by .

OK, so you've bought a Prizm skimmer and can't get it working well. It's hard to tune and spewing micro bubbles all over your tank and maybe even flooding.

I bought one cheap here in Hong Kong ($85 Australian) and did some easy mods on it to get it working well.

Firstly, the packaging says up to 100 gallons. This is wishful thinking. I wouldn't use one (even with mods) on any tank bigger than 35 gallons. That appears to be their maximum.

Here's the mods:-

1. Replace the air tubing with slighly larger diameter tube. Basically buy silicone air line as large as possible that will still seal around the nipples.
2. Raise the skimmer higher on the back of the tank. Put the large plastic screw in the bottom of the 2 holes and raise the skimmer body by placing a block under the outlet so as the screw just has enough glass pannel to fix against. I was able to raise the body an extra inch or so. The screw just has enough glass to connect to the back of the tank without risking it slipping off.
3. Raise the collection cup up a little so as it just seals with the rubber o-ring.
4. Use mechanical media sheeting (the stuff that comes in sheets, usually blue or white and is coarser than foam and stronger than filter wool) and cut it so as it will completely fill the overflow chamber. you might need to add extra pieces to completely fill be space. The idea is to make sure all water has to flow through this on it's way out of the skimmer body. This mod will eliminate the micro bubbles and increase the contact time within the skimmer.
5. Ensure you bleed all the bubbles out of the inlet tube when priming the skimmer.
6. Once it's primed set the water level valve to the 10 pm/4 am position or so as the foam level is slightly under the rubber o-ring.

These mods turned my Prizm from a light green "tea maker" into a black "coffee maker" almost imediately. The foam it's producing now is also dry and continuous. I'm using it on an 18inch cube (20 gallon) tank.

Another mod that I haven't tried is to firstly add larger diameter airline, fill the last (overflow) chamber as in point 4 above and add a 3 inch extension to the neck of the skimmer - effectively raising the cup a full 3 inches above the body. This last mod allows you to drive the skimmer much harder.

The mods above don't take long to complete and the difference should be immediately apparent (i.e. providing your skimmer has been run in... usually 4-7 days after it's first installed).

I wouldn't recommend buying a Prizm over something like an Aqua C, DB ReefTech or AA skimmer, but if $$$ are an issue and your tank is small with these mods it seems to work well.

Comments

Pictures Written by on 2006-11-14 11:09:46 Could you post pics of your mods... I am more of a visual learner.

Re: Pictures Written by on 2006-11-14 11:10:31 If anyone has performed this modification, please send me a picture of it so that I can put them up.

Good skimmer Written by on 2007-01-16 17:46:22 I have a Prizm skimmer on my 60gal marine (mostly anemones, starfish, crabs and small fish) tank. My experience has been very good w/out mods. Skimmer collects about 2cm of dark green scum in the cup daily. I add vitamins to the water which may enhance skimming. The skimmer has a fairly quiet design and doesn't let any bubbles into my tank - I don't have any bubbleguards or anything. Sometimes I've had to check if the skimmer was running because I couldn't tell from the water stream coming out. Overall I'd recommend it.

Prizm Skimmer Modifications Written by on 2007-09-11 09:16:13 I had a similar problem with micro bubbles but managed to resolve by simply putting a sponge (cut to exactly the right size) on the outflow duct. I attached the sponge using a couple of elastic bands, making sure the bands don't come into contact with the water. I can now run the skimmer at full tilt with no bubbles.    It's important to make sure that the sponge is lower than the top of the outlet duct, in case the sponge becomes blocked.

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