The truth about cone skimmer

[tynman]

OK does anyone use and a cone skimmer? What is the big hype about? Is it so much better then what you had before? Or is it just a new fad, I got to have it cause its new?
Cause I just looked at a few and the 2 that I would go with if I am going to change is ESHOPPS S-150 for $350 or the SWC Xtreme 160 for $275. But I dont have $300 burning a whole in my pocket so it would be very hard to justify spending when I have a etss sump buddy 40 that does the job and is only 2 years old.
The thing with the sump buddy 40 is that it is very wierd, the center camber of my sump always has the same amount of water in it but when the water is low and getting ready to refill the skimmer bubbles dont reach the cup. When I change the filter media it goes crazy and over fills the cup so I have to adjust it. I do a water change and again it goes crazy and more readjusting. Do they all do that even the cone skimmer. I feel like all I do is adjust that silly thing...
I have to go with a small foot print skimmer cause I have the oceanic 76 gal half circle tank and could only fit a 20 gal sump under it and have no room for to much under there with the sump.
Let me know if its worth the money. I just ran 25 feet of 1/2 hose in my basement to the outside to get more air to this skimmer to bring up my ph, didnt bring it up to where I want it to be but its better then before, so I would run this same hose to the new skimmer.

Thanks.

 

[NYreefNoob]

ok let me start with saying i owned the sump buddy 40, probably one of the best skimmers ive had of 19 or so skimmers, i did mod mine a little though i made a collection ring to fit the lid and put a few holes outside of that ring to release a little of the pressure. not underrrstanding part of your question, does the skimmer stay in a constant water level area ? all skimmers flux some when feeding and or changing filter media. what pump are u using on that skimmer as well ? if ph is lower look into kalk dosing. this will cover that and maintain cal\alk. your other option is to get a recirc skimmer which you could run out of the sump creating more room.

 

[tynman]

We this thing has more mode swings then my wife...LOL but I do use a mag 9.5 and I drilled 4 whole in the cup top for more air. The chamber it sits in is always the same level its the third chamber that moves up and down due to evapuration (it also has the return pump in there). I do use kalk in my fresh water that fills the tank. I heard a lot of good things about this skimmer thats why I spent the $250 or so on it. plus the pump.. But I dont know if its working right for me. Dont want to spend another $275 that I dont have.... I know when I soak the food in salcon (cause of the oils in it) it causes the bubbles to disapear out of the tube leading to the cup.. But I just dont know. Maybe you can help me with it a save me $275.. The only thing I like about the swc cone skimmer is the wattage use of the pump. mag 9.5 uses 93 watts and the swc pump uses 27 watts that a third less. I dont know what that means on my electric bill (or how much of a savings a month) but it has to be less then the 9.5.

 

[D1J8Z]

I think cone skimmers have smaller pumps that use less electric and are just as efficient

 

[tynman]

ok let me start with saying i owned the sump buddy 40, probably one of the best skimmers ive had of 19 or so skimmers, i did mod mine a little though i made a collection ring to fit the lid and put a few holes outside of that ring to release a little of the pressure. not underrrstanding part of your question, does the skimmer stay in a constant water level area ? all skimmers flux some when feeding and or changing filter media. what pump are u using on that skimmer as well ? if ph is lower look into kalk dosing. this will cover that and maintain cal\alk. your other option is to get a recirc skimmer which you could run out of the sump creating more room.

Ok let me ask you this 1 how deep is the water that the skimmer is sitting in?(mine was in about 9 inches I just changed it now its in 6 to 6.5 inches)
2 how many bio balls are you using in the intake?
3 are they the mini or the regular size?
cause maybe those where my problem and I just measured and the cone skimmer wont fit...LOL so there goes that idea...
Thanks

 

[ryangrieder]

I have a bubble magus nac 7. That is my favorite skimmer I ever used. MY whole tank pretty much relies on that skimmer...and it treats the tank like a house made

 

