View Full Version : newb question about protein skimmers
hi, i just bought a redsea prizim skimmer, and i set it up, but, how do i know if it is working properly?
thanx
Originally posted by caz
hi, i just bought a redsea prizim skimmer, and i set it up, but, how do i know if it is working properly?
thanx
could take a few days to a week to 'break in'. then the collection cup will start filling with scum and you'll have to empty it every couple days.
thanx, will there be any water in the collection cup?
cause im not sure if i have the right flow going right now.
some people like a the skim mate, as it's called, to be wet and others like it more like a thick dense sludge.
Be that as it may, you have to adjust it in such a way that only a foam is creaping into the collection cup. You don't want water to flow into it. It will take several days for it to start producing a foam though, I think thats because of the oils that are on the product from the production process.
thanx man. ill post back in a few days. thanx again
Caz
ok, its been almost a week. i have set ot up so that the bubbles are just over the top. doesnt really run down unless a bubble pops. doesnt seem to be working. im not really sure how its supposed to be working, because i have never seen one in action before. how do i know if its working? there is water in the collection cup, but its been building up for a few days now.
any suggestions?
thanx
caz, if the cup is filling up with with a dark brown water to a dark brown sludge, it's working.
One thing to consider is how long has your tank been setup and how much livestock is in it? If it's say, a 55gal tank with 1 damsel in it, and it's been running for 1 month, the skimmer won't have much, if anything to skim out of the water.
But, it took my skimmer about 4 days to start making some skim mate, however it took my dad almost a week and a half for his to start making anything, and closer to 3 weeks to start making a lot, because he tank was so new and understocked.
its a 75 gal with two small damsels, and a small clown. set up for a little over a month. no lr, and i try not to over feed
Guy W
01-29-2004, 11:50 AM
Originally posted by caz
its a 75 gal with two small damsels, and a small clown. set up for a little over a month. no lr, and i try not to over feed
Ya you probably have hardly any waste for it to skim out. I would suspect that is why your not seeing any progress yet.
Yeah caz, mine's a new setup also and it's been going for about a week; at first a bit of foam and a little sludge at the bottom of the cup, then nothing since. But I've got no bioload in the tank yet, I imagine, since the only thing in there besides the water is the "live sand". So your results are not unique I guess, and I wouldn't worry yet. :)
liquafaction
01-29-2004, 8:45 PM
I remember the first time trying to set up a skimmer. My thoughts were fretting over getting to much waste in my tank, and killing everything...... not the case. When I finially figured out how a skimmer operates, is after leaving it off for about a week. I was not running it, because I was trying to find a way to plumb it into my tank nice and neet. After not using it for a week, and then turning it on, it produced foam almost instantly. I have experimented with different ways and times of running it. I hope this is not bad practice, being still fairly new at the hobby, but the more corals I add to my tank, the less I run it. I am now using my skimmer about every 3rd day, and only in the daylight hours. I leave it off at night, because of the noise. Like Guy said, if you have your water flow too high, your cup will fill with water...... I do not think this was mentioned though, If you have your water flow too low, it will perculate like a loud coffe machine. What I go for is the smoothest, most quiet coffe maker noise I can get, with good air flow.
Something no body explained to me is that there are 2 adjustments, water flow, and air flow....... to little air flow gives you big (pea size) or no bubbles. Too much air flow causes air to leach back into the tank..... Try to find the middle, and leave it alone.........
Also mine produces more foam when I feed, so I try to turn mine off when I feed, in hopes that some of my corals can snatch some food at the same time.