My 500G Osama Reef-2

[jwjb]

I have had the same skimmer as you for about 2 years and i can say its construction and operation is first class. However, it took a while to set up ( 3 days )

In order to set this skimmer up;

Turn the air pump off.
Leave the re-circ pump on.
Open the exhaust water valve fully open.
Turn on your supply pump.
Gently close the exhaust valve until the water level in the skimmer is about 1.5 inches
below the narrow bolted flange joint.
Turn on the air pump.
Wait and watch to see that you do not have a continuos overflow,if so slowly open the exhaust valve accordingly to stall the overflow.

This operation assumes that you have not altered or restricted the flow through the exaust pipe other than closing the exhaust valve as above.
Even the sump end of the exaust pipe being underwater will have a negative affect on
the skimmers performance.

I have found its optimum max flow through should be about 5500 lph

Good luck.

p.s i dropped a cleaning sponge in the skimmer once and it didnt work for 2 days !!

[Osama]

Thanks jwjb... Sorry for the delay in recognizing your valuable input. I thought I answered a while back but do not know what happened... I am trying to learn how to best run my skimmer so your input is extremely valuable.
My skimmer has a dedicated DC10500 pump ( 10500 lph pump = 2775 GPH). I am running the pump at two thirds capacity or 1850 GPH = 7000 lph. I get a good thick foaming head so maybe I should close the drain valve a bit more ... But for now I have to keep it where it is as it is skimming better than it ever did before.
When the lights go off it seems that my skimmer stops skimming or skimming decreases substantially. Is this your experience as well?
Thanks FYI

[Osama]

Can someone please give me the Scientific names and common names for these two beautiful corals and many thanks

[dave.m]

They both look like some kind of acroporid. No other name that anyone comes up with can be more accurate than that without either an expert identifying the calicle or with a DNA test. Coming up with coral names based on external appearances from photographs is guaranteed to be wrong 99.99% of the time, because the same coral can grow into vastly different shapes, textures and colours depending on its growing environment.

Dave.M

[Osama]

I am amazed about all the goofy names popping up like BamBams for Xxx dollars a polyp/eye. I have them growing like weeds on my return. Who is making such names that are used widely on the internet.... Disregard all the above... and THANK U Dave. That's why I care about scientific names then I can pursue further info/knowledge in books or the web

[dave.m]

I wouldn't be too hard on them, Osama. Because it is so difficlut to identify corals accurately the goofy sales names that people come up with are probably just as good as anything else. The common (vulgar) names are intended most often to convey colour combinations for prospective buyers.

One film on coral reefs I watched noted that experts identified about 350 different species of acropora by the calicle. When the exact same corals were tested by DNA it turned out there were actually only 75 different species. This just goes to show how much the same acropora species can differ from colony to colony, stumping even the experts and academics.

Dave.M

[Newbie Aquarist]

Originally Posted by Osama

Skimmer : Three days skimmed nicely and now stopped skimming for last 18-24 hrs.. Wait a bit longer then will try to close the valve a bit and see what happens.... I need it to work at least a week without adjustment.. Is that too much to ask??

Just don't make any adjustments yet. Compare what you were doing when it was skimming and when it wasn't. I still believe that once it cleans the tank that there is nothing for the skimmer to do until more nutrients are in the tank. If you keep making adjustments you're only gonna confuse the skimmer.

[Osama]

Originally Posted by Newbie Aquarist

Just don't make any adjustments yet. Compare what you were doing when it was skimming and when it wasn't. I still believe that once it cleans the tank that there is nothing for the skimmer to do until more nutrients are in the tank. If you keep making adjustments you're only gonna confuse the skimmer.

Agreed Wayne .. Except this skimmer is "confusing" me. I have to let it run and no adjustments to the skimmer That is what I am doing now.

