[slief]

Originally Posted by biecacka

Scott, I will lower it to 30. Can you explain to me what that number signifies and impacts? I am getting a good foam on it now.

As my bio load gets heavier would I need to change that number upwards. Right now, I only have 6-7 fish larger then 6 inches all being tangs or Angels.

Corey

The higher the wattage the greater the flow of water and air into the skimmer. This will raise the water level inside the skimmer, decrease contact time and increase bubble size. The amount of dissolved organics will also have an impact on the foam level inside the skimmer. The more organics, the higher the foam level. As your loads increases, the DOC's will increase and you more than likely will need to lower the pump level to keep it from overflowing. I have an SM250 and run my skimmer at 37 watts which gives the perfect balance of flow and fine bubbles into that particular skimmer. The 200 body size is smaller so you should be running it at a lower power level. I would reduce it to 30 watts and if you find the bubbles aren't far enough up into the neck, try closing the wedge pipe a tiny bit to raise the level inside the skimmer. That or raise your water level in your sump if you can. The lower speed level will also result in slighly smaller bubbles which should result in a bit more dense foam with increased contact time. Drop the power level a couple watts at a time and pay attention to the bubbles inside the neck. You might even remove the lid so you can look down into the neck and get a feel for what the bubbles/foam looks like as you make minor pump adjustments. It's kind of a trial and error thing as different loads and amount of dissolved organics dictate different settings to a minor degree which is where fine tuning comes into play. This is something the RD3 is very good for because of it very fine incremental steps in pump power.