protein skimmer help

[cailan]

i set up my new tank a couple of months ago. i bought the wet dry filter at alamo that came with the protein skimmer. i've already had to do several adjustments on my own concerning both the pump and skimmer. my question is can the skimmer "skim too much"? iv'e tried turning the pump down as far as i can and the drainage cup just fills up too fast. how often do you usually empty the cup?
thanks! :lol:

oh and the first time i had a problem with it was a month or so ago. a 2 and a half gallon bucket filled up overnight flooding the floor. the water coming out wasnt even "skimmer colored water". it was mostly clear.

[brewercm]

Not familiar with the system, but can the collection cup level be raised. On my skimmers ,I have to dump them anywhere from every 3 days to a week. Usually a nice dark liquid though that really stinks.

[cailan]

can't raise the cup. my boyfriend and i had a hard time getting the cup in the cylinder, he had to smoothe it down with sand paper cause it wouldnt' fit. do you think that the pump could be too strong?

[mharris7]

actually the subject of if you can skim too much is a something that's up for a lot of debate. I personally skim 24/7.

Btw - the reason skimmate smells is that it goes anaerobic. The stuff being pull from your tank doesn't USUALLY smell that bad by itself. ;)

[z28pwr]

Are you producing a dry or a wet skimmate ?

You should be able to reduce the skimming, by reducing the air intake.

[matt]

What kind of skimmer do you have? Try to describe it in detail if you don't know the brand. Does it use an airpump or a water pump? What pump exactly? How big? Does it hang on your tank or sit in the sump? How high is the water level it's sitting in, if it's an in sump skimmer? etc... If you can do this, I can probably tell you what's wrong. The stuff that gets into your collection cup should be a dark liquid and sludge mixture. There could be a lot of reasons you're getting plain water in the cup. If it's worked fine for a couple of months then went nuts, probably there's been some change in the chemistry of your tank that makes the water much more sensitive to foaming up.

And, is there a reason that Alamo isn't solving this problem for you if you bought it there?

[reefguy]

Try cutting down on the amount of air going into the skimmer. If I open my air valve too much it just pours water into the collection cup which sounds about like what yours is doing.

[R.Allard]

Is this a HOB skimmer or a in-sump skimmer??
it sounds like its a in-sump or part of the sump in that case,IMO
your water level is to high in the sump or there is not enough
air going into the skimmer. as we all know with powerheads the more air we add the lower water volume we pump. so try and
open the airvalve all the way and see if the water coming out of the
skimmer slows down. depending on the type of skimmer like my Kent Turbo eductor the exit pipe is adjustable to compinsate for the level of water in the sump so check if you can adjust that also.
HTH
Robert

[cailan]

its an in-sump. im not at home right now but later i will try to get a picture for you all to look at. thanks for the help so far!

[jim1000]

Does it have a drain to an external holding tank, which is the ideal situation for a skimmer in a sump, that way you dont have to empty except every week or so, make sure if you go this way to have a carbon filter or it will drive you out of the house.
I built mine out of 6" tubing left over from my skimmer I made and it lasts about 7-8 days between needing to be cleaned an is easy to make.

Jim

[cailan]

okay, i finally have a chance to update everyone. it is an in-sump skimmer and it does drain into a container. the pump is an air pump. i haven't been running it at all. based on what everyone has said so far, i think that the pump is too powerful. my problem sounded similar to reefguy, but the second problem is that the pump doesn't turn down any lower. i get it as low as it will go and it is still pumping too hard, then i try a little lower and it cuts off. i don't thing anything i do is going to make it efficent so i will probably just buy a new one. any suggestions on brand, what do you all prefer as far as HOB or in sump?

[matt]

So, you have an airstone skimmer? Meaning, there is a little wooden airstone connected to an airpump, and another small water pump, or does the action of the airpump draw water into the skimmer. I've never seen an airstone in sump skimmer; typically they hang on the side of the tank. If it's an airstone skimmer, you should be able to raise the whole skimmer up so that it sits in less water. If you have an adjustable airpump, chances are it's a tetra luft; is this right? I've also never experienced an airpump that's "too powerful" for a skimmer; almost always it's the reverse. Are you sure this skimmer is run by an airpump? Or is it a water pump with a venturi, meaning you adjust a knob to let air into the water stream. Maybe you could post a picture.

As far as recommending an in sump skimmer, I'd need information about your system; how big is it, what kind of livestock do you have, and what is your budget for this?

[TAXMAN]

A piture would be great. My old in sump skimmer used a small pump to introduce the water and 1 flow rate. I then adjusted the air to maintain a level. More air would lower the water level in the skimmer and keep it from overflowing. If you have this type, I had to check it everyday to keep the level right. With this type of skimmer, the water level in the sump may have something to do with it. With mine, the higher the sump water, the higher the water line would be in my skimmer. Thus I had to check it all the time because of the evaporation.

And with clear water comeing out, your just overflowing the skimmer.

My current skimmer has a valve on the pump and a tube for the air intake that has no adjustment. It will fill a gallon jug in 1 day if the pump is too high. But it's just water. Not skimmate. So I adjust the water flow to control the amount of skimming.

[cailan]

i tried to get some pics loaded onto my computer couldn't get them to work. i rechecked the pump, it is a water pump. i can't adjust the water level because i can't move the cylindar any higher or lower than it is and i won't even try to expain why :lol: ! based on what taxman said i think i'm going to just give up on this one and buy a new one. the type i have sounds like too much trouble for me.

its a 55 gallon tank. right now i have 3 damsels in it but i eventually want to make it into a reef tank with clowns, tangs, etc. as far as budget goes, i'm really not quite sure. budget is not that much of a problem and i would like to just get opinion on styles and brands and take it from there.
thanks!

[TAXMAN]

I would come by to look at it, but I'm not very close. Hopefully someone may be able to stop by and give you a hand with it.

[matt]

A 55 is kind of tough to find a GOOD skimmer for. My suggestion is to get a decent insump skimmer rated for a much bigger tank. Either the smallest PM or aquaC EV will work. IMO the remora, urchin, and bakpak, or any other small skimmer run a by a powerhead will not be sufficient. I'm sure there are those who will disagree, though!

[Ram_Puppy]

well, all I can say is I have a remora pro that has been running on a rubbermaid tub (about 60 gallons or so) of water with my 30 lbs of crappy lalo live rock in it... I added the remora pro (with mag 3) on Friday around midnight, instructions said to wash it so it would start skimming faster, so I ran hot water through it, slapped it on the tub, and by saturday morning had a thick wet skimate, about 1cm worth on the bottom of the collection cup. I was expecting it to take longer than 5 hours (got home from work at midnight, left for work at 5 AM).

It has slowed down now, I think it 'caught up' (in other words cleaned out the muck and is not holding steady) but I was really suprised at how fast it started working, I had understood that new skimmers took a couple of days to break in. If this is what it can do breaking in, I am even happier.

The remora pro is rated, I believe, for tanks over 70 gallons, so if you want a hang on back skimmer, or a ready made in-sump skimmer (urchin) then I don't think they are bad choices. Certainly having one of our wizards of maast make you a customized one, or going with some of the other first rate skimmers would not be a bad idea either.

[cailan]

thanks for the help guys, i appreciate it. i'm probably going to go to alamo in the next couple of days and get a skimmer. ;)

[Ram_Puppy]

don't box yourself into one store, I just got my remora pro from CB pets, and they matched the prices of the online stores. price around, see what you can get.