Doc 9004

[economos]

hello,
The skimmer has been in service for a few months now and I have had to remove the skimmer several times and disassemble due to excessive noise and poor bubble production.

There has been no water in the silicone tubing but there has been a soft white colored deposit in the orifice of the foamer assembly itself. I can easily clean it out with but am concerned as to what is causing this because I don't want to continue to remove and disassemble the skimmer every few weeks.

Also, can you offer some advice as to what water level I should set the skimmer at. I am running it high in the water on the water level line on the top back of the case, the line provided for osmolator use.

At this level the skimmer grill in the front is barely submerged, about one eight inch or 3 mm. I'm not concerned with surface skimming per se, that's not an issue in my tank, just want to be certain the skimmer if functioning properly.

Thank you for considering my questions.
all best,

 

[rvitko]

As far as the white residue I would have to assume it is a calcium deposit, because pumps create heat and in this case the mixing of air would degas excess CO2, you will get some deposition, but this should only need cleaning every few months unless the KH or Ca is excessively high.

I have generally run the skimmer so between 1/4 and 1/2" of the grate is submerged, I look for a sweet spot where water is rushing in and the skimmer is not starved for water. Too deep or too shallow and you get a lot more air bubbles. Strong flow under the skimmer will suck bubbles out of the skimmer so that is also something to watch for.

 

[gorally]

There is a white plug at the bottom of the skimmer, what is that for and should I take that out?

 

[rvitko]

You could try it, but it will reduce the surface skimming and likely bubbles will escape there. The same basic body is used for the filters and that is where the intake pipe would go on a 3162 or 3163.