Red Sea Berlin Classic Skimmer
- Thread starter USMC81
- Start date
What pump do you have on it? Is it the recommended size?? Does the pump shoot straight into the skimmer inlet or are there elbows or turns in the pipe?? I have mine on a 30 gal. using a CAP 2200, and it never really foams up to the top. Maybe just not enough gunk in such a small tank. The sides of the reaction chamber up near the collection cup get super coated with gunk though, and there's hardly ever any liquid waste. If you want to get rid of it I'll take it off your hands 
Is the air sucking noise coming from the little rubber air venturi intake?? You could try closing the screw a bit, or putting a little airline check valve on it to quiet it. I have mine open all the way without much noise.
Is the air sucking noise coming from the little rubber air venturi intake?? You could try closing the screw a bit, or putting a little airline check valve on it to quiet it. I have mine open all the way without much noise.The tank has been running for about a year and a half. This is the second skimmer. This unit has been running for about six months now. The sucking sound is coming from the two nipples on the water return outlets. As far as the inhabitantsgo. I have a Small tang that i had in a bigger tank that had to be taken down. Four chromis damsels, cleaner shrimp, various snails, emerald crab. Corals are Various leathers, galaxia, xenia, various muhrooms, pagoda. About 60 pounds of live rock, and 4" deep sand bed. I just do not get anything out of the collection cup. It has the pump that is bundled from red sea. It is attached to the skimmer with a flexible hose that is about 8" long.
Based on your description, I'd say you have the turbo version. Your bio-load should be large enough that the collection cup should definitely be filling up with something on a regular basis. Do you see a lot of air bubbles in the column of the skimmer?
I've heard of the turbo pumps having issues. If this is the problem, I'd call RedSea or replace the pump with something like a MAG5 or 7 and install a Venturi.
I've heard of the turbo pumps having issues. If this is the problem, I'd call RedSea or replace the pump with something like a MAG5 or 7 and install a Venturi.
I have the same skimmer and it was making the same sucking sound(kinda like a slurpp?) after quite awhile of playing around with closing off the ozone injection nipples and water flow I came to the cnclusion the sound is caused by the water backing up in the water return hoses attached to the skimmer. when the water would completly fill the diameter of the return hoses it would begin to syphon air in through the injection nipples causing a slurrpping sucking sound that would cycle as the air emptied and filled the hose. I cured this problem by setting up the return hoses so that the flow of water exiting the skimmer did not completly fill the hose. Intead of round hose I used corregated hose and did not allow the return hoses to become submerged, this allowed air to fill the hose from the bottom to relieve the syphon pressure and eliminate the intake of air through the ozone injection nipples. I hope this is clear if not I will try to explaine agian
Honestly, I would think seriously about replacing that skimmer with a better one.
Berlin skimmers have a terrible reputation for not working properly.
It´s a shame because overall it is a nice design, but the guys @ Red Sea haven´t found a way to make it work properly.
Sorry
Berlin skimmers have a terrible reputation for not working properly.
It´s a shame because overall it is a nice design, but the guys @ Red Sea haven´t found a way to make it work properly.
Sorry
I find my Classic works well.
One thing I discovered with mine was the need for a stong pump. The pump Berlin advertised ( and I bought even after reading a thread which said what I'm about to say) is not even close to being stong enough to run the skimmer. I found that my skimmer ran well with a MAG9.5 . This is not to say a smaller pump would work as well (and be more energy efficient), it's just that I had a spare lying around and figured I might as well give it a try. Also I could have the pump outside the sump thereby reducing excess heat.
One thing I discovered with mine was the need for a stong pump. The pump Berlin advertised ( and I bought even after reading a thread which said what I'm about to say) is not even close to being stong enough to run the skimmer. I found that my skimmer ran well with a MAG9.5 . This is not to say a smaller pump would work as well (and be more energy efficient), it's just that I had a spare lying around and figured I might as well give it a try. Also I could have the pump outside the sump thereby reducing excess heat.
Semper Fi IronChef,
I solved the sucking noise last night by elimnating any drain hoses. By just letting it drain onto a peice of filter material to keep it from splashing in the sump. I will try the mag7. If that doesn't work I will opt for a new and better skimmer.
Thanks for all of the recommendations.
I solved the sucking noise last night by elimnating any drain hoses. By just letting it drain onto a peice of filter material to keep it from splashing in the sump. I will try the mag7. If that doesn't work I will opt for a new and better skimmer.
Thanks for all of the recommendations.
