Skimmer question

[slough shark]

Need a little pro, unbiased help.
Am fairly new to the hobby and trying to do as much research and planning as possible, however, I’ve made a mistake and now am trying to figure out a way to correct it.
I’ve got a 120 gal SW set up with 150lbs LR that has been cycling for about 2 weeks now. A 2” overflow down to the 33gal sump, through a few baffles, into my Coralife 220 super skimmer, then over another baffle into the third chamber, where there is a mag 9.5 return up a ¾” pipe.
My second chamber houses this super skimmer where my problem lies. I hate this skimmer and due to some poor planning in the beginning I rushed out and bought this thing used off of kijiji and figured it was a decent unit. I would like to upgrade my skimmer to a good unit but not sure if I have the room. Can anyone recommend a decent skimmer with a similar footprint to the super skimmer.
Any help would be much appreciated.

[Mrfish55]

Take a look at the Tunze 9410 http://www.jlaquatics.com/product/tz-ps9410/Tunze+DOC+Protein+Skimmer+-+9410.html should be pretty close to the size of what you have and will perform far better than the coralife unit.

[slough shark]

Great, thanks.

[ILIKECOUGARS]

Why do you hate this skimmer, did you get instructions for set up? I have this skimmer and once it's setup as per instructions is a good skimmer for the price.

[slough shark]

Well to be honest, i guess i dont know all that much about it. Just seems every "reefer" i speak to tells me to upgrade because the super skimmer is the bottom of the line.
I dont have any fish or corals in the tank right now because its cycling, however, i was told that if my stocking is going to be anything more than modest, i should up grade.
Also, i cant find the "wheelhouse" for this skimmer. Seems like if i move the knob to the left a touch, the collection cup fills up in an hour and vice versa.

[digital-audiophile]

The Coralife skimmers are pure garbage. I ran one for a bit and hated every minute of it. I should'nt have wasted the money on it. They really are an entry level unit.

What is the footprint of the CSS, I would imagine that a euroreef or vertex might be around the same size and they are decent midrage skimmers. I have a Euroreef RS135 myself and don't mind it. I would prefer a bubble king but just a little to much $$$ right now.

[Whatigot]

Well to be honest, i guess i dont know all that much about it. Just seems every "reefer" i speak to tells me to upgrade because the super skimmer is the bottom of the line.
I dont have any fish or corals in the tank right now because its cycling, however, i was told that if my stocking is going to be anything more than modest, i should up grade.
Also, i cant find the "wheelhouse" for this skimmer. Seems like if i move the knob to the left a touch, the collection cup fills up in an hour and vice versa.

one thing that will save you a lot of money and time in this hobby is to stop listening to other reefers....lol
Sure, there are better skimmers out there but there are worse too.

I am sure the height of the water in your sump plays a huge role in the proper setup of this skimmer, though I've never had one, I know lots of people who do and are quite satisfied once it is all dialed in.

I would do some research, find out how the people who have this skimmer and are happy with it have it set up and then, from there, once you've got some fish or coral to worry about, think about an upgrade if you're not happy.

[ILIKECOUGARS]

Hope this works. Instruction for coralife super skimmer. Just a note there is no ajustment valve for the 125, and the 220 models
http://www.oceanicsystems.com/assets/006/12626.pdf

[slough shark]

The footprint for my super skimmer is 25.5(h) x 8(w) x 6(d).
And to be honest most people i speak to say stick with this skimmer until you have a decent amount of livestock in the tank, watch for a deal and then switch.

Have another question as well.
When the water spills over my final baffle into my return chamber the water has to "waterfall" in creating bubbles that my pump picks up and blows microbubbles into my display. When i get home from work i dump a container of water in the sump, filling up the final chamber and generally sorts it out. Are there any DIY tricks without an ATO system that i can use to difuse the bubbles coming into thew third chamber.
Any help would be much appreciated.

[fencer]

Most skimmers are tricky to setup when you need to balance the water flow to skim collection. In sump skimmers are sensitive to level changes in the sump more so than hang on the back ones. CSS's do work. I used one for many years. I always say buy what you can afford and live with what you got.

[mseepman]

Although I'm not a fan of Coralife stuff and I really haven't heard much good about this skimmer...I think you would be best to spend a little bit of dough and get an ATO setup. Take a look at this one...http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/Auto-Top-Off-Systems/c72/p360/DIY-Top-it-Off-Kit-Premium/product_info.html All you need is the container and a pump along with this kit and you will have a much better chance of dialing in your skimmer.

[slough shark]

Thanks. looks easy enough.

[Piscez]

I'm currently using the same skimmer and used the 65 before but only as a hang on. I'm going to a Marine Tech HSA-250 that doesn't help you but this might. As per the instructions put the skimmer on a stand so the pump is approx 3 inches below water level and adjust the red knob as it says, this skimmer can work okay but is extremely sensitive to water level changes ( as a lot of skimmers are apparently) so an ATO is pretty much essential, I found I had much more success once I added the ATO. Try to make sure your water level in the skimmer neck is just above the red collection cup threaded ring. Which should give you a pretty dry skimmate. Hope this helps. I'm planning on a fairly heavy bio load hence my reason for going overkill on a rated 250gal skimmer in my 72 gal bow :mrgreen:

[slough shark]

thanks.
I figured the ATO was a must have.

[parkinsn]

ATO is nice but not a must have. It all depends on how your sump is built. In my sump the skimmer level never changes just the return side.

[slough shark]

niether does mine actually, just in the return section.

[saltynuts]

super skimmer
all i did was lift the pump up.
cut the hose from the skimmer to the pump that thing will skim like mad then.
my pump is 4" of the botom and i work great.