Protein skimmer

[reefermadness21]

I have a 21 gallon tank, and a 10 gallon sump. I am trying to use a WS-1 aqua max protein skimmer, when I start it up the upper chamber fills with bubbles and immediately fills the cup with water. Am I doing this correctly? The chamber is raised as far as it can go. I am fighting the start up brown algae. I have chaeto in my sump as well as 5 hermits, 2 nacarius, and 2 turbos. Any ideas would be appreciated, added- tank specs, salinity 1.025, ammonia 0, nitrite0, nitrate 20 ppm

 

[MnFish1]

I have a 21 gallon tank, and a 10 gallon sump. I am trying to use a WS-1 aqua max protein skimmer, when I start it up the upper chamber fills with bubbles and immediately fills the cup with water. Am I doing this correctly? The chamber is raised as far as it can go. I am fighting the start up brown algae. I have chaeto in my sump as well as 5 hermits, 2 nacarius, and 2 turbos. Any ideas would be appreciated, added- tank specs, salinity 1.025, ammonia 0, nitrite0, nitrate 20 ppm

nice tank!
I can't tell - I assume its in your 'sump'. correct?
2 suggestions - 1) put it in your sump and let it run - with the top off - just let it overflow into your sump. 2). according to the specs of the skimmer - is the 'base' in too deep of a water level? when I have a new skimmer - I basically set it and ignore it - because it will overflow - some people like to do a run through with vinegar as well - I just let it overflow. I would carefully look at the instructions - to make sure everything is set up properly - I only say this because you dont say how long it takes to 'overflow' if its hours - I would raise the skimmer higher (with something underneath it) or - second - I dont see a lot of bubbles in your skimmer - am I missing something - are you sure you're getting bubbles - or just water?

 

[TastesLikeChicken]

If it’s as high as it goes then I don’t think you can do anything different. Possibilities are 1. There is organic matter in your tank and the skimmer is doing its job 2. The skimmer is of a poor design.

I would recommend emptying the water collected and seeing if it will eventually slow down. If it does then you can speculate the skimmer was doing its job. If it never slows down then I would think something is wrong with the skimmer.

 

[regionreef219]

I have the same problem with my aquamaxx when I switch out filter socks. I do have the HOB 1.5. Skimmer works fine and then when I switch out my filter socks, I am guessing I release some organic matter into the water and then the skimmer goes crazy. After a few minutes it returns back to normal.

How long have you had this protein skimmer running? Takes a couple weeks for it to properly break in and produce consistent skim.

 

[reefermadness21]

Mine must be breaking in, I only turned it on today, instructions say 2-4 weeks to break in. The tank picture is the second one, does not do it justice. I guess patience is key here, thanks

 

[TastesLikeChicken]

My understanding is that “break in” means that it will underskim for a while. Yours seems to be over skimming.

 

[MnFish1]

My understanding is that “break in” means that it will underskim for a while. Yours seems to be over skimming.

I think it can be either one. mine was 'over'

 

[happyhourzhao]

I believe over the course of a few weeks that my aquamaxx hang on back protein skimmer did the same, constant bubbles and filling up the cup while raising the ring all the way up as high as I could. Eventually it settled down and now it definitely removes some gunk from the tank and started slowly adjusting the ring to find a good dry/wet skim.

 

[Jubei2006]

Mine isnt an aquamax, but it was doing the same. It had a piece of foam in the body that was messing up the water flow through the skimmer. I removed it, and no problems since (2 to 3 years ago)

 

[MichaelReefer]

Skimmers can take a few weeks to break in.

 

[Soryu]

So one of the things I frequently see with all of my skimmers is that there are any surfactants in the water, the skimmer will go nuclear (at least for large contamination). If you just recently introduced your skimmer and you've put your hands in your tank there is a good chance there is residual soap in the water. Even the tiniest amounts can cause a noticable change and if you haven't been skimming them then there is a good chance there is enough to make the skimmer go nuts for a while. Even with what I thought were best practices of thoroughly rinsing my hands, drying, then rinsing again shows a quick spike in skimmer activity for a short while. Not to mention residual soap from showering, and even soap that may still be in my towels from washing.

I mention this because in my experience the break-in period for skimmers tends to be that they produce zero skim more than over produce what appears to be clean water. While I'm not familiar directly with the WS-1, it's design seems very straight forward and I would expect it to react in the same as any other new skimmer I've used.

My experience is that if I'm producing clear skim at any time I've introduced a surfactant into the water and the best thing is to allow the skimmer to continue to run but to remove that water that's been produced until it begins to behave normally again.

 

[Soryu]

I have the same problem with my aquamaxx when I switch out filter socks. I do have the HOB 1.5. Skimmer works fine and then when I switch out my filter socks, I am guessing I release some organic matter into the water and then the skimmer goes crazy. After a few minutes it returns back to normal.

How long have you had this protein skimmer running? Takes a couple weeks for it to properly break in and produce consistent skim.

Out of curiosity, do you wash your socks in the washing machine?

 

[regionreef219]

Out of curiosity, do you wash your socks in the washing machine?

No I have not, tank has been set up for just over 3 months and I rotate through 2 different socks every 3-4 days. When I replace the sock I take the dirty one and rinse it off in the sink with the sprayer. It seems to clean it pretty well but I have noticed they are slowly getting darker over time.

 

[Soryu]

No I have not, tank has been set up for just over 3 months and I rotate through 2 different socks every 3-4 days. When I replace the sock I take the dirty one and rinse it off in the sink with the sprayer. It seems to clean it pretty well but I have noticed they are slowly getting darker over time.

I was using my washing machine by running a empty cycle, bleach and socks, socks, then rinsing them by hand. I was still seeing a bit of a spike in skimmer activity from residual detergent in the machine. I switched to brewers wash and hand washing for a while but now I'm just sock free.

 

[MichaelReefer]

Out of curiosity, do you wash your socks in the washing machine?

I did before I got my Clarisea.

You just use flip them inside out, use a small amount of bleach, was them, then do another wash with NO BLEACH, Just a rinse cycle. Let them air dry a few days.

 

[reefermadness21]

So I wound up doing a water change and after I was done the skimmer was operating as expected