Tunze 9011 skimming problems

[tcossey]

I am new to this hobby and my 120g tank has been up and running for about 3 weeks. I am using a 20g sump with 2 baffles and a refugium in the center. I have not been able to produce any skim with the tunze 9011. it appears to be operating correctly but I did read in the instructions that you can not skim in the drain area of the sump. My problem is I don't have any room for the skimmer anywhere else and don't want to hang it on the display tank. My questions are...... Is it really not possible to skim in the drain portion of the sump? Is my tank to new to be producing any skim? What are my options?

 

[Craig Borowski]

It's probably a case of the tank being too new for much to be skimmed out. Was it started with new live rock or base rock? Apart from that, please just double check that the 9011 is properly configured for in-sump use. (See the picture and descriptions on Pp.44-45 here.)

Do you have any Auto top-off installed? The main reason it's not recommended to put a skimmer in the return section of the sump is that that's where water level drops as the tank evaporates water. Though the 9011 does handle different water levels pretty well, there's always the danger of it running dry if the system isn't topped off regularly. If you have an ATO then this is less of an issue.

 

[tcossey]

Thanks for responding. The tank was started with 150lbs of dry rock and 25lbs of live rock. Same think with the sand. I do not have an auto top off on the tank. So, it is possible to skim directly after the filter sock? I've been adjusting the air screw according to the directions and still no luck. Guess the bio load on the tank is just not enough for the skimmer. I would appreciate any other advise that you can give me on the skimmer.

 

[Craig Borowski]

The skimmer should do better in the chamber with the filter sock. Please try it there for a few days and see what happens. Since all the dry rock is probably quite clean, it's very possible that there is not much to skim out. Also, you should probably just leave the air screw all the way open. Once you have a higher bio-load and the skimmer starts skimming, then you can close the air screw, but only in very small (1/4 to 1/2) turns at a time.