New 9002 Skimmer setup in JBJ Nano28

[balloonpilot]

I just setup the 9002 skimmer in the center chamber of my JBJ Nano 28. Its been 16hrs and bubbles are barlely to into the collection tube and its very noisy.

Ive tried to play with raising/lowering the unit but its hard to guess water level because of the chamber dividers.

I've got the airscrew alomost all the way out.

The unit is also making a very loud puttering/gergiling sound.

Is this all just part of the burn-in phase or did I do something wrong

Thanks

 

[iFisch]

I just setup the 9002 skimmer in the center chamber of my JBJ Nano 28. Its been 16hrs and bubbles are barlely to into the collection tube and its very noisy.

Ive tried to play with raising/lowering the unit but its hard to guess water level because of the chamber dividers.

I've got the airscrew alomost all the way out.

The unit is also making a very loud puttering/gergiling sound.

Is this all just part of the burn-in phase or did I do something wrong

Thanks

I was told by Roger, it can take 2 weeks for the unit to "break-in".

"The break in is normal and is caused by the plastic skimmers are made of, they repel water so the skimmer doesn't work quite right until the plastic gets coated by bacteria and abraded a bit so the water isn't repelled. This normally takes 2 weeks but the skimmer will work in a tank with some waste in it within a few days. For the most part just install the skimmer paying attention to the marked max water line, open the air screw 3 full turns and wait. It should start to fill the cup in a couple days if waste is present, you want to collect tea colored liquid. If it is too dark open the air screw 1/4 turn per day, if it is too light do the opposite, until you get the color skimmate you want."

 

[balloonpilot]

Cool...

I'll set screw for 3 turns and verify water line and wait...

Cheers

 

[rvitko]

In this case it sounds like it was set too deep at some point and water is trapped in the airline. It probably sounds like a coffee maker. The best way to fix this is: 1) Unplug the skimmer. 2) Raise it up so the marked water line is about 1/4" - 1/2" above the actual water level. 3) Close the air screw completely and plug it back in. 4) Slowly open it up 3-4 full turns. This should remove most of the trapped water and within a week the rest should be out.

 

[iFisch]

In this case it sounds like it was set too deep at some point and water is trapped in the airline. It probably sounds like a coffee maker. The best way to fix this is: 1) Unplug the skimmer. 2) Raise it up so the marked water line is about 1/4" - 1/2" above the actual water level. 3) Close the air screw completely and plug it back in. 4) Slowly open it up 3-4 full turns. This should remove most of the trapped water and within a week the rest should be out.

Good advice Roger.

 

[balloonpilot]

Thanks Roger...

Yep Coffee maker... I believe it was too deep.

I'll give that a try

 

[balloonpilot]

Roger -

I've raised the skimmer box a bit which actually helps the collection cup sit better on top.

I adjusted 4 turns on the blue screw - When I got home from work (12hrs later) I had a full cup of water. I dumped that out and reduced to 3 turns. Got about 1/2 a container full before bed. Reduced to 2 turns and by morning got 1/4 container.

My plan is to leave it at 2 turns and see what happens. Skimmate is till very clear but I noticed some of the foam is starting to brown a bit.

Shall I leave it at 2 turns or shall I make small reductions until its darker? How long should I wait in between adjustments?

Lastly - I currently shut the skimmer off for 5 to 10 min. while feeding. When I turn it back on, it seems to take a while (over an hour) before foam is seen at the base of the cup. Question - Should I just leave the skimmer ON while feeding?

If the practice is to turn it off, will the foam start up again quicker as the unit gets older?

BTW - its also gotten a LOT quieter... Nice

 

[rvitko]

Turn it 1/4 turn per day now that you are in the general range and the skimmate is generally more watery the first week or two. I would try to tune to an ice tea color. Just leave the skimmer on, it has a plankton safe design and slowly removes waste by osmotic diffusion into the skimmer body, it doesn't actively suck in food.

 

[iFisch]

Good questions.

Better reply.

 

[balloonpilot]

Yes - I'm impressed very much so far

Regarding my question on 'feeding' - I also add small amounts of Amino, Potassium, iodine, and Trace Elements... Since these are liquids my concern is that the protein skimmer will take out when I'm putting in unless I turn off the skimmer for a period while i add these... is this true? Or are these treated just like any other 'food' and not affected by the skimmer?