[NYreefNoob]

do you ever clean the bio balls or replace them ? do believe suppose to every 6 months. selcon will cause the skimmer to act nuts for awhile. in my personally opinion and ive had a few skimmers is no nw skimmer will produce as much as a beckett or down draft, just for shear amount of water processed, yes they are more efficient but dont process as much water. i forget the formula, but it is either x amount of large or x amount of the small bioballs, my sump level is 8" thats where i had it at, also have you ever cleaned the skimmer ? and i put a valve on the air inlet so i could dial that way also, and the mag 9.5 is the best pump to run on it also other then a external pressure rated pump. if ya want i can send you a pice of plastic to attach to the collection lid to make the cup for it

 

[tynman]

do you ever clean the bio balls or replace them ? do believe suppose to every 6 months. selcon will cause the skimmer to act nuts for awhile. in my personally opinion and ive had a few skimmers is no nw skimmer will produce as much as a beckett or down draft, just for shear amount of water processed, yes they are more efficient but dont process as much water. i forget the formula, but it is either x amount of large or x amount of the small bioballs, my sump level is 8" thats where i had it at, also have you ever cleaned the skimmer ? and i put a valve on the air inlet so i could dial that way also, and the mag 9.5 is the best pump to run on it also other then a external pressure rated pump. if ya want i can send you a pice of plastic to attach to the collection lid to make the cup for it

I clean the cup and neck that goes to the cup every week or biweekly. I never cleaned the bioball. How would you clean them? How many do you use in yours and what size (the mini that came with it or the large ones) I think Im going to put a couple more in today and see what happens. I think I only have 3 or 4 in there now. Do your bubbles go to the top and over flow the cup and then its back down to half way in the tube or is yours a solid flow of bubbles with no air gaps in between?
Please let me know cause if Im not doing something right I would like to fix it to work to its fullest.

 

[NYreefNoob]

We adjusted the downdraft tower design to allow full skimming tower action all the way to its base.
The bio-ball action has been changed in the tower and this design only uses two-four large bio-balls to produce intensive foaming action when larger pumps are used (900gph),recommended for tanks larger then 100 gallons, Use 6-8 mini bio-balls when used with the normal pumps (700gph) for tanks up to 120 gallons

http://superskimmer.com/SumpBuddy40.htm
can always call gary he is the owner and builder, plus located right here in NY

i dont have mine anymore, the bubbles should be breaking into larger one's right below collection cump and not changing the bioballs is the problem

 

[tynman]

Well I was using only 5 mini bio balls. I cleaned the 5 with a tooth brush and rodi water and added the other 3 that came with the skimmer and now I think its working the way its suppost to.. I just have to keep an eye on it for the next few days.... Dont need over flow all over the floor... Thanks for your help.

 

[tynman]

We adjusted the downdraft tower design to allow full skimming tower action all the way to its base.
The bio-ball action has been changed in the tower and this design only uses two-four large bio-balls to produce intensive foaming action when larger pumps are used (900gph),recommended for tanks larger then 100 gallons, Use 6-8 mini bio-balls when used with the normal pumps (700gph) for tanks up to 120 gallons

http://superskimmer.com/SumpBuddy40.htm
can always call gary he is the owner and builder, plus located right here in NY

i dont have mine anymore, the bubbles should be breaking into larger one's right below collection cump and not changing the bioballs is the problem

Just to let you know I was only going by the guy at etss I think his name was John and he told me all I would need was 2 to 4 bioballs. So thats why I did it. I didnt like the bubbles that was making so I added 1 more and I lived with it. He also told me 11 inches of water for it to sit in was to high so I made the chamber 9 inches. So I went by the etss recommendations. But I should know better its only a guide and should have tried what worked for me.. I guess you live and learn. But Im glad to say I think the 8 bioballs and making it sit in about 6.5 inches of water did the trick. Now I can say Im happy with the skimmer and dont need a cone skimmer.. (GOOD cause I didnt have the $275 to spend on another skimmer!!!!)
Thanks for your help.

 

[NYreefNoob]

it really is a kick butt skimmer once you have right amount of bioballs figured out, i would have never sold mine if it wasnt for the noise and not that it is that loud but when house is dead silent and tank next to bedroom door wife just wasnt having it

 

[tynman]

lol mine is down stairs in the entrance way of the house where the dogs sleep..lol wife and kids sleep up stairs... what helped with the noise was I ran the air line all the way outside about 25 feet.. lol