I bought a large clean up crew several weeks ago (Mistake buying what a seller from FL recommended). Lots of die offs and not skimming; well I am afraid of algae taking over. So doing more water changes and hoping the powerful skimmer will do the rest. Everyone advised me to keep hands off the skimmer once I got it to where it is skimming nicely.. we shall see.More to report in future on skimmer performance and Thanks to ALL for your contribution

[Newbie Aquarist]

Originally Posted by Osama

Agreed Wayne .. Except this skimmer is "confusing" me. I have to let it run and no adjustments to the skimmer That is what I am doing now.

I bought a large clean up crew several weeks ago (Mistake buying what a seller from FL recommended). Lots of die offs and not skimming; well I am afraid of algae taking over. So doing more water changes and hoping the powerful skimmer will do the rest. Everyone advised me to keep hands off the skimmer once I got it to where it is skimming nicely.. we shall see.More to report in future on skimmer performance and Thanks to ALL for your contribution

Did you get the cleanup crew from ReefCleaners?

[Greg 45]

Did you acclimate the clean up crew or just dump them in
They are stressed easier than fish if I find the link I will send it to you

[Osama]

Wayne I had to check what I got and from where: Bought cleaner group for $236 May 19 2014 from reef Cleaners John Maloney.... Did U get yours from them also. I got a lot of small snails that i most do not see anymore

[Osama]

Originally Posted by Greg 45

Did you acclimate the clean up crew or just dump them in
They are stressed easier than fish if I find the link I will send it to you

Hi Greg. Has been a while since I rcvd the cleaners. I usually acclimate everything I buy. I think I also received directions with the shipment. I believe I needed a cleanup crew. I think I just put too many in at the same time. Everything is cool. In the future I will just buy smaller quantities of select batches of hermits and snails .

[SPotter]

Osama, I recently placed a large clean up crew order with John because I had ordered from several times in the past with no issues and quality items. My order was well over $300 and I had asked for a thursday ship with friday delivery but I didnt see the option on the bottom of the screen that I had to elect for overnight delivery. I was really upset when I found out that everything would be delivered on Saturday and usually 2 day delivery for inverts is fine but we were still having 85-90 degree days and my post man doesnt come until around 4pm. When the box arrived the water was brown, all of the pods were dead, the snails were very small and probably lost about 1/3 of them. I decided to put the majority of what I could get out of the tank into my live rock and place another similar sized order with reeftopia.com. Order was placed on monday, items were received on tuesday morning and everything was amazing. Snails were nice sized and accurate to what I had ordered, everything was moving, box had a cool pack in it and I was very happy.

[Osama]

Thanks for sharing valuable info Steve. Appreciate it.. I think IMO and I am not sure of my statement here but I believe that it is best to not get a huge order and place it all at once and more importantly for us to specify what we want .. I got hundreds of small snails that were all over the sand surface and they are mostly gone eaten or dead. I wonder if I am better off just ordering a two dozen red or blue legged hermit a few turbo and a bit more of the (forgot name) conical shaped pointy snails

[Osama]

Originally Posted by Osama

Can someone please give me the Scientific names and common names for these two beautiful corals and many thanks



This is what I was told the above coral is called: SPS- Carolina-caroliniana

This is what I was told the above coral is called: SPS- granulosa

[Osama]

I found that the best advice I got (other than keeping my hands out of the tank Which is not a possibility) is to start with the water level below the vertical neck. Let it skim for few hours witout food or hands in the water. If the skimmate is very thick and not flowing out like in the picture below, then I adjust by closing the valve ever so slightly. I close (turn clockwise) the valve a smidgen and let it skim again and adjust again if skimmate is still too thick and not flowing over and so on.
Hope the skimmer continues to do well. What I need is to eventually get it to skim like this all the time, when I am not feeding and have no hand sin the water etc.



This is the best ever ever ever since I got this huge skimmer that I got it to skim like this. Skimmer for some reason stops skimming when lights are off. I have to watch/observe that closely.
Does your skimmer decrease skimming when lights are coming off???

I also watch that bubbles in the lower vertical section are of good (visible) size and moving upward at a good rate (not a definable observation). Not sure if the following picture will show what I am talking about...

