nac8 skimmer on a 75 will not level off

[Xtc_link]

As title states I have a BM nac8 on a 75g. 93 total system water. The bubbles never level out to consistant height only small white bubbles. Been setup over 2 weeks. Collection chamber center is clean. More time or is this skimmer too big?

 

[swk]

Seems like an awful large skimmer for that system. I would guess that there's not enough nutrients for it to develop a consistent foam head

 

[Dozer1one]

There's no such thing as a skimmer being to big... The bigger the better IMO... However if the bio load and excess nutrients are low in your system then you won't create a lot of skim mate, that's not necessarily a bad thing. But if you have fluctuating levels in your skimmer you might want to check that it is in the correct depth of water that it is rated to run in or that all connections are tight and your silencer isn't being blocked. Also is the water level in that chamber of the sump fluctuating at all? If needs to have a constant level to run in

 

[Xtc_link]

4am I closed the loop to the sump, went to work. At 730pm I opened loop to the sump and TADA within a minute the skimate was back to filling the collection cup. Thanks for the replies. Also nitrates 40 ammonia 0 no phosphate test atm

 

[Xtc_link]

The skimmer will not build a head. I think cleaning the glass and blowing off the rocks is the only reason it works respectively. It had a 4-5" dry head for a few days. now I have to keep the water level about 2" from the top of the collection cup or I don't get anything in the cup. Dry foam is pretty much out of the question currently.

75g DT 17g sump, livestock: dogface puffer, fumanchu lion, and a maroon clown

 

[Xtc_link]

Anyone have experience with a nac8 on 90g of volume? I have to adjust it daily. It's a challenge to keep skim productions

 

[Moorepower]

i have about 100g of volume i normally get a wetter foam. water is a light to med yellow never got a full dry foam. lol thought maybe i was running it wrong. had mine for 7-8 months.

 

[rockdrummer1226]

I have about 85-90 gallons of water volume with light bioload. Took my brand new reef octopus diablo xs-200 4-6 weeks before it started really cranking. This is quite oversized skimmer for my tank but I still get alot of skimmate. My guess is you need more time. Skimmers are a weird piece of equipment and I still don't fully understand everything about them. There is alot of variables and some have a very long break in period. This last week I started getting more foam suspended in the skimmer cup. Not sure what caused it or if that is the way it was supposed to be working the whole time. I mostly just let it do it's thing and adjust only if there are major problems or I bump the adjustment on accident.

Overall-vote: wait it out a couple of weeks.

 

[Xtc_link]

can't really wait weeks, it gets gunked up . Thick green slim in the cup so I have to clean it. And when I say clean. I mean blast with garden hose and replace. I dont even have to rub, everything comes off super easy. I'm jsut thinking my bioload is the issue with this skimmer. I have tried to set it so it needed 3 inches of foam b4 it will spill over and after a week it never crested the ridge to make it into the cup. I'll let it ride and see what happens. I know a buddy that conviently has a reef octo that it under sized for him. Think we shall swap and see what happens.

TY for your REPLIES!!!!!!!!

 

[SkullV]

I had an NAC8 on my 75g with 30g sump. You need more bioload, or carbon dosing, or bacteria dosing. SOMETHING to get enough organics into the water column for the skimmer to skim or you need to just get a smaller skimmer. Buy more fish, feed coral more, carbon dose, etc.

 

[Xtc_link]

That is my conclusion also. I just needed someone with more experience then myself to say it before I could believe it. Lol.

Only two things that allowed dry foam export is either a timer on skimmer pump. Or running wide open with a really slow drip of wet contents from the cup.

The second option is not a option just a means for me too see it needed more bioload.

 

[shesacharmer]

Sounds like a win to me...buy more fish!

 

[Xtc_link]

Dogface puffer, maroon clown, fumanchu lion. Limited on what I can add.