My tank is a week old. I chose to run my new skimmer during the cycling period. Should I be throwing away the water in the collection cup or just dumping it back into the sump? Seems like if I throw it away that water would add up real quick. This is my first saltwater aquarium.
Quick question
- Thread starter Haroldeez
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Welcome to reef2reef !!!
The point of a skimmer is to get rid of all the bad stuff. There would be no point in running one if you dump it back in the tank.
Since your tank is cycling there’s nothing for the skimmer to take out
The point of a skimmer is to get rid of all the bad stuff. There would be no point in running one if you dump it back in the tank.
Since your tank is cycling there’s nothing for the skimmer to take out
Haroldeez
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Thanks man, this looks like a really great forum... I was thinking that this could be a good time to achieve the break in period on the skimmer... the collection cup fills with water pretty quickly so I’m hoping it’s ok to just keep dumping it back into the sump
BeejReef
2500 Club Member
Opinions vary on running your skimmer while cycling. It sounds like yours might need some tuning so it doesn't overflow so badly. It should be pretty close to broken in after a week.
More importantly, welcome to the dark side!
More importantly, welcome to the dark side!
Haroldeez
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I have a Octopus Classic 150-sss I haven’t been able to find much info on tuning it. It only has one adjustment point on it... quite frustrating trying to figure out what to do with it. There’s nothing on YouTube that covers this model
BeejReef
2500 Club Member
I don't know that model. My skimmer only has one adjustment point as well.. sliding the tube where the water exits up and down. I just try to get it to the point where the bubbles in the upper neck are all popping an inch shy of the spillover into the collection cup. They'll go higher and bubble over when the water is dirty. Getting an auto-top-off has made this a hundred times easier bc the water in the sump is at a constant level.
ccombs
Valuable Member
Give it a week or two and you will be good to go! I just took my skimmer cup off for the first week and let it run like crazy, then began dialing it back.
No use dumping out what is essentially clean water.
I have 3 of these on 3 different tanks. I cannot say the depth of them, but in the snip below, this is where they all sit. You can use the output tube as a reference as well. It should be just a hair under the water. Provided you are using the short up-pipe and not a long one. Any lower and they overflow. Any higher and you have to adjust the valve which then makes the return water too loud for me. As for the valve at this height, it depneds on if I want a wet or dry skim. Once broken in, they hold a head just fine, you just have to determine where that head sits. For wet, you want the water about an inch below where the black ring that hold the muffler is. For a good dry skim, put the water level, via valve adjustment, at about 2.5-3".
Of course these skimmers are on 3-5 year old tanks, but even when they were young, I broke them in during cycling, just had the valve all the way open.
Had the wife take some pics, cause actually seeing something at the level helps a little lol. On both, the water is just below the wording on the skimmer body.
One Tank
And another tank.
One Tank
And another tank.
Haroldeez
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Cool thanks man.... so far the skimmer has been the most intimidating thing for me. Every bit helpsHad the wife take some pics, cause actually seeing something at the level helps a little lol. On both, the water is just below the wording on the skimmer body.
One Tank
And another tank.
Haroldeez
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Am I imagining things or does the new skimmer running and foaming full time actually speed up evaporation? I feel like my sump level has also been lowering more quickly than before the skimmer went in...
w2inc
Active Member
I run reef octopus on my system. I have used it to do the break in. If there is any bacteria in your system it will only take a couple days to grow slime. @Eagle_Steve had some good advice about the water line. Raise it more if you cant control the over skim.
In my experience, you may need to dump a couple of clear fluid cups down the drain while you are getting things going. Definitely, if you have been dumping the skim mate back into your system the thing is going to go nuts! It is doing what it is designed to do. Just start dumping it and all is well. I like to run skimmers during the break in period. Just the way I like to do things. Check my build thread. There has been a reef octopus in there since day one.
You will do fine no matter what you decide to do. You are on your way to an awesome journey! Welcome and thanks for giving us all a chance to feel smart!
In my experience, you may need to dump a couple of clear fluid cups down the drain while you are getting things going. Definitely, if you have been dumping the skim mate back into your system the thing is going to go nuts! It is doing what it is designed to do. Just start dumping it and all is well. I like to run skimmers during the break in period. Just the way I like to do things. Check my build thread. There has been a reef octopus in there since day one.
You will do fine no matter what you decide to do. You are on your way to an awesome journey! Welcome and thanks for giving us all a chance to feel smart!
