I'm SUCH a doofus

[mystic7]

Well, it took me 2 months and re-reading the manual about 30 times but I finally caught on to how to adjust my skimmer. The water flow regulator is on the pump. I had it set to full. So I turned it down a bit, then adjusted the air flow regulator on the skimmer. It's not pulling any skimmate yet, but now the foam is half-way up the inner tube as it should be, and no more micro bubbles!

Secondly, having never had an under tank sump before, I didn't realize that evaporation shows up in the sumps water level, not the tank. Another source of micro bubbles. So I just added fresh water to the sump and now the tank is looking great. FINALLY!

Now I hope to see some skimmate later today. Also (you knew there had to be a question in here somewhere), I was wondering. I've been using a .50 micron filter pad to pull out the floating aragonite dust from the tank. That's just about all gone but I've continued to use the .50 micron filter pad. Could that be preventing waste from reaching the skimmer, and if so, should I remove it? Does having the skimmer remove the waste rather than the filter pad do anything more beneficial other than not having to clean the filter pad every day?

 

[cveverly]

Good idea to add the makeup water to the sump. It is even better if you can drip it in so there is not a salinity shock to the sump or main tank.

 

[kau_cinta_ku]

the bag will not remove organics that the skimmer will. if it did well then why would we need a skimmer

 

[mystic7]

I just poured it in. I'm inpatient that way ;-)

It's not a bag, it's just a flat pad. I kind of figured it was no substitute for the skimmer, I was just talking off the top of my head.