HELP PLEASE.

[tkdbmy]

How is everyone? New to the salt water tank world. I have a 65 gallon tank and just starting the cycle and questions just keep popping up and i dont have anyone to ask. First off my new protein skimmer is going nuts. Its the hang off the back one i have the knobs turned all the way down to prevent as much foam as possible but its still overflowing! Is this normal breaking it in and should i leave it and if will eventually stop? Also the drain tube to the bottom of the collection cup i have going back into the tank because im 24 hours into starting the cycle. Also it is the aquatop xyclone protein skimmer 100 gallons 370 gallons per hour. Next question there is dried salt all over the top of my tanks lid. Does that happened from just splashing water on it from doing stuff? Last question my salinity was perfect when i started the cycle and now its above what it should be. Is that normal when cycling i calibrated my hydrometer just like the instructions stated.

 

[Fish Think Pink]

How is everyone? New to the salt water tank world. I have a 65 gallon tank and just starting the cycle and questions just keep popping up and i dont have anyone to ask. First off my new protein skimmer is going nuts. Its the hang off the back one i have the knobs turned all the way down to prevent as much foam as possible but its still overflowing! Is this normal breaking it in and should i leave it and if will eventually stop? Also the drain tube to the bottom of the collection cup i have going back into the tank because im 24 hours into starting the cycle. Also it is the aquatop xyclone protein skimmer 100 gallons 370 gallons per hour. Next question there is dried salt all over the top of my tanks lid. Does that happened from just splashing water on it from doing stuff? Last question my salinity was perfect when i started the cycle and now its above what it should be. Is that normal when cycling i calibrated my hydrometer just like the instructions stated.

There are tons of info if you google "cycle skimmer foam" as keywords. Here is first thread from google & R2R:

Skimmer foaming too much

Hi Everyone, I have a new Red Sea Reefer 170 setup with a Eshopp S-200 Skimmer. I plugged in the skimmer on Day 1 and it's producing too much foam. I have live rock and sand in the tank. I understand that the skimmer needs to break in. Should I leave the skimmer foaming? I unplugged it and...

www.reef2reef.com

EVAPORATION is carrying the saltwater away, but SALT doesn't evaporate. It settles wherever water landed and the evaporation happening in your tank is reducing water but leaving salt behind which raises your salinity. You need to top off your tank's evaporation with clean RO water. Get your salinity back in line, figure out where your waterline is, mark it, then monitor that line. When your saltwater dips below that line, top off with RO water. Over time you'll figure out what your evaporation rate is and get your topoff process (manual or otherwise) dialed in along with the other things to figure out during this initial phase of learning your tank while it cycles.

I have a 180g tank and average loss is 10g weekly ... I use an auto top off (ATO) system with a 15g fresh RO holding tank next to my sump in my cabinet, because I'm lazy and it automatically keeps my salinity in check from evaporation.

 

[PeterC99]

Perfectly normal for protein skimmer to overflow when starting. May take 2 to 3 weeks to break in depending on the setup. Did you use epoxy to glue rocks together - this can cause the overflowing?

You shouldn’t be getting salt creep on top of your tank. Something is spraying saltwater up there.

 

[tkdbmy]

There are tons of info if you google "cycle skimmer foam" as keywords. Here is first thread from google & R2R:

Skimmer foaming too much

Hi Everyone, I have a new Red Sea Reefer 170 setup with a Eshopp S-200 Skimmer. I plugged in the skimmer on Day 1 and it's producing too much foam. I have live rock and sand in the tank. I understand that the skimmer needs to break in. Should I leave the skimmer foaming? I unplugged it and...

www.reef2reef.com

EVAPORATION is carrying the saltwater away, but SALT doesn't evaporate. It settles wherever water landed and the evaporation happening in your tank is reducing water but leaving salt behind which raises your salinity. You need to top off your tank's evaporation with clean RO water. Get your salinity back in line, figure out where your waterline is, mark it, then monitor that line. When your saltwater dips below that line, top off with RO water. Over time you'll figure out what your evaporation rate is and get your topoff process (manual or otherwise) dialed in along with the other things to figure out during this initial phase of learning your tank while it cycles.

I have a 180g tank and average loss is 10g weekly ... I use an auto top off (ATO) system with a 15g fresh RO holding tank next to my sump in my cabinet, because I'm lazy and it automatically keeps my salinity in check from evaporation

Perfectly normal for protein skimmer to overflow when starting. May take 2 to 3 weeks to break in depending on the setup. Did you use epoxy to glue rocks together - this can cause the overflowing?

You shouldn’t be getting salt creep on top of your tank. Something is spraying saltwater up there.

Did not even think of evaporation and salt stays behind! I wish i would have thought about that and started with making a line from the beginning but im deff going to do that great idea

There are tons of info if you google "cycle skimmer foam" as keywords. Here is first thread from google & R2R:

Skimmer foaming too much

Hi Everyone, I have a new Red Sea Reefer 170 setup with a Eshopp S-200 Skimmer. I plugged in the skimmer on Day 1 and it's producing too much foam. I have live rock and sand in the tank. I understand that the skimmer needs to break in. Should I leave the skimmer foaming? I unplugged it and...

www.reef2reef.com

EVAPORATION is carrying the saltwater away, but SALT doesn't evaporate. It settles wherever water landed and the evaporation happening in your tank is reducing water but leaving salt behind which raises your salinity. You need to top off your tank's evaporation with clean RO water. Get your salinity back in line, figure out where your waterline is, mark it, then monitor that line. When your saltwater dips below that line, top off with RO water. Over time you'll figure out what your evaporation rate is and get your topoff process (manual or otherwise) dialed in along with the other things to figure out during this initial phase of learning your tank while it cycles.

I have a 180g tank and average loss is 10g weekly ... I use an auto top off (ATO) system with a 15g fresh RO holding tank next to my sump in my cabinet, because I'm lazy and it automatically keeps my salinity in check from evaporation.

Ill check out the thread thanks! Also i didnt even think of evaporation and the salt staying behind! Thats exactly what it is! Wish i would have thought about marking a line when i started! Thanks!

 

[tkdbmy]

Perfectly normal for protein skimmer to overflow when starting. May take 2 to 3 weeks to break in depending on the setup. Did you use epoxy to glue rocks together - this can cause the overflowing?

You shouldn’t be getting salt creep on top of your tank. Something is spraying saltwater up there.

Is it ok for me to have the hose coming off the collection cup going back into the tank sense I'm just now starting a new tank? Or should i be throwing that water out? Also no rock just salt water and a mix of live sand and crushed coral and 1 dead shrimp

 

[PeterC99]

Is it ok for me to have the hose coming off the collection cup going back into the tank sense I'm just now starting a new tank? Or should i be throwing that water out? Also no rock just salt water and a mix of live sand and crushed coral and 1 dead shrimp

Perfectly fine for skimmer overflow to go back in the tank. We all go through it.

You shouldn’t be get any salt on top of your tank. You shouldn’t be getting any salt creep anywhere in your setup.