like a clear slightly milky gel with the same consistency as snot. Thats why Im wondering if its a slime build up from leathers.

However.. I do add aragamilk once every few weeks - I dont turn off the skimmer during dosing.

Delphinus
09-25-2006, 08:02 PM
To me, cleaning the beckett out is a weekly thing. I realize that this seems like a chore, but that's why some people prefer needlewheel type skimmers, the beckett's simply need maintenance. However, I have yet to find any skimmer that can compare to my small beckett in terms of what it can pull out in a week with just that weekly cleaning.

The thing is that all plumbing gets coated with slime in our tanks. It's inevitable and unavoidable and that's why you have to clean out the becketts. They really need to be clean to be at top effectiveness. Even a little snail shell or something and that thing is not sucking the amount of air it could be.

The trick is to setup (or modify, as required) the beckett skimmer so that maintenance is a snap. I can disassemble, clean, reassemble my skimmer have it offline (and back online) in less than 5 minutes. Here's the thing, if something is a chore, you'll find an excuse to put it off, so to me this is the real key, keeping it easy and quick.

You mentioned you have a "bullet" skimmer - this tells me two things. The first thing is that it's a Precision Marine brand, they're the only ones I think who call their skimmers bullets (or used to anyhow). The second thing, and OK this is more of a guess on my part, but I wonder if you have the "old" style of "bullet" injector that these skimmers came with. If you do, forget it, that thing, being completely impossible to disassemble, cleaning it is not exactly a "snap".

I have a PM skimmer myself, I had the old style injector, what I did was get a replacement beckett housing. I got mine from Wendell, I don't know if he still sells them because I can't find it on his website, but you could always give him a call and see. If you go to his website, you can see the injector housing on the picture of the skimmer under the skimmers page:
http://oceanaquatics.com/index.php?cat_id=47

It is basically a 1" PVC pipeline expansion joint, the housing at full expansion is exactly the space you need to fit a beckett injector. Throw a union on either side of it, and you can slip that sucker off your skimmer in 30 seconds, untwist the thing and have the beckett out in another 10 seconds. Then it's just a matter of rinsing it clean and putting it back together. It's brilliant, I highly recommend something like that.

Failing that, even just something you can get at the injector easily is all you need. A housing with the thumb screws works fine too.

b_james
09-25-2006, 08:43 PM
I have the Bullet with the newer injector that has the clear acrylic beckett. My previous tank used a Bullet 3 (old style) skimmer that never clogged. The onlt difference is now I have quite a few leaters where before I had none. So there is definatly something in the tank - possible the skin shed by my lethers - causing this build up. However, I did notice that PM is selling a quick connect retrofit kit I may have to get.