Mounting The Unit; Putting Into Operation - AquaCare Flotor Mode D'emploi

AquaCareFlotor Type "A" (air wood) and "V" (Venturi)
Principle of skimming
Proteins and other substances adsorb on surfaces. With the skim-
ming process a large surface is produced with very small air bub-
bles. The proteins adsorb and can additionally bind other sub-
stances like particles, dead cells (bacteria, algae, fungi) and metals
(it is necessary to add care products to the aquarium, e.g. Aqua-
Care Trace Elements). The principle works the better the higher
the salt concentration (higher than 15‰), the smaller the bubbles,
the lower the temperature, the longer the bubbles stay in the wa-
ter, the less currents and turbulences occur in the upper part of a
skimmer. Added ozone increases the skimming effect to 30%.
The AquaCareFlotor is developed at the Research Center, Jülich,
Germany and is patented in many countries of the world.
The principle: water from the aquarium or filer tank is drive with
a circulation pump, connected to the connector (K). In the Flotor
type "A" an air pump brings the air through the connector (U) into
a wood air stone (P). The air stone is build in the aeration module
(Q). In the Flotor type "V" the venturi or injector (V) sucks the air
into the system. The water-gas mixture flows into the skimmer at
the lowest point and rises in the inner tube (G). At the top the wa-
ter flows downwards in the main tube (F). The downwards veloc-
ity is a high as the velocity of the bubbles going upwards. The
bubbles are caught in the main tube (F) and stay for a long time
(contact time). At the bottom the main tube becomes wider (cone,
H) and the clear water flows into the uptake tube (O) and leaves
the skimmer in the water outlet (L). In the upper part of the skim-
mer dark protein foam will be created and pushed through the
foam cone (D) and the contact tube (C) into the skimmer cup (B).

Mounting the unit

The AquaCareFlotor is ready to submerse in a filter tank (Fig. I)
or can be built external (Fig. II) near the aquarium or filter tank. If
you use the Flotor submersed the pump should be a submersible
type.
You need enough space for mounting and maintenance. Larger
models should be fixed against falling down. The place for the
skimmer should be even. An inclined skimmer will not work
properly.
Make the tubing as short as possible. If you need a long way to
the skimmer use a short way to the pump and a long way to the
skimmer – use a larger tube than usual. Do not reduce the flow
with a ball valve mounted before the pump – use only ball valves
after the pump. Otherwise the pump will be destroyed with the
time.
The connection between pump and water inlet (K) of the skimmer
should be done with a soft tube (X in Fig. I), like silicone.
It is important the tube connected to the outlet will go upwards.
Otherwise the skimmer will flow over. The models 1000 and big-
ger has an union (M) or a ball valve to turn the uptake tube (O),
the smaller models have a Teflon tape sealing. You can turn the
outlet tube (L), too (Teflon tape). If you mount the skimmer ex-
ternally you can glue the PVC tubes (Attention! Read the instruc-
tion manual of the glue carefully. The glue is toxic). If the water
should run out a long way, use two 45° elbows as seen in Fig. II)
If you take hoses (we do not recommend this way) for water inlet
and outlet, the hoses must be pushed over the connectors. Do not
put them inside of the connectors.
The air tube (U) of the venturi should reach the top of the main
tube (F). Otherwise water will run out if the skimmer stops work-
ing. The tube has to pushed into the connector. If you want to dis-
connect push the collet of the fitting and pull at the tube. To put
air into model "A" you need an air pump. The pumps must be
mounted minimum 1 meter above the skimmer to prevent water
damages.
B-ACF_1DE_GB_FR.DOC, OKT. 13
Instruction manual of
It is important to use clean air. If only bad air is available (e.g.
smokers) use an activated carbon filter in the air tube.
Start the water pump of the Flotor and reduce the water inlet ball
valve (N) to 45° (see Fig. I and II). The water pump will not start
automatically if the incoming tube is above the water level of the
filter or aquarium. De-aerate the tube before starting the pump.
Open the air valve (W) of the injector or aeration module only a
little bit.
Before adjusting the system let it run for minimum one day. In
this time the surfaces of the skimmer will be pleated.
Adjust the ball valve (N) for the incoming water in that way that
the small air bubbles will reach the cone (H). Better to take less
water than too much. If too much water flows through the
skimmer it will not work properly! In the upper part of the
skimmer any currents or waves should occur. You can take off the
skimmer cup (B) and look into the skimmer. The surface of the
water should be flat. If you see waves reduce the water inlet with
water inlet ball valve (N).
If very less substances are in the water you will see that the air
bubbles will not reach the cone (H). This is o.k.. With more pro-
tein (e.g. after feeding) the bubble reach the cone again and the
skimmer produces foam.
The water level inside of the skimmer is about 1 cm below the
gray thread for the skimmer cup. Models larger than 2000 are
equipped with a ball valve in the uptake tube (O). Reduce the
valve to rise the water level.
The air input is controlled with the air ball valve (W). With this
device you affect the quality of the foam. The more air the more
water will come out the skimmer. Good foam is black and not
transparent! If the concentration of protein is too less in the foam
the additional out taking of particles and other stuffs will not
work. The skimming process is not effective.
It is important that the water level of the filter sump is constant to
get a constant skimming. Use AquaCare level controls or level
valves.
An external connected skimmer should be supplied with an auto-
matic skimmer shut off. If the skimmer cup is full the shut off
stops the air or water pump to be sure not to spill water.
Important! If you adjust water or air input wait for minimum
15 minutes before changing the settings again.
A skimmer is producing foam only some hours per day. In the
other time there are too less proteins in the water. If a skimmer
works all the time it is too small calculated for the aquarium sys-
tem.
To be sure that the AquaCareFlotor is working well, you have to
maintain the system regularly. Otherwise too less substances will
be taken out of the water and bad substances like ammonia, ni-
trite, nitrate, organics, phosphate will enrich. Oxygen and redox
(ORP) will decrease. Fishes and invertebrates get hurt if the water
conditions are bad.
Weekly maintenance: cleaning the skimmer cup and control-
Clean the skimmer cup (B) minimum once a week. Stop the air
inlet (U) by disconnecting the air pump (type "A) or the water
pump (type "B"). Unscrew the skimmer cup, put the waste water
away and clean foam cone (D), contact tube (C) and lid of the cup
- 4 -

Putting into operation

Maintenance
ling the air supply