Skimmer question

[mrcoffee2]

This skimmer is currently being broken in. It is only 3 days into skimming but I wanted to make sure I have it set correctly, or at least as correctly as I can. Here is a picture of what it did last night. Given where the bubbles are and how much water over flowed (wet skimming I assume) should I move it up or down slightly to produce the "sludge" stuff everyone talks about?

 

[juggalogentry]

that would be considered a wet skim, adjust the air intake to let more air in (open it up slightly) and wait another day then continue until you get a thick foam that slowly rises

 

[heathd.hd]

I had all the same questions when I first got my tank going. With my skimmer. The thing will do weird things for a few weeks. Your color of skimmate will depend on your feeding and bio load of the tank. Also everything you put in the tank for dosing. Looks like your running it a bit wet right now. Just play with it is it ages and you will find a sweet spot.

 

[heathd.hd]

I also have noticed that raising my water lvl in the skimmer section of sump to max recommend lvl of the skimmer has really improved my skimmate

 

[Reefing Madness]

For break in, I'd leave it where you have it, just at it foaming over. Once its broken in, you'll be able to adjust it to a dryer foam, and thus much darker looking skimmate.

 

[wolfenstein87]

I know that the manufacturer of the skimmer in looking at says to let it run for a couple of weeks at a certain setting in order to properly break it in. After this period is when they suggest adjusting it to your liking. Not sure if that goes for your skimmer, but you may want to look at what they recommend.

 

[mrcoffee2]

I know that the manufacturer of the skimmer in looking at says to let it run for a couple of weeks at a certain setting in order to properly break it in. After this period is when they suggest adjusting it to your liking. Not sure if that goes for your skimmer, but you may want to look at what they recommend.

Thanks i'll look it up. Its a cadlights PLS-50. In the box was only the skimmer no documentation lol. Kinda weird.

 

[wolfenstein87]

That's not surprising for Cadlights. Kind of a shady company to deal with in the first place.

 

[mrcoffee2]

AS long as the product isnt shady im good

 

[ReeferRookie]

If it works for.u dont worry bout others opinions

 

[Phishy McGee]

I'm only gonna chime in because I have 2 cadlights pipless skimmers running.

They are the hardest skimmers to dial in, period. With no air intake ajustment and having to turn the body of the skimmer it's really hard to find that sweetspot everyone wants for a nice dry skim. The newer ones like yours are better (they sent me a free one) because you can at least lock in a setting and hope it stays there.

Most important for this skimmer is maintaining the water level in the sump. I built a chamber that no matter how much evap I have, my middle chamber stays exactly the same so the cadlight skimmers keep working. If the water level goes up a bit they over flow, down they don't get the bubbles in the cup at all.

My first gen was horrible. It worked for like 2 months and then completely stopped working. The body would move on its own and the thing would overflow daily. I wrote to them and they sent me a better one that now maintains a constant level but I still really struggle to find that spot that produces dry foam that acutally makes it in the cup.

Sorry for being a bummer but thats just some of the issues I've had with these space saving skimmers they came out with ...

 

[mrcoffee2]

I'm only gonna chime in because I have 2 cadlights pipless skimmers running.

They are the hardest skimmers to dial in, period. With no air intake ajustment and having to turn the body of the skimmer it's really hard to find that sweetspot everyone wants for a nice dry skim. The newer ones like yours are better (they sent me a free one) because you can at least lock in a setting and hope it stays there.

Most important for this skimmer is maintaining the water level in the sump. I built a chamber that no matter how much evap I have, my middle chamber stays exactly the same so the cadlight skimmers keep working. If the water level goes up a bit they over flow, down they don't get the bubbles in the cup at all.

My first gen was horrible. It worked for like 2 months and then completely stopped working. The body would move on its own and the thing would overflow daily. I wrote to them and they sent me a better one that now maintains a constant level but I still really struggle to find that spot that produces dry foam that acutally makes it in the cup.

Sorry for being a bummer but thats just some of the issues I've had with these space saving skimmers they came out with ...

Interesting thanks for the info. Luckily mine fits into one of the chambers in back of my fusion 40 and the water level will remain constant.

 

[mrcoffee2]

Here it is since my last adjustment on Friday. This is a little over two days of running after I moved it up a 1/4th of an inch. Looks like a lot of sludge in the tube but has not bubbled over yet.