9002 skimmer question

[kalfsbeckj]

I just recieved my skimmer on Monday and placed it in my 55 gallon tall tank. I have a small blue grouper and some anenome in there. The skimmer ran great until yesterday (even tho its still breaking in) I noticed that the bubble level went way down inside of the skimmer body and wasn't producing anything. So I took the skimmer apart to make sure all the parts were tight and put the skimmer back in the tank and then noticed the water level went way up the neck of the cup and the bubbles were large. So I took the skimmer out and noticed the airline was pinched.

Would it make a difference if I cut some of the slack off of the air hose so the hose wouldn't be so long?

Just curious. So far its a P.I.T.A. to get any descent bubbles in the skimmer.


P.S. I keep the water level just a hair under the water line on the skimmer.


Thanks,

 

[kalfsbeckj]

Well I went ahead and cut some of the slack on the hair hose down and that didn't do a thing for the large bubbles. Matter of fact in the middle of the night it woke me up b/c it was over flowing from the cup. Any ideas?

 

[rvitko]

This is not uncommon for the first couple weeks but try the following:

Make sure the skimmer is positioned with the marked water line 1/2" above the actual water line.

Start with the air adjustment screw fully closed, make sure that when fully closed only a very few bubbles are coming up, open the screw 3 full turns and you should see a definite increase in the amount of bubbles. Make adjustments in increments of 1/8- 1/4 turn each day. If the cup is collecting very wet skimmate close it 1/4 turn and dump the cup down the drain and wait a day to note the result of the adjustment. If you get no or very dry skimmate open it 1/8- 1/4 turn, again wait one day before any adjustment. If you used any sort of stress coat, dechlor, vitamins, amino acids or slime algee killer the skimmer will foam over until this is removed by time, carbon and water changes as well as skimming.

 

[kalfsbeckj]

Will cutting a few inches off of the air hose so it doesn't keep getting pinched inside the skimmer body make a difference?

Also tried running it again during my hour lunch break and closed the blue screw all the way and the cup over filled in less than 20 minutes. Seems that the bubbles are too turbulent to make any kind of foam head.

any ideas?

 

[rvitko]

I would not cut the air hose, that should make no difference, you just want to make sure it is not kinked. It sounds like a technical problem, my guess is the upper lid has an oversized hole for the adjustment screw. We had some plates where the thread was too loose. I can send a replacement plate if you just PM me your address, I am 99% sure that is the issue based on your description.