fuge/skimmer Mystery

[1460sun]

Hooked up a fuge this weekend and I've noticed that my skimmer has shut down, no foam, Skimmer is one of the hang on the back type. Not sure what’s going on but it can't be good.

[Reef69]

Let me guess..seaclone or prizm?

[1460sun]

Nope it's a Remora

[Reef69]

have you tried adjusting it?..My skimmer would produce endless amount of junk per day, until recently it slowed down, out of the blue..

[1460sun]

I kind of did things backwards. I've installed a fuge without a sump. Some think that makes my fuge a sump. Not quite smart enough about the plumbing (yet) to fully understand their logic.

[alexwolf]

slight surface disturbances will affect those skimmers. give it a few days, should be back to normal.

[Ram_Puppy]

did you get any sand or debris in the water when you hooked up your fuge? that could tank your skimmer temporarily.

[1460sun]

None in the main tank and everything had settled by the time I turned on the fuge. Should I move the skimmer as far away from the fuge over flow as possible?

[GaryP]

When was the last time you cleaned your skimmer? I usually recommend cleaning them once a week. It has something to do with the surface tension of the organic molecules in the skimmate. The two things may be unrelated.

On another front, did you add macro to your fuge already? The macro should be removing waste from your water and this in itself would reduce the amount of skimmate produced. Also you have a lot of fresh surface area in the fuge substrate that is being colonized by bacteria and other critters. Its undergoing what is called logarthmic growth. At that stage large amounts of organic waste are being absorbed and thus reducing the amount that is being skimmed. If its carbonate based substrate its probably absorbing a lot of phosphate and this has a big impact on the foaminess of the skimmate. This will eventually level out somewhat as your tank gets back into equilibrium. Its all good.

[Ram_Puppy]

there goes gary with a common sense explanation.

[GaryP]

Steve,

I could use the explanation I heard used by a chemist to explain surfactant chemistry (soap type compunds like what ends up in skimmate) to a customer. He said, "Its all just black magic, no one really knows how they work, just that they do."

Please excuse the common sense. It just overcomes me sometimes. Do you really want to start using words like van der Waal forces and hydrogen bonding again? Everytime I do, I can hear people nodding off all over S. TX. If you really want to learn about this stuff, try reading Martin Moe's book. Its a great read around bed time. Except for reef nerds like me, that is. Maybe we should start a physical chemistry forum. I can sit in there and talk to myself.

[Richard]

Also the spray injected skimmers (AquaC) are very sensitive to changes in the water chemistry and will stop producing foam for awhile anytime you disturb the sandbed alot or dose alot of chemicals. You may have noticed that they usually stop producing foam for an hour or so after feeding.

You should clean the the injection nozzle on the Remoras/Urchins at least every couple of months to keep it operating optimally. Just take the cup out and unscrew the little white plug that's on the injection tube and then you can clean the injection nozzle with the brush that came with the skimmer. You should also clean the impeller on the pump since the flow rate will decrease as gunk builds up on them and that will decrease the efficiency of the skimmer as well.

[Ram_Puppy]

:unsure

<------ has never cleaned his remora


oops. where is that brush...

[Tim Marvin]

Yes, please use all the big words Gary they are cool, and make more sense to me than bubbly stuff and green sludge.....LOL...

[Ram_Puppy]

well, you know Gary, chemistry board to clarify the mysteries of the world might not be a bad idea, I for one get easily confused. Richard made the first breakthrough with me the other day with the marbles in a jar analogy for alkalinity and calcium...

(I am somewhat ashamed of this, I consider myself a relatively intelligent person, but Chemistry has always been a weak point. :( )

[GaryP]

I'll have to steal the marble in a jar analogy from Richard since it looks like we will be redoing the chemistry talk again this year. We did one last year but I think we are going to back up a little bit this year and teach some real basic HS level chemistry before we go into the mysteries of calcium and alkalinity. Its hard to teach the slightly more advanced stuff until you have a basic foundation. I probably need to borrow a HS chemistry book from Misti to get some of the terminology right. I still have one I think but its in storage. The folks that remembered some HS & college level stuff seemed to get it, but there were some folks there that had some blank stares. Maybe I can talk Misti into teaching the introductory stuff since that's what she does for a living.

I promise to leave out the p-Chem stuff. I never really understood it that well when I took it anyway. We'll just try to do it on a HS level.

[GaryP]

See what happens, as soon as I start talking chemistry the thread dies. Its like, "OK, here goes Gary on another one of his chemistry rants. I came here to talk about fish and coral and stuff. Time to change the channel."

OK, I learned my lesson. It was off topic anyway. :)

[Polkster13]

I think you just pretty much covered it and there was nothing left to say. I for one look forward to your posts. I find them very informative. Keep up the great job you are doing.

[GaryP]

OK, Polkster, you are elected president and sole member of my fan club. :)

[Polkster13]

ROTFLMAO

[GaryP]

I can tell everyone that the world wide headquarters for my fan club is in Lago Vista.

[NaCl_H2O]

OK, Polkster, you are elected president and sole member of my fan club. :)

Hey, don't forget about all us GaryP groupies ;)

[Polkster13]

I guess you didn't see my post under the "Jobs??" thread. Like I need to take anything else on at this time. However, you can count me in as being a fan. Hey wait, the President gets to "DELEGATE" all of the work. Hmmmm, maybe I will take the position. LOL

[GaryP]

Hey wait, the President gets to "DELEGATE" all of the work. Hmmmm, maybe I will take the position. LOL

Try explaining that concept to Misti.