Skimmer interaction with UV

[SixtyFeetUnder]

I have a 3 month old bare bottom build with a Deltec skimmer running since early on and just installed and aqua UV unit a week ago.

The skimmer went bananas overflowing for about four days when I first turned on the UV 24 hours. I assume because of the glue in the PVC lines and just like a new skimmer breaking in there needed to be a slime coat that built up on the plastics on the UV before the surface tension would normalize.

Now the skimmer is not even producing enough foam to Reach the cup. I assume this is because the UV broke down so many organics that were in the tank that the skimmer doesn’t have the bio load (young bare bottom tank, still low on fish stock) without more fish and critters in there to make enough organic waste yet? Your thoughts are appreciated.

 

[dwest]

I think your ideas are good. I know skimmers can act strangely but I believe it will equilibrate soon.

 

[mann1139]

I agree with your logic as well. You could try to crank up the skimmer, but it might be pretty wet to get anything.

 

[SixtyFeetUnder]

Skimmer has gotten back to normal; thank you both for the thoughts and confirmation. I’m running a slightly oversized Deltec and it’s been a bit temperamental so far but I think it’s going to rock once I have a heavier bioload.

 

[LeftyReefer]

I'm also struggling with skimmer issues on a brand new tank.... my skimmer just fizzes/bubbles, doesn't produce any foam... My tank has been up less than a month. I cycled it for three weeks, then added 2 fish, 2 snails, and a shrimp, which I've now had for 5 days... I installed a brand new skimmer the same day the fish were added and it hasn't produced any foam yet. only bubbles. its been running for 5 days straight now and just bubbles low in the neck. I've taken the stupid thing apart three times and put it back together and everything seems fine, just no foam...

Last night, I threw in a bag of carbon thinking there may be some oil/chemical/substance that is keeping it from skimming, that maybe the carbon would pull out.... Its been 24 hours running carbon, and the tank is even cleaner now, but still no skimmate at all. I've been feeding heavily since adding the fish, but still nothing to skim yet.

My skimmer is a HOB (aquamaxx HOB 1.5) which gets good reviews, but it hasn't skimmed anything for me.... not sure what to think at this point.

 

[SixtyFeetUnder]

I'm also struggling with skimmer issues on a brand new tank.... my skimmer just fizzes/bubbles, doesn't produce any foam... My tank has been up less than a month. I cycled it for three weeks, then added 2 fish, 2 snails, and a shrimp, which I've now had for 5 days... I installed a brand new skimmer the same day the fish were added and it hasn't produced any foam yet. only bubbles. its been running for 5 days straight now and just bubbles low in the neck. I've taken the stupid thing apart three times and put it back together and everything seems fine, just no foam...

Last night, I threw in a bag of carbon thinking there may be some oil/chemical/substance that is keeping it from skimming, that maybe the carbon would pull out.... Its been 24 hours running carbon, and the tank is even cleaner now, but still no skimmate at all. I've been feeding heavily since adding the fish, but still nothing to skim yet.

My skimmer is a HOB (aquamaxx HOB 1.5) which gets good reviews, but it hasn't skimmed anything for me.... not sure what to think at this point.

Skimmer break and times are finicky things. The time it takes the slime coat to build on the skimmer and it to function normally is only ever an estimation.

In the case of my new tank I used a lot of mortar with my Marco rocks and epoxy to cover the mortar joints and the skimmer overflowed for six weeks straight. It was literally a mess to wipe up all the salt water spray every single day. I would take not producing bubbles during break in over that any day. Then after the UV install like I mentioned above it didn’t produce for about a week. Now it’s back functioning again.

I would say two things with pretty good confidence. Your bio load will increase over time giving the skimmer more organic waste to make bubbles with. And therefore the skimmer will work better in time. don’t think about replacing it, it’ll do just fine; it just requires the time and patience us reefers never have enough of!

 

[mann1139]

I'm also struggling with skimmer issues on a brand new tank.... my skimmer just fizzes/bubbles, doesn't produce any foam... My tank has been up less than a month. I cycled it for three weeks, then added 2 fish, 2 snails, and a shrimp, which I've now had for 5 days... I installed a brand new skimmer the same day the fish were added and it hasn't produced any foam yet. only bubbles. its been running for 5 days straight now and just bubbles low in the neck. I've taken the stupid thing apart three times and put it back together and everything seems fine, just no foam...

Last night, I threw in a bag of carbon thinking there may be some oil/chemical/substance that is keeping it from skimming, that maybe the carbon would pull out.... Its been 24 hours running carbon, and the tank is even cleaner now, but still no skimmate at all. I've been feeding heavily since adding the fish, but still nothing to skim yet.

My skimmer is a HOB (aquamaxx HOB 1.5) which gets good reviews, but it hasn't skimmed anything for me.... not sure what to think at this point.

My new skimmer took almost two weeks to break in, and that was on an established tank that was chock-full of stuff to skim out.

Give it time. If it producing bubbles, it's doing its job, there is just not enough to skim out yet. Don't take it apart, you might be restarting the clock.

 

[LeftyReefer]

Give it time. If it producing bubbles, it's doing its job, there is just not enough to skim out yet. Don't take it apart, you might be restarting the clock.

I concluded the same. I've had it apart a few times now and I'm confident its assembled and functioning properly, so now I'm not gonna mess with it any more and just let it go. thanks!