Skimmer bubble level up and down

DrBoxedWine

New member
I have an RO NWB 150 that i recently added to my new 75g with sump setup. I opened the gate valve all the way and let it run for about a week before i started messing with trying to tune it. I keep the little plug out of it just in case it overflows i won't have the risk of a big mess outside of my sump. Last week i noticed that there was some slime stuff building up in the neck and i got excited that my skimmer was actually starting to work. In my excited state, i took the cup off and gave it a good cleaning, including wiping all the slime off the neck. I'm trying to dial it in now, and i'm having a really difficult time. The level of the bubbles slowly moves up and down, maybe over a 20 second time frame they will move up and down 1-2" and i'm not getting any skimate in the cup (although the drain plug is still off, so i guess it's possible it's just draining out. I don't think this is the case tho. I moved the skimmer output nozzle so it's aiming to a different part of the sump than where the intake pump is, and i also moved the intake pump over in the sump so it's not where the water falls into the chamber to try and move it further from the bubbles that causes.

Is this normal behavior for a skimmer? It's been doing this up and down thing for at least 4 days now (i wasn't paying that close of attention before, but i'm guessing it was doing it then, as well).

Anyone have any suggestions? Do i need to just wait it out?
 
Totally normal. If there isn't much in the tank you don't get as much skimmate production as there is less to remove. Depending on how much you want to pull, adjusting the gate valve will push the bubble column higher in the neck resulting in more wet skimmate being collected and less gunk on the neck. It is a balance with a wide acceptable range.
 
''Tuning" a skimmer is a futzy job, and it may change due to age, buildup of dirt, water level, etc, etc. I have to adjust mine every few weeks, and there are events like a massive cyanobacteria dieoff when it can froth like mad and require cup-dumping several times a day. Depends on the abundance of the stuff it needs to pull out. But most of the time it will run smoothly and give you little trouble.
 
I have the same skimmer as your but it has never seen water yet so I now nothing. This is why I am asking. Are you talking about the little rubber plug that is at the bottom of the cup?
 
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