Protein skimmer - what SHOULD I be seeing in the waste cup?
 

So I've been running the protein skimmer...with only 3 relatively
small fish, a few crabs and snails, and a cleaner shrimp, and want to
make sure I have it going right:
The skimmer has all the bubbles all hte way up to the waste cup, but
it doesn't ever seem to actually be flowing IN to the waste cup, no
matter if I open the valves all the way or not. That having been
said, every 3rd day or so I clean out the cup because there is a
coating of blackish/greenish crud on the sides of it...smells
horrible, and there IS a little bit of water with it...but I guess my
real questions a
1. Should the bubbles be overflowing up into the waste cup?
2. What SHOULD I be seeing up there when I clean it out?

Mitch

Protein skimmer - what SHOULD I be seeing in the waste cup?
 

Big Habeeb wrote:
1. Should the bubbles be overflowing up into the waste cup?
2. What SHOULD I be seeing up there when I clean it out?

Well, you don't have a lot of bio-load and it's a new tank, so unless
you have nitrate issues, I wouldn't worry about it too much.

As for foam, yes, it should overflow and condense in the cup. Most
skimmers have adjustments, but not all. (Remora is one that doesn't
which is why mine is soon to go on ebay.) This adjustment is commonly
referred to as wet and dry. You're obviously on the dry side.

If you still have the manual, take a look. If not, drag it down to the
LFS after your next cleaning and have them look at it.

Or, post the manufacturer and model. Maybe one of us has experience
with it.

--Kurt

Protein skimmer - what SHOULD I be seeing in the waste cup?
 

"Big Habeeb" wrote in message ...
1. Should the bubbles be overflowing up into the waste cup?

Yes.

2. What SHOULD I be seeing up there when I clean it out?

http://www.theculturedreef.com/evaluation.htm
http://www.theculturedreef.com/TF100A.jpg

Protein skimmer - what SHOULD I be seeing in the waste cup?
 

On Nov 29, 1:56 am, "Pszemol" wrote:
"Big Habeeb" wrote in ...
1. Should the bubbles be overflowing up into the waste cup?

Yes.

2. What SHOULD I be seeing up there when I clean it out?

http://www.theculturedreef.com/evalu...com/TF100A.jpg

OK...thanks for the truly repulsive images lol
I will be taking in the skimmer this weekend...maybe I did something
wrong, maybe the pump isnt strong enough, but the 'bubbles' dont reach
the top cup...they did when I initially set up the tank and tested,
but not any longer. I do see that 'crud' in the top anyway, so
apparently it's getting up there, but I don't see all that much
(likely due to my still low bioload)...

We'll get to the bottom of it. My guess is that it may even become
obvious what the problem is once I pull the thing out of the sump.

Mitch

Protein skimmer - what SHOULD I be seeing in the waste cup?
 

"Big Habeeb" wrote in message ...
On Nov 29, 1:56 am, "Pszemol" wrote:
"Big Habeeb" wrote in ...
1. Should the bubbles be overflowing up into the waste cup?

Yes.

2. What SHOULD I be seeing up there when I clean it out?

http://www.theculturedreef.com/evalu...com/TF100A.jpg

OK...thanks for the truly repulsive images lol
I will be taking in the skimmer this weekend...maybe I did something
wrong, maybe the pump isnt strong enough, but the 'bubbles' dont reach
the top cup...they did when I initially set up the tank and tested,
but not any longer. I do see that 'crud' in the top anyway, so
apparently it's getting up there, but I don't see all that much
(likely due to my still low bioload)...

We'll get to the bottom of it. My guess is that it may even become
obvious what the problem is once I pull the thing out of the sump.

The amount of waste in the skimmer WILL strongly depend
on how big is the bioload of your tank. So clean cup can mean
that there is nothing wrong with the skimmer but your tank
is just clean.

Protein skimmer - what SHOULD I be seeing in the waste cup?
 

"Pszemol" wrote in message
...
"Big Habeeb" wrote in message
...
On Nov 29, 1:56 am, "Pszemol" wrote:
"Big Habeeb" wrote in
...
1. Should the bubbles be overflowing up into the waste cup?

Yes.

2. What SHOULD I be seeing up there when I clean it out?

http://www.theculturedreef.com/evalu...com/TF100A.jpg

OK...thanks for the truly repulsive images lol
I will be taking in the skimmer this weekend...maybe I did something
wrong, maybe the pump isnt strong enough, but the 'bubbles' dont reach
the top cup...they did when I initially set up the tank and tested,
but not any longer. I do see that 'crud' in the top anyway, so
apparently it's getting up there, but I don't see all that much
(likely due to my still low bioload)...

We'll get to the bottom of it. My guess is that it may even become
obvious what the problem is once I pull the thing out of the sump.

The amount of waste in the skimmer WILL strongly depend
on how big is the bioload of your tank. So clean cup can mean
that there is nothing wrong with the skimmer but your tank
is just clean.

It took about 3 days for my Remora to produce anything and then it wasn't
that much.

Jim

Protein skimmer - what SHOULD I be seeing in the waste cup?
 

Pszemol wrote:
The amount of waste in the skimmer WILL strongly depend
on how big is the bioload of your tank. So clean cup can mean
that there is nothing wrong with the skimmer but your tank
is just clean.

