[scribbles]

I ordered a new light and an Odyssea PS 75 Protein Skimmer last week.

The light will be here tomorrow so I will review that when it gets here, but I have been running the Protein skimmer for a couple days. First day I assembled it and let it run, it work ok for what it is. I got a little, 1/8 cup light green skim in a day. Looking at it for the last 2 days, the main problem I saw was that the outlet on the power side was slamming the mix and making a random flow; well large bubbles were rising through the middle and disturbing the foam. Well I was looking at it and started looking through the junk I have in my fish stuff in the garage trying to figure out how to get a vortex.

Tried a dozen different things and the one I came up with is sliding a piece of clear 1/2 into the power side outlet, all the way across the canister with a notch in the opposite side, well this slows down the flow good on this model, and kicks the water around the canister making a vortex.

It works much better I have already pulled as much skin in 2 hours as in the previous 24 hours, and it is a darker green. The bubbles making it to the top are much smaller and more consistent.

Out of the box it is fine for what it is, it is rated for a 75galon tank, I would not use it on anything larger than a 40gallon, but I am very happy with it now that it is modified, and I did not need to do anything permanent, so I can change back with about 30seconds of work.

So far I am very happy you get what you pay for and at $29.99 you are not paying much but for my little 22g tank it are more than enough.

 

[scribbles]

One more problem with this skimmer, and probably the biggest problem it has is too much flow through the unit, the bubbles don’t have the dwell time they need in the chamber. I am still thinking of a way to adjust the flow of the power head. I may just switch to a different power head that is adjustable.

 

[archer772]

Is there anyway you can increase the amount of air going into the skimmer as this would reduce the flow of the pump I think

 

[scribbles]

You can and I did, that was the first thing I tried. I put an old air pump with regulator into the power head, force air in instead of draw through it did increase the bubbles, but I am already getting way too many micro bubbles in the tank, and this made it much worse. I am working on a new stand for the tank so I can install it in a sump, then it will not matter so much but I am trying to balance skim with moderate bubbles in the tank for now.

 

[BigandUgly]

I got one of these about a week ago too. I am using it as a hang on back on a lightly stocked 30 gallon. After adding a small air pump and spending some time making adjustments I am happy with the results. I wish I would have bought 2. I'd like one for another tank but don't want to pay shipping again.

I also got the $99 150W MH fixture from aquatraders. I'm much happier with the light then I expected.

 

[scribbles]

i got the same light, it will get here today.

 

[BigandUgly]

Do you plan on using the light for your 22 gallon tank? I put mine on a 20 gallon. It's a bit overkill. I ended up adding a little light diffuser to break it up a little.

 

[scribbles]

I did put it on the 22, but my 22 is some old reef built tank I found years ago, it is really deep for what it is, 19.5"- 20" inches deep. It has been there over the weekend and so far I love it, not sure if spike is happy but his color is improving over the last couple days.


P.S. spike is a really old, really mean damsel I have had for 6 years, he is the first fish I ever bought to cycle my tank and over the years that 2 dollar fish has ate $200 worth of fish, the 22 is his and his alone.

 

[Kotton]

I recently purchased the Odyssea PS75 protein skimmer. This has been my first protein skimmer for a my tank. within an hour of turning it on, it worked beautifully until I made significant changes to the layout of my sump and ended up taking off the filter pads that came with the skimmer. After that it stopped skimming. My tank is some what new after a recent move, so i thought it may take a while. I just minutes ago rearranged my sump and put back on the exit filter pad for the protein skimmer. I also adjusted the water level of the tube chamber a little. It was like magic how it has started to work. I am new to the whole salt water and reef scene so i am not as knowledgeable about other skimmers but this thing is AWESOME. I hope this helps, and is not too late. there are some pictures in my gallery (hopefully).