Question about Skimmer....

[iujj012]

I had a question about a protein skimmer I bought last week for my 37 gallon reef tank, I purchased a aquatic life mini 115....it has been working great no problems, but the top part of the cone is getting really dark with skimmate, does that mean I have the flow too low or is that normal, I am still collecting a good amount of skimmate in my cup but it seems like not all of it is going in the cup. Can you turn the flow up too high to the point it wont do well???
Also another quick question about the skimmer do they tend to shut off or quite skimming when you feed the tank??? Mine has been doing that andI just wanted to make sure that was normal. I apologize ahead of time for the questions as I am newer to the hobby, but becoming an addict very quickly..lol! Thanks

 

[Hnguyen85]

If your getting really dark skim at the neck of your skimmer then That means that your running your skimmer dry. It's really not a bad thing since it all comes down to user preference. Some like to run it wet meaning they have their water level higher. That will produce more skim mate but lighter in color. If you run it dry then you would get less skim mate and that will produce really dark skim mate while at the same time make the neck of your skimmer really dirty.

As for the skimmer turning off. Do you mean the bubble level just drops are does the pump go out? I know when i feed frozen food and DT my bubbles will reduce a lot. But after a while it will come right back up.

 

[allsps40]

Your skimmer is working fine. I need to empty and clean my cup about every 5-7 days. The dark slug is larger waste that the skimmer has removed. Even skimming wet will cause that to happen just not as fast. Yes it is normal for a skimmer's foam head to collapse when you feed or put your hands in the tank. It is caused by all the oils in the food or on your skin.

 

[iujj012]

Good to know!

Good to know!

Thanks for the responses guys. Good to know that the skimmer is working ok, I guess ill turn up the intake so I can skim a little wetter...Does that mean that it skims more out of the tank? I have quite a few fish in there so I need to skim it the best it can!