Skimmer not producing foam

Evan28395950 · Jul 26, 2018

Hello all, I’ve had my tank for about 3 months now. Plently of fish and corals in it, and plently of stuff to skim. I got the skimmer as a combo with the tank and lights. It’s a Aquatop Recife Eco Series skimmer made for the 24 gallon. No matter what I do I can’t get it produce much (never had any go into collection cup, sometimes a crusty brown layer at the top of it. I’ll post s picture of the model. Just wondering what I could do to make it skim better, or if I should just get a new skimmer. Thanks

hwntunda · Jul 26, 2018

I’m not familiar with that skimmer but is it drawing in enough air? How high does the bubbles get in the skimmer neck?

Evan28395950 · Jul 26, 2018

Not much from where the water is, once I found a decent sweet spot and that’s how I got some crust on the necks sides, but the next morning it was down to around nothing.

Evan28395950 · Jul 26, 2018

Oh you said bubbles I thought you said foam. When I bring it up from water and back in, then it’s get to the top by the water otherwise sometimes it doesn’t get close to the water if I don’t move it

hwntunda · Jul 26, 2018

Can you get some pics?

Evan28395950 · Jul 26, 2018

This is a picture of it skimming. Cleaned the crusty stuff from when it had the sweet spot for an hour or two out a day or two ago. It still produces tons of microbubbbles.

Gareth elliott · Jul 26, 2018

I found no information on that skimmer at all lol.

Did the skimmer come with specifications? Water level etc?

Btw do you have a build thread, if thats the full aquatop aquarium would love to see your thoughts on it and how it looks not on the website

Evan28395950 · Jul 26, 2018

Don’t remember any info on the manual that was useful.

Oh I didn’t know I could do a thread like that (still new), I’ll look into it.

Gareth elliott · Jul 26, 2018

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/tips-to-make-your-build-thread-get-noticed.247496/

Under member tanks create a new post about your tank.

Evan28395950 · Jul 26, 2018

Looked at the reviews on the site (only 3). Two mentioned skimmer taking awhile to break in, one said his was damaged. Just wondering how long is “awhile”. Hmm

Greybeard · Jul 26, 2018

From that photo, there's something wrong... it's not just needing break-in time. When you turn a skimmer pump on, there should be enough flow into the body of the skimmer to raise the water level significantly above that of the surrounding water level, and the water in the skimmer body should be milk white with micro bubbles.

I'd start with disassembling the pump, make certain that it's clean, and working as it should. I'd then inspect the air inlet, make sure that it's not fouled in some manner, and the water outlet from the skimmer body, which is normally adjustable... closing it up some to raise the water level in the skimmer body might help, too. I'd also review skimmer manual for suggested operating water depth, and check that yours is close.

WVNed · Jul 26, 2018

You skimmer does not appear to be working to me if it is running in that picture. You need to check that the pump inlet and air connection are assembled correctly.

Gareth elliott · Jul 26, 2018

Evan28395950 said:
Looked at the reviews on the site (only 3). Two mentioned skimmer taking awhile to break in, one said his was damaged. Just wondering how long is “awhile”. Hmm

Most skimmers take a week-2 weeks to fully acclimate. Skimmer design, tank chemistry, water height all come into play with getting a skimmer to function properly.

There are some terrible skimmers, that never work properly and require constant tinkering. But given my experience with other aquatop products i doubt their skimmer falls in that category. My main complaint i have had with their products is maintenance is more complicated than need be, not that they dont work.

Potatohead · Jul 26, 2018

Greybeard said:
From that photo, there's something wrong... it's not just needing break-in time. When you turn a skimmer pump on, there should be enough flow into the body of the skimmer to raise the water level significantly above that of the surrounding water level, and the water in the skimmer body should be milk white with micro bubbles.

I'd start with disassembling the pump, make certain that it's clean, and working as it should. I'd then inspect the air inlet, make sure that it's not fouled in some manner, and the water outlet from the skimmer body, which is normally adjustable... closing it up some to raise the water level in the skimmer body might help, too. I'd also review skimmer manual for suggested operating water depth, and check that yours is close.

If the air intake is the tube in the foreground in the picture, it appears to be completely capped off.

hwntunda · Jul 26, 2018

Could be a low water level or not enough air intake, can we get a video of it in operation? It’ll help us help you better.

vetteguy53081 · Jul 26, 2018

Check intake on the pump

Marie7 · Sep 4, 2018

Evan28395950 said:
Hello all, I’ve had my tank for about 3 months now. Plently of fish and corals in it, and plently of stuff to skim. I got the skimmer as a combo with the tank and lights. It’s a Aquatop Recife Eco Series skimmer made for the 24 gallon. No matter what I do I can’t get it produce much (never had any go into collection cup, sometimes a crusty brown layer at the top of it. I’ll post s picture of the model. Just wondering what I could do to make it skim better, or if I should just get a new skimmer. Thanks

Is that an after market skimmer? Some times those weird brands skimmers does not work as good as a good skimmer, I find that the reef octopus are the best, mine works great, also u got to make sure that the pump is strong enough to produce the right amount of bubbles and I'm not sure if that skinmer has a valve regulator where you can control the amount of water that will go in and out , mine has a regulator that I can control the amount of bubbles I want to produce by opening or closing more the valve, never heard about the type of skimer you have.

txjuggernaut · Sep 25, 2018

Pull the cap off the end of the Venturi intake that’s the problem. I did that and mine started working that cap is too tight and completely restricts the air flow.

txjuggernaut · Sep 25, 2018

Pull the cap off the end of the Venturi intake that’s the problem. I did that and mine started working that cap is too tight and completely restricts the air flow. You can rest the cap on it to reduce noise. Also I ended up taking the skimmer out and thoroughly cleaning out the intake as well for food measure. ust like the op I sat and waited weeks for this to “break in” but the cap vapor locked it.