Reef Octo SO MANY Microbubbles

ZsWithTheFishes · Feb 10, 2019

I just put together a Reef Octopus 2000 hang on back skimmer. I did not do anything to prepare it, but I'm a day in and I'm still seeing way more microbubbles then I expected. I've tried adjusting the cup up and down and the air line regulator (adjusted almost all the way *off*), but it's like the pump is so powerful but it's just forcing a lot of the input right back out to the drain before it even floats to the top. I'm definitely not getting the type of frothy water that I'm expecting at the top either. I could push the input up, but then The Collection cup doesn't fill up fast enough and it ends up sucking up air anyway.

Am I being impatient? Has anyone adjusted one of these with success?

theMeat · Feb 10, 2019

Closing the air off makes more water/gph go through skimmer, maybe causing more bubbles out than if you open air all the way

Phil D. · Feb 10, 2019

Hey Z! I just set up my new tank 2 months ago and have an Octopus 110 internal. It was brand new and from all my reading there were a couple of tips to "break-in" your skimmer. One way is to run it in a RO water/vinegar solution and the other way, (which I did), is to shut off the air flow totally and put a sponge inside a media bag over the outlet of your skimmer. It took only 2 weeks for my skimmer to break in using this method

ZsWithTheFishes · Feb 14, 2019

I was going to go with the vinegar method - I have done that with some success. I didn't have time to go through that though and I didn't know the bubbles would be quite this extreme. I could not turn the air up at all without the thing starting to overflow even with the cup at the top position possible.

I was afraid to put any extra medium there because the externals have a reputation for overflowing if you mess with them. I have a freshwater tank below this tank and didn't want to risk them getting... a-salted I basically just kept the air off and things have calmed down, it took a lot longer than I expected though give others' experience. I was even able to get some skimmate today.