skimmers

[ChicoRaton]

What makes a protein skimmer good or bad? for example, why don't people like seaclones? what do they do or not do that makes them so undesireable?

I've been into freshwater for a long time, but am just recently getting into salt. The reason I ask is one of the display tanks at the LFS I work at has a seaclone 100 skimmer on it and it doesn't really do anything bad. It fills up with dark brown smelly sludge(which AFAIK is normal...) and has bubbles inside of it and uhh.. looks like a protien skimmer. the only thing I see wrong it is releases some bubbles into the tank, and we had to put a different air intake valve on it because the original one broke. Is this the only problem with them, or is there something more?

Thanks

 

[Sregnar35]

Some release ALOT of bubbles into the tank, and they can be unsightly. Some are recommended for tank sizes that they just can't handle in reality. Some leak, some are made of inferior plastics, some have terrible customer support.

 

[mogurnda]

What a good skimmer does is produce a mass of very fine bubbles, and give them maximum contact time with the water. There are many ways to do this, and a lot of different skimmers on the market.

I have never used either one, but the reason I hear people bash skimmers like seaclones and prizms is that they take a lot of fiddling to get them skimming properly. If you have the right touch, they will produce good skimmate. Many people would rather spend a few extra dollars and get a skimmer that will be less fussy.

 

[ryanj]

I have a Seaclone, how do I know that it is working right? I've had it for about 3-4 weeks and the cup isn't filling up with anything yet.

 

[Mbryant122]

I’m less than 4 months in to the hobby with a 75-gallon FOWLR tank, so please keep that in mind. After running the tank for a couple of weeks I added a Sea Clone 150, I ran the unit for at least three weeks and never filled the collection cup. I had read that a new tank does not have a large bio-load, so a skimmer will not produce much foam. I adjusted the air intake, closing it then open it a ¼ turn and letting the unit run for a couple of hours then opening it another ¼ turn. The unit never produced any substantial foam, actually none at all. I then purchased an Aqua C Remora Pro. As soon as I installed the unit, the cup was filled within a couple of hours. I have since had to raise the collection cup so as not to fill the cup within the hour. The only adjustment that I made to the unit is to raise the cup using the rubber o-ring. I also run the unit on a timer, keeping it off during the afternoons when I feed the fish.

I had posted a question earlier about the effects of ‘Over-skimming’ and Mogurnda gave me the web site of a good . article.

I also learned about the different types of skimmers in an article in the August edition of Freshwater and Marine Aquarium “Protein Skimmers: A Myriad of Choices.”

Here is what the Aqua C will produce with the collection cup at the lowest settings. Collection Cup

I have spoke with others at the LFS and they like the Sea Clone and have good luck with it. I’m much more satisfied with the Remora.

 

[staci&dan]

I adjusted the air intake, closing it then open it a ¼ turn and letting the unit run for a couple of hours then opening it another ¼ turn.

Just a Note Per the instructions with the seaclone. "Adjust the air flow all the way out then all the way back in. Then Back it back out to 1 - 11/4 turns and tweak from there. I have a 55g FOWLR tank running the seaclone 100 allways has a cup full of bubbles and brown goop I empy mine once a week so far only 2 fish in tank though. 1 small Damsel and a Bicolor Blenny.
FWIW
Dan

 

[caz]

some skimmers are very noisy too.

 

[Tyler718]

Just a Note Per the instructions with the seaclone. "Adjust the air flow all the way out then all the way back in. Then Back it back out to 1 - 11/4 turns and tweak from there. I have a 55g FOWLR tank running the seaclone 100 allways has a cup full of bubbles and brown goop I empy mine once a week so far only 2 fish in tank though. 1 small Damsel and a Bicolor Blenny.
FWIW
Dan

When I was reading through this I was going to post the same thing. I have the 150.

The only down side I ran into so far is before I got my sump it hanged from the back of the tank. When I put it in my sump it made a lot of noise because the water was falling from a higher point and splashed into the sump. To fix it I put a small peice of acrylic under where the water exits. So now the water slides down it into the sump and cut the noise out all together.