kylemg2011
Community Member
i have a Aquamaxx Cone S Q-1 and i cant seem to get it tunned in and could use some help if thats possible
HELP!!!! Protien skimmer
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kylemg2011
Community Member
skimmer is in 7 inches of water and its only been about a week so idk if its still breaking in im just not sure how much water i should have inside the skimmer and if i should have the air silencer letting in more or less air
kylemg2011
Community Member
skimmer is in 7 inches of water and its only been about a week so idk if its still breaking in im just not sure how much water i should have inside the skimmer and if i should have the air silencer letting in more or less air
kylemg2011
Community Member
kylemg2011
Community Member
what abut the air silencer should i have it letting in more air or less
kylemg2011
Community Member
and owners manual says 7-8 inches of water but i can up it to 8
Hypan
Active Member
Open the exit valve and the air valve all the way and let it run for a bit to settle in. Then take the cup off and close the water exit valve until the top of the bubbles are at the top where the cup goes. This will be a good starting point To begin fine tuning.
kylemg2011
Community Member
ok is it ok sitting in 7 inches of water or should i up it till 8 inches
Lbrdsoxfan
5000 Club Member
Up it to 8". The aquamaxx AC powered skimmers do better with a higher water height. I ran a fc-120 at 8.5 inches and a cones q3 at 8". Set the water height and then play with the air valve/exit valve.
I usually start with the air valve open full (large bubbles into the top of the cup) and the water exit valve around 1/2 open and dial it in from there.
Now if this is in the break in period (1st week or so), then remove the lid, crank it wide open and let'er rip.
Bpb
2500 Club Member
I don’t generally buy the “skimmer needs all this time to break in” talk. I’ve now owned 6 skimmers from 5 different brands, and whether brand new or used, they produce skimmate basically immediately. There will be circumstances that will kill the surface tension (feeding oily foods), reduce overall organic concentration (fresh carbon , large water change) which can both briefly affecting the ability to hold a foam head. Certain things that will cause them to briefly over foam would be lots of epoxy use, or resin pads. But once a new skimmer is placed in the sump for me, it starts working. At any rate, to help you still need to tell us what is wrong with it. All the info we have so far is “help with my skimmer, it’s in 7” of water, should I use more or less air”
Is it overflowing? Is it not producing a foam head? Is it skimming at all? Is it too loud? What exactly is the issue?
Is it overflowing? Is it not producing a foam head? Is it skimming at all? Is it too loud? What exactly is the issue?
kylemg2011
Community Member
It’s just not producing a foam head idk if I don’t have the valve shut enough to have the water high enough in the skimmer.. the skimmer thing is all new to me
Bpb
2500 Club Member
Based on the image above, it appears to be full of bubbles which is a good thing. You can occlude the air some if you want. That’s kind of the new fad with skimmers is LESS air. The “experts” and manufacturers seem to yo-yo on what makes a skimmer great.
I would personally leave the air alone, and open up the water exit valve until “rolling boil” part of the foam head is at the bottom of the cup. Basically like this photo (not my photo but the best representation I could find)
This will produce a moderate to dry strength skimmate. It may take some days to start working. Constant adjustments will cause the organic concentration inside the skimmer body to fluctuate which will make it seem like it isn’t working. Set it like this and leave it alone for a couple weeks. If it still won’t produce anything at all, you can close the outflow a touch. Ultimately it’s a good schedule to fill the cup once a week or so if the skimmer is appropriately sized. Some people go longer or more frequent. There’s unfortunately not a hard rule on skimmer tuning or sizing. As your bio load and feeding will dictate how much skimmate is produced, not your water volume.
I would personally leave the air alone, and open up the water exit valve until “rolling boil” part of the foam head is at the bottom of the cup. Basically like this photo (not my photo but the best representation I could find)
This will produce a moderate to dry strength skimmate. It may take some days to start working. Constant adjustments will cause the organic concentration inside the skimmer body to fluctuate which will make it seem like it isn’t working. Set it like this and leave it alone for a couple weeks. If it still won’t produce anything at all, you can close the outflow a touch. Ultimately it’s a good schedule to fill the cup once a week or so if the skimmer is appropriately sized. Some people go longer or more frequent. There’s unfortunately not a hard rule on skimmer tuning or sizing. As your bio load and feeding will dictate how much skimmate is produced, not your water volume.
kylemg2011
Community Member
That’s actually where I adjusted it to last night and was gunna leave it there for awhile and see what happensBased on the image above, it appears to be full of bubbles which is a good thing. You can occlude the air some if you want. That’s kind of the new fad with skimmers is LESS air. The “experts” and manufacturers seem to yo-yo on what makes a skimmer great.
I would personally leave the air alone, and open up the water exit valve until “rolling boil” part of the foam head is at the bottom of the cup. Basically like this photo (not my photo but the best representation I could find)
This will produce a moderate to dry strength skimmate. It may take some days to start working. Constant adjustments will cause the organic concentration inside the skimmer body to fluctuate which will make it seem like it isn’t working. Set it like this and leave it alone for a couple weeks. If it still won’t produce anything at all, you can close the outflow a touch. Ultimately it’s a good schedule to fill the cup once a week or so if the skimmer is appropriately sized. Some people go longer or more frequent. There’s unfortunately not a hard rule on skimmer tuning or sizing. As your bio load and feeding will dictate how much skimmate is produced, not your water volume.
kylemg2011
Community Member
so I got it working really well it was skimming good then all of a sudden at night it stops skimming and the foam drops back down and it stops skimming
kylemg2011
Community Member
So I got it skimming really well then yesterday evening it stopped skimming and the foam dropped back down and today it started skimming again then yet again this evening it stopped skimming againBased on the image above, it appears to be full of bubbles which is a good thing. You can occlude the air some if you want. That’s kind of the new fad with skimmers is LESS air. The “experts” and manufacturers seem to yo-yo on what makes a skimmer great.
I would personally leave the air alone, and open up the water exit valve until “rolling boil” part of the foam head is at the bottom of the cup. Basically like this photo (not my photo but the best representation I could find)
This will produce a moderate to dry strength skimmate. It may take some days to start working. Constant adjustments will cause the organic concentration inside the skimmer body to fluctuate which will make it seem like it isn’t working. Set it like this and leave it alone for a couple weeks. If it still won’t produce anything at all, you can close the outflow a touch. Ultimately it’s a good schedule to fill the cup once a week or so if the skimmer is appropriately sized. Some people go longer or more frequent. There’s unfortunately not a hard rule on skimmer tuning or sizing. As your bio load and feeding will dictate how much skimmate is produced, not your water volume.
