BengaBoy

Turned up temp to 30'c, and left it for 12 days.
Then 28'c for 7 days
Then back to 26'c where it stays at.

sounds like a pretty standard summer in Perth?

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Pros:

It works well

Cons:

1. Feeder control (float valve) when in off (ie allow intake float to flow) sits quite high and your tank lid will probably interfere with it
2. You probably need easy access to float valve (install diagram E)
3. Unless you are running a low flow (canister) pump (like less than 450lph) then you need to plumb in a T piece so you then end up with two inlets in your tank, one for the skimmer and the original one for the canister (install diagram C)

Installation:

There is a bit of carry on in the install instructions about where to place the skimmer – the upshot is it should be at the receiving end of the surface current.

This all comes down to what you have running in your tank that influences the current.

If you just have one canister then you will probably want the skimmer at the opposite end of the tank to the outlet (spray bar or jet etc).

In my case I have an internal filter at one end and the canister inlet and outlet at the other (actually I have another canister at the internal filter end as well) so I just T-eed in the skimmer to the canister at the opposite end to the internal filter. All this plumbing is therefore at one end of the tank but still quite a clutter, both in the tank and outside.

The skimmer takes a 12mm (internal dia) hose so check your hose size for the T piece. Larger Eheim canisters have a 16mm intake hose size. You can get genuine Eheim T pieces.

Like all good instructions the Eheim one is quite confused in mixing up terms. See use of “intake valve” and “float valve” in Diagram A for instance. Also use of inlet and outlet.

Note the water level with the installation guide. There are quite a few utube videos showing, incorrectly, the whole thing underwater. If it is on the internet it must be right, right?

Feeding:

When feeding I feed at the skimmer end. Remove the tank lid (mine sits a bit skew-if cause it needs to clear the float valve). Push down the float valve so intake float isn’t operating. Feed. When no feed on the surface pull up float valve so intake float operates again. Replace lid as best as possible. If you are only using food that sinks then you can probably leave intake float operating.

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Conclusion:

It works well but does seem to be an overly complicated device. If it was the only inlet on your canister probably ok, but when T-eed in seems a bit of overkill? Certainly cluttered.

It came with some gear I bought and I had a tank that was a bit troublesome with “oil slick” and it cleared that up quick smart. I am not sure I would have gone out and bought one off the bat tho.

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Might have tried some alternatives first, unless I had read a review like this of course J

Links:

https://www.eheim.com/en_GB/products/accessories/cleaning/new-surface-skimmer_3535000

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did do a video but at 79mb not sure how to load/link

you do get a few skulls washed up at Point Peron these days

Hmm I wounder maybe starts with a G?  

when I was looking into buying a generator I went to some of the camping stores to look at what they had and they were all sold out - school holidays. Said it would be a while before they were in again.

motto to the story is when you want a generator a lot of people in your neighbourhood might want too.

if you get one of the 'cage' style ones might be a different story.

I want something automatic , so it senses no input and starts backup

http://www.aquariumo...ck-up-bb-15000/

recently bought a generator.

I only just recently started up some tanks again, but last year I had a least 8 outages, four or five 8 to 10 hours.

even if I never use it worth the piece of mind.

30cm seems to be the magic number for the soil depth.

in the video the overflow looked a bit problematic? a minor quibble

looks to be a great idea - will be a while before I can get around to trying it out tho.

thanks humbug

http://www.dailymail...social-facebook

wasn't even flat packed.

Non PCS club members pay an additional 10% of total sale price per lot.

 

maybe should mention that in the gumtree ads?

could do it in a way to encourage membership?

yeah: I know it is in the link, but still a lot of peeps might not look there since you have the addy and time etc in the ad.

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_{this popped up as an ad when I was looking for a generator:}

_{pallet rack with tanks etc}

_{http://www.gumtree.c...mpaign=LF-other}

Any recommendations?

 

nope. depends on what you are breeding.

for me that is 6fts. the bigger the better.

remember you want as much access as possible.

if you have only 200mm access to the back of a 2ft wide tank it is harder access than to an 18" wide. Also depth of tank affects this too.

but for breeding water quality counts and I reckon the more water (bigger tank) the easier it is to maintain water quality.

some aquarists reckon surface area is more important than total volume (oxygen exchange I think), but some fish don't like shallow tanks either.

also remember that with (pallet) racking you won't be able to slide tanks in from the side, only the front (or back), so it is width between the uprights that counts. Also racking rails aren't perfectly flat on the top of the ends but that discrepancy can be taken up by the boards and foam between the rails and tank. Go have a look at some.. and you will see what humbug said about the vertical size increments when you place the rails.

for access calcs you want to think about whether you are having lighting etc and how that is supported - sitting on the tank? suspended from above? that can get in the way when accessing tank too.

and as humbug said, getting aquascaping in and out - rocks etc

where are your power points.. you don't want them behind an upright.

where are you going to put your power boards...

a bit of planning saves grief later.

having said all that, there has been quite a few breeding set ups come up for sale on treegum lately, save you some money if that is consideration.

the end frames have cross bracing bolted to them - which can be unbolted and shortened/repositioned, re-bolted thus making them narrower.

as Spiesie said, some standards widths might be suitable.

ps: you want the weight on the rails, not the board!

• minimum of 200mm gap between top of tank and bottom of stand rail, more is much much better
• if you use steel it has a lower profile, so less overall height, looks neater, and you won't need a leg in the middle of a 7ft run - that middle leg will annoy the crap out of you
• pallet rack is strong, and can be cheap if you are patient - you will probably want to modify the uprights (pretty easy) to be the right width for your tanks so the tanks sit over the rails.

other time savers were:

• no lids
• no substrate

I discovered by accident having the inlets and outlets and internal filters set up in a particular way the poo ended up in one spot. Just a quick siphon and then hook in the pvc "hook" which gave an exact 30% tank drain.

I could do 16 tanks in 2 hours.

Now it takes me 2 hours to do two tanks! lids, substrate, buckets.