Skimmer

B

Betaktical

New member
Did a 20% water change 2 days ago and still not getting any skimmate. Working fine before. Any ideas?


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All clear on the intake. When I feed my fish it makes good skimmate for 30 minutes or so but the. Goes back down. Getting good micro bubbles and everything but no skimmate


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What type of skimmer is it? Did you happen to clean the clean the skimmer neck. This can sometimes cause a few days of no skim mate. Also, did you change any of the adjustments on the skimmer. I looked at your initial tank posts. You may be a little light on your bioload.
 
Coralife 65 (I know not the best one but it was working) and yeah I did wipe the neck with a paper towel soaked in saltwater. I have adjusted it every which way. I know my bio load is light but I have added live rock at about 5-8lbs a week since. I'm up to 40lbs now. Tank is way different than when I set it up. It has started to get the brown coat in the neck again so I guess that's a good sign it's still workin?


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I would keep monitoring the Nitrates and be patient. I think you will see some skimate soon. Try to avoid adjusting too much and if you have to adjust it to get a wetter skim at first, that should be fine. I've went without a skimmer for a couple weeks before without any detrimental effects. Just watch those Nitrates and you may also want to watch the ammonia. As you gradually add live rock, your system should adjust but you can over do it and see an ammonia spike.

The skimmer is not the best but you should still be handle your current load with it.
 
Yeah I adjusted for wet last night and didn't see any skim this morning so I guess I'll see when I get off work. I test at least once a week. Ammonia has always been zero or I missed the mini cycle from the new rock. All rock that I put in came cured and already cultivated with coralline in most spots. When I feed or move something in the tank I notice it will start to get skimmate but it will bubble back down in about an hour or so


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Everything sounds good. I also clean my Venturi every 3 months or so with warm DI water. Just dip the tube in and allow it to pull the warm water through. This should clear any salt from the Venturi. Watch the water height when doing this. It can overflow the skimmer cup.
 
Good to hear. The skimmer is only 2 weeks old but I'll try the warm water thing anyway. I have an air pump hooked up to the open side of the Venturi and that helps a lot with bubbles getting back in the tank and actually makes more bubbles in the main chamber. But I don't think that would throw it off on skimming would it?


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Yes actually. Lol did a 20% water change yesterday and about 15 minutes I had my bubble column rising


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Betaktical said:
Yes actually. Lol did a 20% water change yesterday and about 15 minutes I had my bubble column rising


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Click to expand...

good to know. I've had this happen before where I thought there was something wrong because it stops skimming. Glad to know it is working. Came home from a week long trip and my skimmer cup was half full of the good stuff (you know -the bad stuff).

B
 
Yeah I found it works better if I do wet instead of dry. And it's a lot easier to clean too lol


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some of the main things to consider with a skimmer as well is to know how deep it needs to be submerged, as well as knowing if you have the air intake closed or not. if it's not open enough, you wont be able to pull in the air necessary to create your bubbles/head
 
Yeah I have the same skimmer. And a very light bioload and it will pull skim after feedings. But it's doesn't do it 24/7. There have been times where it will go a day or 2 without producing any besides at feeding. Maybe sure your salinity is around 1.025 I find salinity of water does affect skim. Also make sure the pump is about 7in under water. Do you still see a layer of bubbles on the water line or is it just flat water?

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