Only one word... Yum

[Amphiprion]

This skimmer has really fired up in the past few weeks that I've hooked the scrubber back up. I'm thinking the bacterioplankton the algal turf scrubber and (now lighted) Chaetomorpha generates is part of what is causing it to flare up like this. FWIW, this is just 4 days with a handful of small frags, 2 clownfish, and 4 Trochus snails. That's the only conclusion I can figure that it came from.

Yum:

 

[Ace25]

Huh, you use a rubbermaid type container as your sump also? That skimmate looks a little on the "wet" side, is that how you normally set it or did the skimmer change on its own to a wetter skimmate when you did all that?

 

[Amphiprion]

I haven't messed with the settings at all. It suddenly picked up and started doing that. I do need to adjust it, but that's not too far from how I normally prefer it. Kinda somewhere between wet and dry, with a more of an emphasis on wet. The main reason I do it that way, actually, is to minimize buildup on the neck and to compensate for 2 part additions.

 

[Ace25]

I am still in awe with my new skimmer.. working so good I can't believe I allowed myself to use the Remora on my tank for so long. Then went pretty much skimmerless for a month, so it is playing catch up, along with cleaning the rocks, I am filling my cup every 2 days with black chunky absolutely foul smelling stuff. Never got anything close to that out of my remora. On Saturday after I cleaned some of the rocks I had to empty my skimmer twice that day, and it was still almost black in color.

Here is a question about skimmers in general and a mistake I think I made with my Remora that I won't make again. I don't see this advice posted either. I used to use a bottle cleaner type brush to clean my remora cup, and the tip of the brush left quite a few scratches in the neck from doing that. No way I could get my hand in the neck to clean it. I think the scratches in the neck really negatively affected the performance of the skimmer, what do you think? I am only using my hands to clean the cup on my new skimmer... nasty stuff for sure, but I don't want any scratches on my new skimmers neck. I wash my hands real good after cleaning of course.

And back on topic... do you have any definitive way to find out the cause of your skimmer doing that? ie. would looking at some skimmate under a microscope tell you anything?

 

[Amphiprion]

Once there is enough of a coating, the difference should be negligible. Those films will fill in any cracks or scratches very quickly. FWIW, try using a small toothbrush or something that won't have that little tip that would scratch the neck. I use a toothbrush and go around the topmost .5" of the neck every day. It removes enough to preserve performance without introducing the same oils on your hand, which can arguably hinder performance even more.

 

[Ace25]

LOL, duh, I knew that but that didn't even cross my mind when I was doing that, cleaning the neck with my hands.. I will go with a clean soft sponge from now on to avoid transfering oils from my hands onto the neck.

 

[Amphiprion]

One other thing to consider is to not remove the film on the neck entirely. The skimmer will crank back up much quicker, IME. The only time I clean the entire thing completely is when I empty the cup, which is once or twice per week.