Skimmer problem?

[reefmaster719]

I just hooked my skimmer up and its not brown like people say there's is. Mine is coming out bubbles at top then turning to water. Is this normal? I've never had a skimmer hooked up on this tank since it started running 4mnths back.

 

[powdermonkey]

I think what you are describing is what people call wet skimming. Back it down a little and the skimmate will turn the brown you are looking for.

 

[Cake_Boss]

What is your skimmer? Are you running the air wide open? Do you have it at the recommended depth?

 

[reefmaster719]

coralife hob skimmer. The bubble control is all the way down. It's bubbling over but its straight white now and looking dirtier tho.

 

[cdrewferd]

It needs to break in. Give it a week or 2 and then let us know how it's performing.


Drew

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[reefmaster719]

What do protein skimmers do? Will I notice a difference?

 

[powdermonkey]

Removes organics. You will see it in water quality/tests. Which as you are aware shows in your corals.

 

[reefmaster719]

Right on. Probably a good investment long term then. My nitrates have been high as well so we ll see.

 

[Bajamike]

Those skimmers are very hard to dial in.....water level and flow affect them a great deal. Dial it in at the top water level and just leave it or they overflow.

 

[reefmaster719]

Working great for me. It's hob also. Is there a big difference then having a protein skimmer on the back or in the sump?

 

[Ghosty]

What do protein skimmers do? Will I notice a difference?

Great skimmer intro from back in the day (2002). Read this:

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2002-06/fm/feature/index.php

 

[Bajamike]

Working great for me. It's hob also. Is there a big difference then having a protein skimmer on the back or in the sump?

Not saying it is not a good skimmer more or less saying they are a pain to fine tune just takes time. just take baby steps with those skimmers

 

[reefmaster719]

Yeah lol. It's not a octopus "mike" haha. Another thing is that its rated for 65 and my tank is a 75. What do ya think?

 

[Cake_Boss]

Personally, I like the tank bigger than the skimmer is rated for. That way you don't run into the problem I have (skimmer doesn't produce enough foam to take anything out because I don't have a big enough bio-load). The down side is that you walk a fine line between overwhelming your skimmer.
The general consensus is have your skimmer rated for 2x your tank size though...unless you subscribe to the algae scrubber philosophy, then you don't even need a skimmer.

 

[Ghosty]

Personally, I like the tank bigger than the skimmer is rated for. That way you don't run into the problem I have (skimmer doesn't produce enough foam to take anything out because I don't have a big enough bio-load).

I've never run into this problem, but then again I've never had an overly HUGE skimmer before. I've always overshot and been happy with the level of muck they pull.

Do you think your issue was that the neck width was so big, that there wasn't enough organics/protein/muck to create a good (rising) foam head? Could it be because your water-level was too low for your skimmer height? Just throwing out ideas...

 

[Haulin Oates]

I used to subscribe to the "under skimming" idea too... Until I downsized and kept my ASM g2 on my Biocube/sump setup. Now I set it to pull really dry. Between that and my filter sock I'm extremely happy with the way it's all working! Maybe post pictures of the skimmer in question so we can see what you need to do?