I had a Berlin Classic and was pulling my hair out trying to make it work properly over the course of six months. I have a heavy bioload 180g FOWLR. The constant tweaking to little or no result caused me to finally give up. I just installed a Euro Reef CS8-1. Granted, this particular Euro-Reef costs 3x as much as the Berlin, but I finally have a skimmer that I am happy with. I get as much skimmate in a day as I got in a week (or more) with the Berlin, and I barely have to even glance at the quieter Euro-Reef to be assured it is skimming ok. If you are cash-strapped and cannot afford a Euro-Reef, I'm sure that there must exist an excellent mid-priced skimmer that outperforms the frustrating Berlin. I've read great comments about Aqua-C, for instance...
??? I've never heard anyone complain about a Red Sea Berlin. Mine works fine and produces a very concentrated thick sludge with hardly any foam at all. I bought mine after seeing 3 of them being used on beautiful tanks run by Rob Toonen here in Davis. If a published authority like Rob uses them, they can't be too bad. Anyone else have problems with these skimmers?? What skimmer would you recommend for a small tank like this??
my comment on this skimmer having owned one for several years (90g reef) with very limited results & trying a couple different pumps without a noticeable difference is that red sea should get with the program & go back to the drawing board to design a new skimmer, adding the turbo to this design has not prolonged this model from all the post I have read,
you may have better results using a mag 7 but as for myself I will be upgrading very soon goodbye classic !
you may have better results using a mag 7 but as for myself I will be upgrading very soon goodbye classic !
While I no longer own, or would recommend, a Berlin skimmer there are a few things I learned in my experience that I can share.
1. In order to eliminate any problem with the outlets making noise, thread in 3/4" pipe nipples and put tees on them. Insert a pipe in the bottom of the tee so that it is submerged in the sump water. This allows the water to flow out without creating a siphon but stifles the noise by letting it fall to water level in the pipe.
2. Use at least a Mag 7. Any lesser pump will underdrive the skimmer. I have heard of people removing the venturi that is installed on the Red Sea and replacing it with a 3/4" Kent venturi. Supposedly this will further increase the skimmer's efficiency, but I wasn't too fond of constantly having to tweak the air inlet.
The Red Sea Berlin is a marketing marvel, nothing more. It's not all that great a skimmer, but if it's on a smaller tank it should be adequate for reasonable stocking levels.
Hope that helps,
Scott
1. In order to eliminate any problem with the outlets making noise, thread in 3/4" pipe nipples and put tees on them. Insert a pipe in the bottom of the tee so that it is submerged in the sump water. This allows the water to flow out without creating a siphon but stifles the noise by letting it fall to water level in the pipe.
2. Use at least a Mag 7. Any lesser pump will underdrive the skimmer. I have heard of people removing the venturi that is installed on the Red Sea and replacing it with a 3/4" Kent venturi. Supposedly this will further increase the skimmer's efficiency, but I wasn't too fond of constantly having to tweak the air inlet.
The Red Sea Berlin is a marketing marvel, nothing more. It's not all that great a skimmer, but if it's on a smaller tank it should be adequate for reasonable stocking levels.
Hope that helps,
Scott
Update on Red Sea Berlin Skimmer. I had a Tetra Luft air pump not being used. Added a piece of rigid air line tubing and wooden air block to the end of it. Turned the air pump wide open with the block feed into the skimmer and know I'm getting a nice dark brown goo out of the skimmer. I'll let this run as is until I can afford a better skimmer.
fwiw-
i used a red sea berlin for about 4 yrs. on a 75gal. moderate-heavily stocked reef-never had a problem from day one-worked beautifully, and was easy to clean and maintain.also a good price/performance ratio. it was the original model run w/a mag 7.
also used them in my client's home setups-never a problem there, either.
i used a red sea berlin for about 4 yrs. on a 75gal. moderate-heavily stocked reef-never had a problem from day one-worked beautifully, and was easy to clean and maintain.also a good price/performance ratio. it was the original model run w/a mag 7.
also used them in my client's home setups-never a problem there, either.
Glad I'm not totally alone, being a new reefer I wasn't sure what I was supposed to see coming out of it. I don't get a foam yet, but I do get a thick layer of gunk up the tube. What I did find was that I had to keep the water level several inches above the intake vents on the pump. I've had to turn the pump on its side to fit it in my sump, so I am propping it up on two layers of eggcrate so that I can get the most out of the vents that face the bottom of the sump. Live and learn, it will be ebay material when I can afford a new one.
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