HOPE IT KEEPS WORKING LIKE THIS


FYI My DC 10500 pump is set at two thirds capacityof flow or 2/3*10500 LPH =7000 LPH = 0.2641721*7000=1850 GPH .. Hope my math is correct if not pls advise and thanks.

[Osama]

Recent info I saw on FB regarding this skimmer is that it skims great with heavier load (meaning I should be adding more fish) and one user keeps the drain fully open and never touches it ( I adjust it maybe too frequently otherwise it stops doing it's good job)opens the drains fully) and control the skimmer by a gate valve installed on the inlet to the skimmer. (I have one of those and Matt has it fully open). I am controlling mine now by keeping the gate valve as Matt has it fully open AND started by closing the drain six-seven full turns then let the skimmer skim and observe if too thick then close the drain valve a smidgen. I hope in a few days I can leave it skim without any further adjustments. It is working great now but I still need to keep closing the valve daily. After I achieve a continuous day or two of good skimming without adjustment, I will note the valve position and clean the cup and see if it will continue skimming with the drain valve at the same position or will it spill water like before...

[Osama]

Today's posting is a view of the "TOP DECK". My favorite SPS will end up there. Now I have some overgrowth and too many corals. I started to move corals to other spots or to my Frag tank.

[tassod]

How's it going Osama, how's the tank doing?

[Osama]

Everything is good. Working on optimizing the performance of my skimmer. Still work in progress. Growth is very impressive but starting to see some green algae which I had not seen before so I have to be careful and do more water changes and I am increasing flow to where it was after Matt slowed it down and this may have been a factor with the skimmer at less than optimal performance while the tank inhabitants load keeps increasing in terms of corals and fish....... Thanks Tasso

[tassod]

Have you tested lately for PO4 and NO3?

[Osama]

Tasso I am usually not an active person about testing Maybe I should.. I bought this beautiful expensive piece of electronics to check for Phos and I just am too lazy to do it in 5 minutes instead I do hrs of other things like water changing etc.... Will be checking Parameters soon...

[albano]

Originally Posted by Osama

I am controlling mine now by keeping the gate valve as Matt has it fully open AND started by closing the drain six-seven full turns then let the skimmer skim and observe if too thick then close the drain valve a smidgen.

I find it easier to remember how much the valve was 'adjusted' since marking a line on the handle...

[Osama]

Originally Posted by albano

I find it easier to remember how much the valve was 'adjusted' since marking a line on the handle...

Thanks.. I have a scotch tape on the handle from where I start closing the valve to see how much did I have to close it to keep skimming. I only adjust it when it is skimming modestly and at least 2 hrs after any feeding or hands in the tank. I am afraid that after cleaning I will have to revert back to the point of origin on the valve meaning daily adjusting maybe the way to live with my skimmer. I HOPE NOT as It does great when working fine

[Osama]

Today I would like to share pictures of my Nephthea corals. I love their luminous nature in the blue lights of the evening when the lights are dimming. While looking them up on the internet I came across this article that maybe of some interest/curiosity to some
""Nephthea: The soft coral Nephthea was found to contain a bioactive compound called lemnabourside. Lemnabourside is a 5alpha-reductase inhibitor which posses the ability to inhibit the conversion of testosterone into the more potent dihydrotestosterone (DHT). The end result is that lemnabourside selectively triggers cell death (apoptosis) in cancer cells. Specifically, it is very active in prostate cancer cells, as they tend to be androgen dependent [12].""
Pictures of my Nephthea trees (total 3-4 left) and then pictures from the Internet. Mine look green when closed but Yellowish green when open
Pls let me know if this was interesting (thumbs up) or boring and thanks.

https://fbcdn-sphotos-a-a.akamaihd.n...baeb0ffa405907

https://fbcdn-sphotos-f-a.akamaihd.n...df579aa87b587d

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?f...levant_count=5
From Internet
https://fbcdn-sphotos-g-a.akamaihd.n...8ef29732dd83a5