overskimmed?

K

kravi

New member
Okay, so I have a 30 gallon tank with a 10 gallon sump. I have a nice skimmer (nautilus) which is rated for 120 or 130 gallons.

The problem is that the cup never fills up. I get foam forming, and the inside of the cup (that tube which the foam needs to climb before spilling over into the cup) gets covered quickly in slime.

Now I currently have two fish (lost one to ick - now have a UV filter and the others are fine), and one coral.

Do I need to worry that my skimmer isn't working properly? Or is the fact that it isn't overflowing normal seeing how overskimmed my tank is?

Any feedback would be welcome.

--Me
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8105046#post8105046 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Waxxiemann
I'm going to venture that you don't really have enough bio load yet to produce a stable skim.
Click to expand...
I'll second that.
Additionally, it sounds like a relatively newly set up aquarium.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8105365#post8105365 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Gary Majchrzak
I wouldn't recommend this to anyone.
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Why not? It works fine with a low bio-load.
 
If the bubble tube in your skimmer gets covered quickly, your skimmer is working. You just need to tweek it a bit to get the skimmate. All of that stuff in your tube is (protein matter) junk that has been lifted by the bubbles. Do you have a gate valve or something on the output? If so try closing it a little until you see some water rise a bit in the tube. This might give the bubbles less distance to travel to push the matter out. If you raise the water level too high, you'll get too much water removal, too low you'll get none... Time to tinker. Whatever you do, keep it clean. As stuff builds up in the tube it can begin to leach back into the water. Goo dluck.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8105138#post8105138 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by SCR
Try running your skimmer just one day every week or so.
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That'll work fine as long as I teach my fish to "pooh" one day every week............... :rolleyes:
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8110479#post8110479 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by SteveOhh
That'll work fine as long as I teach my fish to "pooh" one day every week............... :rolleyes:
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True. Fish are constantly excreting waste products.
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8109359#post8109359 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by REV
If the bubble tube in your skimmer gets covered quickly, your skimmer is working. You just need to tweek it a bit to get the skimmate. All of that stuff in your tube is (protein matter) junk that has been lifted by the bubbles. Do you have a gate valve or something on the output? If so try closing it a little until you see some water rise a bit in the tube. This might give the bubbles less distance to travel to push the matter out. If you raise the water level too high, you'll get too much water removal, too low you'll get none... Time to tinker. Whatever you do, keep it clean. As stuff builds up in the tube it can begin to leach back into the water. Goo dluck.
Click to expand...
Good advice. Raise the water level in the skimmer.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8105046#post8105046 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Waxxiemann
I'm going to venture that you don't really have enough bio load yet to produce a stable skim.
Click to expand...
I was only agreeing with Waxxiemann. With only two fish in the tank your not going to have a lot to skim. :)
 
really there is nothing wrong with running your skimmer part time. It really depends on the bioload and type of tank you have. There are alot of ppl that run there skimmers only at night or vice versa.
 
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Even with just two fish and a small amount of coral and assuming you have some live rock, you ought to get some skimmate.

Try playing with your adjustments. I have had four different skimmers and each one requires a different size hammer to fine tune it :)

IMO, One main reason not to turn off your skimmer, particularly in a small system, is that you get a lot of airation from your skimmer.
 
I have two things to add to this discussion:

1) I think that even with a small bioload, heck, even no fish, the skimmer should still be getting something, tweak it, change the water levels and you should get something.

2) Adding a :) at the end of a post where you disagree with someone isn't a way to say your not flaming them. For example
"Your so stupid your opinions are all wrong! :)" The ":)" Doesn't take away from the fact you just got burned.

Thats all.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8112250#post8112250 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Bax
IMO, One main reason not to turn off your skimmer, particularly in a small system, is that you get a lot of airation from your skimmer.
Click to expand...
Another good reason to run a skimmer 24/7.
A very important reason to run a skimmer on a heavily stocked FO aquarium.
Nobody is flaming anybody. :)
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8113692#post8113692 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Gary Majchrzak
Another good reason to run a skimmer 24/7.
A very important reason to run a skimmer on a heavily stocked FO aquarium.
Nobody is flaming anybody. :)
Click to expand...

agreed, a FO definitley requires 24 hours skimming for long term success. But on the other hand water changes work well also. There is a 100 gal FO that i maintenance for a restraunt and all it runs is a wet/dry.
 
:) Every critter in our systems (except for the smallest ones living in your LR and sand beds) needs oxygen... and lots of it! :) I let water tumble where ever the sound doesn't drive my wife crazy and the salt creep doesn't make me even more nutty :) :) :)
 
What ever you choose to do Kravi, I'am sure your tank will be just fine. Sounds like your off to a good start.
If you get hooked on this hobby like most of us do, you'll soon be upgrading to a larger tank and will have to go threw all of this again. LOL and enjoy.
 
Thanks for all the feedback.

The aquarium is fairly new, it's only been running for about half a year.

The skimmer is set at maximum height for water (the water level is at the bottom of the removable cup).

I've got constant foam, but it is very rarely high enough to spill over into the cup. Most of the time it just coats the inside of the, well, tube in the cup).

Can't really raise the water level any higher, unless I want to replace the whole water level tube outside the skimmer with a longer one (where the level of the water itself would be somewhere inside the cup).

--Me
 
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