9015 performance

[Terje Utne]

Changed my Remora for a 9015 7 days ago, with quite high expectations. It took about 1 day for the skimmer to kick in, but it's still not performing really well (IMHO).

The tank is 75g medium stocked. After a week it has collected 100ml light coffee-colored skimmate. The adjustment screw is almost fully out. If I screw it further out, the foam column seems to lower.

The strange thing is that if I turn it off for a few seconds and starts it again, it performs a lot better for a few minutes. Then I can see foam being pushed down in the collection cup.
After a few minutes it starts to make a strange sound: 2-3 secs of silent gurgling, then 2-3 secs of silence, and this lasts until I shut it off again.

Any idea of what the problem might be?

 

[rvitko]

It sounds like it may be submerged too deep or the airline is pinched or loose. Water is getting into the air intake. I would first try raising it only about 1cm.

 

[Terje Utne]

Took out the pump, and put it back in again. The gurgling has stopped, but still it's not performing any better than my remora. The adjustment screw is almost fully out, but it's just skimming semi-wet.
The skimmer is submerged in a bit over 8 inches of water. Do I still need to raise it?

There's water coming out from the top (just a little) and from the hole in the back of the skimmer (a lot of water here...). Is this normal?

 

[slowsoaks]

Do you have it set up with the overflow pipe in your sump? You have to make sure the pump intake is fitted in the bracket at the bottom or else the level in the skimmer will be low. I have had a problem with the pump not fitting properly at the bottom of the skimmer. I use the overflow pipe set up since my sump water is not constant. yes it is normal for water to come out the back hole.

 

[Terje Utne]

My water level in the sump where the skimmer is placed is constant. It's set up with the owerflow pipe.
I picked it all apart a few days ago, so it should fit.
Maybe I shold try running it in the aquarium

 

[rvitko]

Terje Utne, can you post a picture of the skimmer installed?

 

[Terje Utne]

I'm sorry for my very late reply, but I just haven't had the time.

Here's a picture of how the skimmer is installed. I know the quality is bad, but as you can see, it's installed way higher than the limit. It has been running for about 24h here

2 days

5 days

The adjustment screw is just barely screwed in so it doesn't fall off. Am I just having too high expectations for this skimmer or should it perform way better?

 

[smatter]

It looks like it is working pretty well to me. Maybe it just doesn't have much to skim. Give it time.

 

[rvitko]

From a modestly stocked 75 that looks like about the amount of skimming I would expect in a week. Do you have any photos of the actual aquarium so I can see what the load is?

 

[Terje Utne]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11774095#post11774095 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by smatter
It looks like it is working pretty well to me. Maybe it just doesn't have much to skim. Give it time.

It has had 3 months...

But shouldn't it be possible to make it skim more wet?

My remora pro certainly outskims the 9015 at this time!

 

[rvitko]

So you are running both skimmers at the same time? It should be fully broken in. The 9015 cannot skim very wet.

 

[Terje Utne]

Just running the 9015, but the remora skimmed more when I used it.

 

[rvitko]

I can't answer for why that is but I would be shocked if it is true, the volume may be greater but if it is more wet it is not really removing more waste. It is possible your venturi is defective but without seeing it I cannot tell for sure, your results though seem to be about what I would expect based on your tank description.