Skimmer

[Saurav Verma]

I've had the reef octopus space saver 110sss running for about 2 months now and I haven't been able to get any dry skimmates or any decent looking gunk. From my video do you guys think my skimmer could use some tuning or adjustment. Every time I empty the cup it looks like clear water not much color to it.

 

[redfishbluefish]

What's your bioload look like? And how big is the tank?

 

[Saurav Verma]

What's your bioload look like? And how big is the tank?

I have a medium yellow tang , small clown fish and a large clown fish, and a cleaner shrimp,Few corals. It's a 80 gallon tank with a 25 gallon refugium/sump trigger system.

 

[Pntbll687]

That's a pretty light bioload on that tank, especially if you have a good amount of live rock. You actually may not have enough to skim out on a consistent basis.

 

[Ty Hamatake]

That's a relatively low bioload. How long has the tank been running?

 

[Saurav Verma]

That's a pretty light bioload on that tank, especially if you have a good amount of live rock. You actually may not have enough to skim out on a consistent basis.

True, but I feed alot. I feed about 1/3rd of a mysis shrimp a day, and a 1 inch strip of nori and supplement the tank with phytoplankton. Do u still think it should look like that ?

 

[Saurav Verma]

That's a relatively low bioload. How long has the tank been running?

It has been running for about 3 months now but this new set up was a transfer from my old 46 gallon tank that was running for over 3 years.

 

[redfishbluefish]

Agree, very light bioload. Make sure you're feeding that tang nori everyday. They are poop machines.

 

[Saurav Verma]

Agree, very light bioload. Make sure you're feeding that tang nori everyday. They are poop machines.

Haha yes I see it poop every day lol

 

[Pntbll687]

True, but I feed alot. I feed about 1/3rd of a mysis shrimp a day, and a 1 inch strip of nori and supplement the tank with phytoplankton. Do u still think it should look like that ?

There question should be.... Is getting a drier skim going to do anything for the tank?

Are you having issues where you think the drier skim would help the tank?

 

[Saurav Verma]

There question should be.... Is getting a drier skim going to do anything for the tank?

Are you having issues where you think the drier skim would help the tank?

I'm not sure, everyone I know has really dry skims and almost black foamy collection cup. So I was confused as to why mine is this way. I bought my skimmer used maybe thought it may need some tuning or cleaning its suits in 7 .5 inch of water I replaced the venturi and now I was thinking of replacing the propeller. My tank seems fine but in the 3 months I havnt seen any growth in the corals or anemone. Only growth I seen is in my culerpa in the refugium, which tells there are nutrients. What do you think?

Thanks for all your help guys, I'm just trying to figure out if it's running fine.

 

[Gyerfat]

This isn't the best picture, but here is my reef octopus skimmer. It took several months to start producing what I call sludge. I don't know what a dry skim means. This comes over like shaving cream. I do have a heavy bioload. This cup takes about 2 weeks to fill up. Not sure if this helps you.

 

[Saurav Verma]

This isn't the best picture, but here is my reef octopus skimmer. It took several months to start producing what I call sludge. I don't know what a dry skim means. This comes over like shaving cream. I do have a heavy bioload. This cup takes about 2 weeks to fill up. Not sure if this helps you.

This is exactly what I'm looking for in my skimmer, I empty my cup every 12 -24 hours. That's y i think something might be wrong

 

[Gyerfat]

This is exactly what I'm looking for in my skimmer, I empty my cup every 12 -24 hours. That's y i think something might be wrong

Turn the red dial counterclockwise a little bit each time until no water goes in the cup

 

[Gyerfat]

Turn the red dial counterclockwise a little bit each time until no water goes in the cup

Do a quarter-turn once a day until it no longer fills up

 

[Ty Hamatake]

This is exactly what I'm looking for in my skimmer, I empty my cup every 12 -24 hours. That's y i think something might be wrong

If your cup is filling that fast then I'd take the advice of adjusting the internal water level of the skimmer. The problem with such a light bioload is that you may get your skimmate in waves. The nutrients will build, you'll get good skimmate, then it'll die back down as the nutrients are removed. My skimmer is ridiculously oversized for my tank and bioload to the point that sometimes I feel like I'm using it purely for gas exchange!

 

[DesertReefT4r]

Looks like your wayer level in the skimmer is pretty high. Lower it down. My 150SSS on my 75g that is cycling fishless right now has been pulling out some junk. I have the water level 1" below the cup, its skimming dry.

 

[Saurav Verma]

Looks like your wayer level in the skimmer is pretty high. Lower it down. My 150SSS on my 75g that is cycling fishless right now has been pulling out some junk. I have the water level 1" below the cup, its skimming dry.

But my skimmer water level is almost 4 inches below the collection cup. I'm not sure if our skimmers water level is suppose to different.

 

[Pntbll687]

This is exactly what I'm looking for in my skimmer, I empty my cup every 12 -24 hours. That's y i think something might be wrong

I knew we would get to the real problem!

Since you are getting overflow every few hours, adjust the skimmer so the water level is at its lowest point. If after a day or so you are still getting overflow, you may need to raise the skimmer a little bit.

Once you get the skimmer to where it is not overflowing, just let it be for a few days. After it has had time to break in, then use SMALL adjustments to raise the water level to where you are getting a good skim from it. It takes some patience and time, but nothing good in this hobby happens quickly.

 

[Pntbll687]

I'm not sure, everyone I know has really dry skims and almost black foamy collection cup. So I was confused as to why mine is this way. I bought my skimmer used maybe thought it may need some tuning or cleaning its suits in 7 .5 inch of water I replaced the venturi and now I was thinking of replacing the propeller. My tank seems fine but in the 3 months I havnt seen any growth in the corals or anemone. Only growth I seen is in my culerpa in the refugium, which tells there are nutrients. What do you think?

Thanks for all your help guys, I'm just trying to figure out if it's running fine.

I don't think you can attribute growth or lack there of to the skimmer. Could it be that the fuge is uptaking nutrients, and the skimmer is removing the rest, and thus starving the corals? MAYBE, but probably not.

Do you have detectable levels of nitrates and phosphates?