Skimmer working?

[NCreefwannabe]

Ok so I have my tank up, but without salt because its about to be moved again. The tank is empty minus 50 lbs CC. I put my skimmer I bought on last night and nothing happened. ie no skimmate. The rio 800 is hooked up to the excalibur skimmer, the bubbles flow around inside kinds like a tornado, and the water level sits right below the collection cup.

Could it just be theres nothing to pull out in the tank since its basically a freshwater tank right now?

 

[michaeldaly]

A skimmer wont work in freshwater, or if there is nothing in the water to skimm out

 

[szwab]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6574548#post6574548 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by michaeldaly
A skimmer wont work in freshwater, or if there is nothing in the water to skimm out

yep need the salt in for the skimmer to function

 

[NCreefwannabe]

ok lol just checking. I had heard of like seaclones not working, so making sure it wasnt a bad skimmer.

 

[Amphiprion]

Protein skimmers will work in FW, however, the water usually has to be organic-laden and quite hard to work. If the water is very soft (and no organics, i.e. RO water), it definitely won't work. People actually use them in their ponds for this purpose, plus to benefit from aeration.