Normal skimmer operation

[AlexKilpatrick]

This is just a check of my perceptions.

In an aquarium with a nontrivial bioload, should the skimmer be producing foam all the time? Or is it the case that it can "catch up" and not produce foam for a while?

I am trying to figure out if the lack of foam means something is wrong, and it needs to be cleaned/fixed/whatever.

[cpreefguy]

As long as your feeding/your fish are pooping, it should keep on producing skimmate. Keep in mind though that some skimmers can be sensitive to changes in your water. For example, if I stick my arm in my tank, my skimmer will stop making skimmate for about 10 minutes. If its not producing, try adjusting it so that it does. I can set mine to produce a small amount of dry skimmate, or a lot of wet...
HTH

[akm]

Usually if your skimmer isn't producing foam for a good while then it's not the water it's the skimmer. Most likely the pump or the skimmer needs to be cleaned and you might have to dail it in again.

[AlexKilpatrick]

OK, thanks all. I just realized that I had been adjusting my beckett incorrectly, for about 2 years now. :)

For some reason, I had it in my head that you opened up the air all the way, and the reduced it if your skimmate was too clear. With my air open all the way, I had dark skimmate, so I just left it open.

I recently bought a much more powerful pump (MAG 24) and read up on it again and realized that you are supposed to adjust the skimmer for many small bubbles. Having it wide open produces bigger bubbles, as I understand.

Hopefully things will work better now.