# Red Sea C-Skim 1800 Help please



## huttyhawk (Feb 2, 2013)

I have recently purchased a Red Sea C-Skim 1800 and plan to put it in an Eshopps RS-300 Sump. My question is for those who have successfully used this skimmer, what pump did you buy to feed it and more importantly how long was the tubing between the pump and skimmer?


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## coralbandit (Jul 29, 2012)

I'm pretty sure I use a mag 5 with mine.My skimmer is on a shelf about 2' above my filter so I use like 4' of hose.There is a pic in my 75 reef gallery.Good luck! I installed a ball valve on my feed for extra control,and drain scum to a bucket.Seems like a pretty good skimmer but is pretty loud.


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## Goby (Mar 21, 2012)

huttyhawk said:


> I have recently purchased a Red Sea C-Skim 1800 and plan to put it in an Eshopps RS-300 Sump. My question is for those who have successfully used this skimmer, what pump did you buy to feed it and more importantly how long was the tubing between the pump and skimmer?



I use a Maxi-jet 1800 pump with tubing 2ft from pump to skimmer, however I've had different setups and used both longer and shorter tubing. My sump is a Rubbermaid Tote. 

The C-Skim 1800 is a workhorse but it takes some getting used to. The controls are super sensitive...a millimeter adjustment on the air knob or water valve can literally overflow your collection cup and cause all the gunk to spill into your sump and display. Understand that it takes several days for this skimmer to start working properly and this can be confusing and frustrating because it's difficult to discern whether the controls need to be adjusted up/down or if the skimmer is just breaking itself in. My advice is to follow the manufacturers directions precisely with regards to the water level and bubble sizes you see in the viewing window and then just let it run for a few days without expecting gobs of skim at first. If suddenly there doesn’t seem to be enough water-flow into the skimmer, check your pump connections as they can get plugged if you have small things your sump; examples would be macro algae, little rocks, and snails. The eventual goal is dry frothy foam. You’ll become an expert on wet foam versus dry foam. ) Dry foam looks like the head of tap beer or soda...some larger wet bubbles on top of the foam-bed is normal. You will accomplish dry frothy foam via 2 knobs- a lever which controls the water intake and a little knob that controls the air intake. Even after the skimmer is broke-in, these controls will need to be monitored and occasionally adjusted. Something as simple as the water level in your sump may warrant adjustments on the skimmer controls which again, are SUPER sensitive, (a major product flaw in my opinion…not only are they sensitive, but in my opinion they are also flimsy). Also, give the controls several seconds to produce the changes you want...expect a delay. Cleaner water skims differently than dirty water, water with fresh chemicals skims differently than without, as does RO water versus tap water.

This skimmer can be noisy, especially if it’s leaning against something and also from the splash of the skimmed water. I've found that allowing it to spill into a small bucket and then allowing the bucket to overflow quietly into the sump is helpful with regards to the splashing noise. This of course requires the skimmer to sit in the water inside the sump. The air control on my unit has grown noisier with time but only when I make initial adjustments…it seems to eventually quiet down after several minutes. Any chemical you put into your water, including water conditioner, may require you to adjust the controls…so don’t dose and walk away…see how the skimmer reacts in 1 minute, then 5, then 15. Seriously. It’s easy to overflow your skimmer in a matter of seconds/minutes after dosing chemicals…when that happens it looks similar to when a pan of water boils over on the stove- very sudden. The self-cleaning feature is overrated. If this was a selling point for you, I recommend that you “self-clean” a couple times daily because once the gunk is stuck…it’s stuck. Initially you won’t see this but as the skimmer gets broke-in and more efficient, the gunk will get stickier. And because the collection cup on this skimmer is so large…it often takes several days to fill it, which allows the gunk to get gunkier. You can empty it before it fills, but the emptying process may cause you to have to re-tweak the controls…mostly the air control. That’s how sensitive it is, so I tend to let my collection cup just fill. But remember, the more gunk in the collection cup the bigger the disaster will be if it overflows, which has happened to me twice and both times it was due to the super sensitive air control knob…once the Maxi-jet pump got too close and vibrated the skimmer/control causing the knob to move and another time I think I may have bumped the sump…who knows. My husband I were watching TV and my husband asked “what’s that smell?”…and sure enough my skimmer was overflowing. The control knob and lever are too sensitive and poorly made IMO. If you read the reviews you’ll see others agree. Oh…and operating the bilateral clasps that allow you to remove the collection cup will require a few inches of space on each side of the skimmer…this is important and you’ll see why the first time you attempt to remove the collection cup. 

All that said, you may or may not find this skimmer frustrating initially. Either way, stick with it. Don’t always assume something’s wrong…especially initially. I had to get a feel for it and I still wrestle with it on rare occasion. It's not the easiest skimmer to operate. I have a love / hate relationship with mine. But when it's all said and done this is the best skimmer I've used and if/when it dies...I will get another one just like it.


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## coralbandit (Jul 29, 2012)

Good points made by Goby.I have installed a plastic container with filter floss to the air intake hose as even if only dust gets in hose it does effect the air mixture.This has worked very well for me(avoid kinks in air intake hose also).I think Goby mistakenly said water intake knob meaning water outlet control as there is no intake control,which is why I installed a ball valve to my supply line to give extra adjustments.
The skimmer is a beast and like I said works well, but Goby is correct that it is super sensative.Definately hook up drain to a 3 gallon (or greater) bucket to avoid spills or re contamination(going back into tank) of scum if and when it overflows.


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