Thanks

 

[iFisch]

Yes - I'm impressed very much so far

Regarding my question on 'feeding' - I also add small amounts of Amino, Potassium, iodine, and Trace Elements... Since these are liquids my concern is that the protein skimmer will take out when I'm putting in unless I turn off the skimmer for a period while i add these... is this true? Or are these treated just like any other 'food' and not affected by the skimmer?

Thanks

Some say to turn off the skimmer for 4hrs or more. Depending on the supplement.

I'll let Roger give you a more definite answer.

 

[rvitko]

The 9002 works on the same concept of our original skimmer designs from the 70's. The water is recirculated in the skimmer, the pump does not actively suck in water from outside the skimmer, it is a passive system. The water inside the skimmer basically becomes clean, it has a reduced level of cellulose and proteins. By osmosis the higher concentration outside the skimmer diffuses in since water as a solvent will evenly disperse any solute. Think of adding sugar to tea, even if you don't stir it, it will eventually have the same level of sweetness from top to bottom, it is just the nature of dissolving something in water. So, to answer your question, it will remove the trace elements but at a very slow rate, and probably no faster than a traditional open circuit skimmer would if it was unplugged for a few hours. I will say that my experience is that amnio acids tend to cause very watery skimming. What I usually observe and this goes with any skimmer, is a day or two of almost clear water and a day or two of nothing before skimming returns to normal. This has more to do with the effect on surface tension that these additives have. I don't think you can really prevent then from being skimmed out, but for that matter there are still calories and nutrition in excrement and urine, but it is in excess and needs to be removed and the skimmer works much the same way, odds are the skimmer will take 3-4 days to fully remove it and the animals have likely got all they care for in a matter of hours. If they need there cells will actively transport it in.

 

[balloonpilot]

Roger -

Thanks again...

I guess I'm showing my newbie side. Also just realized my signiature isnt showing up on here... This is my 1st ever tank (jbj 28) and I just started this hobby in April of this year. So much to learn

Cheers

 

[rvitko]

Don't get sold on too many additives, less is more. My honest opinion is get a decent general trace element supplement, that is mainly an iodine source since it is removed quickly, and forget the others, change 10% every other week and keep up with your calcium and KH. Additives are a racket like filter cartridges, they will sell you everything under the sun, the deal is to keep you coming back and buying stuff you don't really need. Most of the experts will tell you, long term most do more harm than good and I would just say, if you aren't testing for it or at least have anecdotal evidence you need it than don't use. When you get the feel for things you will see that maybe you need some iodine because a xenia isn't as perky or pulsing as much, but just be really careful with adding stuff.

 

[balloonpilot]

I see what you mean on addtives.

I have about 25 gal in my tank (28 gal tank, less rock, add refugium, etc) and I've been doing 5 gal changes every week. Is that TOO much?

Sorry - I dont want to turn this into a water chemistry, tank maint. thread so PM me if you'd like.

Cheers

 

[rvitko]

The main risk is that your salt level is fluctuating every time you do a water change, even if you match the specific gravity it is hard on some inverts, I have seen water changes kill shrimp that have recently molted and can't handle the osmotic shock. 2.5 or 3 gallons a week would probably be the ideal.

 

[balloonpilot]

Thanks Roger... I'll try the 3 gal instead of 5 weekly and see how things go.

I tried leaving the skimmer on during feeding and in the 5 minutes that I've got the pumps turned off, it raises the water level around the skimmer causing it to produce lots of water - it filled up the cup in that 5 minute period. So I think I'm going to have it shut off during feeding even though it will take a couple hrs for it to start producing again.

 

[balloonpilot]

Roger -

Skimmer seems to be working well - Got it tuned to produce tea color water and foam on top is somewhat dark. Unit has also become much quieter... Like everything else in this hobby... Just takes time and patience

Question - Having skimmer tuned and operatioal for 7 days and it fills about 100ml of tea color in a day. But sometimes I've noticed its producing foam nicely - then come back and check in a few (less than 4) hours and the cup is filled up with almost clear water.

What causes this? Is the skimmer still in the break-in phase?

 

[rvitko]

If it is doing this after feeding, changing a filter cartridge or adding something that would be the most likely culprit. You might just close the air screw a 1/8 to a 1/4 turn more.

 

[balloonpilot]

No changes/no additions...

Like I said its just sitting there producing foam/bubbles at about 1/4 the way up the tube (that yes eventually climb up to top) and 3-4 hrs later something causes it to go into hyper-skim and fill the cup w/ water... I've never been home to see it happen and nobody else is there to induce anything.

Just trying to figure it out so I dont have a flood at the end of a work day.