Hi Roger,
I purchased a Tunze 9011 skimmer a few months back and have been trying to make it work ever since. The best way to describe the issue is simply that the foam does not rise in the collection cup: it always stay between the very base of the column (which would be at the level of the 0 marking on the outside of the collection cup) to the level of the 200 marking. I sometimes have some 'colored water' in the collection cup but I collected no more than 400 ml over several months. And it was just colored water, not even gunk.
I have tried everything: waiting a month so my water is completely cycled, waiting till I had a heavier bioload, overfeeding a bit to generate more waste, moving the skimmer to another compartment in my sump, putting my chaeto in a meshed bag so no piece of it can get to the skimmer, turning the screw one half turn at a time and waiting for a couple days, disassembling the skimmer, cleaning all parts and reassembling, blowing in the air admission to make sure it was not obstructed, etc, etc.
The only conclusion I can come to is that the skimmer is deficient, or that I do have a taller 9011 collection cup put on top of an underpowered 9006.
What shall I do now?
I purchased a Tunze 9011 skimmer a few months back and have been trying to make it work ever since. The best way to describe the issue is simply that the foam does not rise in the collection cup: it always stay between the very base of the column (which would be at the level of the 0 marking on the outside of the collection cup) to the level of the 200 marking. I sometimes have some 'colored water' in the collection cup but I collected no more than 400 ml over several months. And it was just colored water, not even gunk.
I have tried everything: waiting a month so my water is completely cycled, waiting till I had a heavier bioload, overfeeding a bit to generate more waste, moving the skimmer to another compartment in my sump, putting my chaeto in a meshed bag so no piece of it can get to the skimmer, turning the screw one half turn at a time and waiting for a couple days, disassembling the skimmer, cleaning all parts and reassembling, blowing in the air admission to make sure it was not obstructed, etc, etc.
The only conclusion I can come to is that the skimmer is deficient, or that I do have a taller 9011 collection cup put on top of an underpowered 9006.
What shall I do now?