eshopps s-120 cone skimmer issue/question

[murphreef]

ok well I set up my new 75g cube tank Tuesday and hooked up this new skimmer.

question how long do these things take to break in?

I have been running it for 72 hours now and still can not get this thing working correctly. it will run with really watery bubbles low in the neck then rise up then back down then rise up and over flow. I have it in 8.5" of water it says its recommended in 8-10" so should be fine. I made sure I put it all together correctly and I still cant get this thing to skim.

am I doing something wrong or does it need more time?

never experienced this length of non skim in any of my previous skimmers I have used before.

thanks for any help

justin

 

[reeftivo]

Are you running the wedge pipe wide open or did you adjust it up already to skim?

If the bubble density is good but you have an inconsistent swirling above the air/water line then that is normal. If the bubble density is poor then it may be a pump issue. 72 hours is not much time so it is still developing a slime coat.

Do you have any skimmate left over from another skimmer?

If so then put two drops of old skim directly down the neck of the eshopps. That should be all it takes ( no more) to help settle down the skimmer and help get a uniform bubble rise.

Try it and post back

 

[murphreef]

Are you running the wedge pipe wide open or did you adjust it up already to skim?

If the bubble density is good but you have an inconsistent swirling above the air/water line then that is normal. If the bubble density is poor then it may be a pump issue. 72 hours is not much time so it is still developing a slime coat.

Do you have any skimmate left over from another skimmer?

If so then put two drops of old skim directly down the neck of the eshopps. That should be all it takes ( no more) to help settle down the skimmer and help get a uniform bubble rise.

Try it and post back

right now I have the pipe wide open. at first I had it adjusted slightly for skimming which seemed to work for a few hours but that obviously changed since it would change up from low bubbles in the neck then just over flow randomly.

ok so these skimmers take some decent time to break in huh? I guess with the whole system being new even new live sand, new dead rock, new water and new sump lol it may take some time.

I didn't save any skim from my old nano wish I woulda thought about that.

how do I know when this thing is working correctly?

there are a lot of bubbles but they aren't making any foam they are more "wet" and this picture below shows how it is right now with the wedge pipe wide open and the skimmer sitting in 8.5" of water. they are small bubbles up until they hit the neck then they turn into larger bubbles and carry to the top of the collection cup. like I said they are very wet and then will over flow into the cup eventually



So your thoughts is just give it more time?

Thanks for your help I just didn't remember my last skimmer taking so long to start working.

 

[reeftivo]

Good picture. That's the swirling look that's normal. It still needs to slime up. It will take a while since there is no real bioload. Just give it time and it will be fine.

 

[reeftivo]

When it starts to break in, that swirling will settle down and you'll start to see a steady air/water line where the bubbles will start to rise uniformly. Hang in there

 

[murphreef]

thanks so much yea its been a while since I had a real skimmer lol so I was getting worried ill give it a few more days see how it goes.

thanks for helping out!