aqua C remora skimmer question.. problem or not?

[saltyESQ]

mine has the mj1200.

I put in on my 24g aqua pod.

I am not sure if this is a problem or normal, as it just does not seem to drop a lot of water back into the tank. is this normal?
also, I am not using the rubber to keep the cup higher (should be wet skimming) and I can go a month before cleaning out the skimmer box, is that normal?

 

[omeg]

1 month without cleaning???????????????

I clean my skimmer at least twice weekly else it'll be too stinky. I don't use the aquaC though so can't comment whether your experience with them is normal.

 

[Yinger]

check the injection nozzle, you can use a screwdriver on it. You might need to mess around with that a little bit and also check your MJ to see if there's any clogs.

 

[SBJim]

Just make sure you turn off the skimmer before unscrewing the white screw. Learn from my dumb*ss mistake!

Even if the cup is nowhere near full, it's important to clean the neck of the collection cup, or you won't get much additional skimmate. I clean mine about once/week, and it generally has about 3/4" of wet skimmate (I don't use the o-ring at all). But I only have 4 small fish in my 50g.

Hope that helps. FWIW, the Remora returns less than half as much water than my power filter does.

 

[818]

U need the O-ring also to adjust the cup, u need to be able to empty it once a week.

Sam

 

[SBJim]

Without using the o-ring, the cup is in it's lowest position, which means wettest skimming, which means raising it would only reduce the need to empty it.

So if SaltyESQ is afraid that it does not need to be emptied often enough, I think he/she is doing the right thing by not using the o-ring.

 

[saltyESQ]

I assume loosing the white screw allows for more o2 and therefore I should get more skimmate?

 

[saltyESQ]

I have loosened the white screw in the past and it did not seem to do much. I even removed it completely for a couple minutes and nothing changed.

this compared to my venturi skimmer where if I let in too much o2, it would overflow in about 2 secs

 

[Freed]

If you removed it while the skimmer was turned on, you should have had water spraying up at the bottom of the cup. That screw has nothing to do with allowing for air to mix with water. That is the screw that you remove to clean the spray nozzle thru. Removing it would allow water to spray up at the bottom of the cup, essentially doing absolutley nothing for skimming.

 

[saltyESQ]

when I removed the screw, nothing happened! so what should I do?

 

[Freed]

Is the pump plugged in and running? Don't take the screw out if it's plugged in and running.

 

[saltyESQ]

yes, the pump was plugged in and running when I took out the screw.

 

[SBJim]

That is a problem. I had a geyser the size of old faithful from that hole. Take off your maxijet and test it in a bucket. If it's ok, make sure the intake pipe is clear.

There is no way that the ph can be ok and the pipe can be clear. one of those must be the problem.

 

[Freed]

Your pump can't be running or even at full flow if it is. Check the pump.

 

[saltyESQ]

I regularly test my PH and it is always at 8.0. I will test when I get home from work. thanks. what if the MJ is working fine?

 

[Yinger]

your pump seems to be the problem. doesn't seem like its pushing out enough water to create a strong injection. Check that out first tonight.

 

[Beach Native]

It's either the pump or the injector. Considering that nothing came out when you pulled the screw, I'd say it's the pump. As was said, you should have gotten a shower if you pulled the screw while the pump was running. As was also said, if you have the cup all the way down, and the pump was working, you'd be emptying the cup weekly...out of necessity.

Get a new MJ. When you shut it down to install the new pump, take the time to clean the injector.

 

[SBJim]

I meant powerhead when I said ph.

 

[saltyESQ]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7546287#post7546287 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by SBJim
I meant powerhead when I said ph.

duh! me
I should have figured that one out, I could not figure how PH would effect the skimmer

 

[migston]

I use a mag 3 on my Remora and it works great. Although I have mine in my sump and i see that you're using the skimmer in a nano. So having the massive Mag in the tank might take up too much real estate and be ugly. Either way it's definitely a powerhead problem.

Also if you e-mail the staff at proteinskimmer.com and ask, they'll send you an injector cleaning brush for free. Also they'll even throw in some extra screws and an o-ring if you need.