You should be able to adjust the skimmer to just get tea colored water
out of it. (It should be much darker though).

Perhaps you have a preset skimmer, and not much you can do about it.

Protein skimmer - what SHOULD I be seeing in the waste cup?
 

On Nov 29, 11:16 am, KurtG wrote:
Pszemol wrote:
The amount of waste in the skimmer WILL strongly depend
on how big is the bioload of your tank. So clean cup can mean
that there is nothing wrong with the skimmer but your tank
is just clean.

You should be able to adjust the skimmer to just get tea colored water
out of it. (It should be much darker though).

Perhaps you have a preset skimmer, and not much you can do about it.

Well, the skimmer I have is an oceanic, though I dunno what model. It
has an adjustable air hose, a hose on the side that I can raise or
lower to raise or lower the level of the bubbles in the skimmer
etc...but no matter how high and wide open I set the thing, I can't
seem to get it to bubble over into the cup. It's still pulling a
decent amount of scumminess out, so I'm not terribly concerned, but
I'd like to get it up and running in its intended way before my
bioload DOES get higher.

Protein skimmer - what SHOULD I be seeing in the waste cup?
 

"Big Habeeb" wrote in message
...
On Nov 29, 11:16 am, KurtG wrote:
Pszemol wrote:
The amount of waste in the skimmer WILL strongly depend
on how big is the bioload of your tank. So clean cup can mean
that there is nothing wrong with the skimmer but your tank
is just clean.

You should be able to adjust the skimmer to just get tea colored water
out of it. (It should be much darker though).

Perhaps you have a preset skimmer, and not much you can do about it.

Well, the skimmer I have is an oceanic, though I dunno what model. It
has an adjustable air hose, a hose on the side that I can raise or
lower to raise or lower the level of the bubbles in the skimmer
etc...but no matter how high and wide open I set the thing, I can't
seem to get it to bubble over into the cup. It's still pulling a
decent amount of scumminess out, so I'm not terribly concerned, but
I'd like to get it up and running in its intended way before my
bioload DOES get higher.

On the skimmers I've seen you want to get the bubbles to the bottom of the
collection cup. They don't start flowing into the cup until the water has
enough poop in it. "Poop" is the technical term. g Sounds to me like your
water is real clean and you need to let it get dirty so the skimmer can do
it's job.

If it's not skimming and your water is testing dirty you might have a
problem.

IMHO - Jim

I don't know what I'm talking about :-)

Protein skimmer - what SHOULD I be seeing in the waste cup?
 

Big Habeeb wrote:

Well, the skimmer I have is an oceanic, though I dunno what model. It
has an adjustable air hose, a hose on the side that I can raise or
lower to raise or lower the level of the bubbles in the skimmer
etc...but no matter how high and wide open I set the thing, I can't
seem to get it to bubble over into the cup. It's still pulling a
decent amount of scumminess out, so I'm not terribly concerned, but
I'd like to get it up and running in its intended way before my
bioload DOES get higher.

Sounds like it's working correctly and your water is pretty clean. The level of
the top of the foam is not important - what's important is the level of the top
of the water column. The water level should be about 1/2" below the base of the
column at the top of the skimmer. The range on this should be between 1/4" to
3/4" below the base.

If the water level is lower, either the water pump (usually a powerhead) is
undersized or it's malfunctioning for some reason.

Also make sure that the airstone is still ok - they wear out. As long as it's
producing a fair amount of tiny bubbles, it's ok. When they wear out, the
bubbles get bigger and fewer. Mine last no more than 6 months.

If the pump keeps the water level ok, and the airstone is putting out well, you
just don't have a lot of waste products to remove.

One last thing. The air powered skimmers such as you and I have don't produce as
much foamate as the venturi models. I would say not to worry about it. The
venturi models are noisier, which is why I stay with the air-driven skimmers.

George Patterson
Worry doesn't improve the future; it just ruins the present.

Protein skimmer - what SHOULD I be seeing in the waste cup?
 

On Nov 29, 11:58 pm, George Patterson wrote:
Big Habeeb wrote:
Well, the skimmer I have is an oceanic, though I dunno what model. It
has an adjustable air hose, a hose on the side that I can raise or
lower to raise or lower the level of the bubbles in the skimmer
etc...but no matter how high and wide open I set the thing, I can't
seem to get it to bubble over into the cup. It's still pulling a
decent amount of scumminess out, so I'm not terribly concerned, but
I'd like to get it up and running in its intended way before my
bioload DOES get higher.

Sounds like it's working correctly and your water is pretty clean. The level of
the top of the foam is not important - what's important is the level of the top
of the water column. The water level should be about 1/2" below the base of the
column at the top of the skimmer. The range on this should be between 1/4" to
3/4" below the base.

If the water level is lower, either the water pump (usually a powerhead) is
undersized or it's malfunctioning for some reason.

Also make sure that the airstone is still ok - they wear out. As long as it's
producing a fair amount of tiny bubbles, it's ok. When they wear out, the
bubbles get bigger and fewer. Mine last no more than 6 months.

If the pump keeps the water level ok, and the airstone is putting out well, you
just don't have a lot of waste products to remove.

One last thing. The air powered skimmers such as you and I have don't produce as
much foamate as the venturi models. I would say not to worry about it. The
venturi models are noisier, which is why I stay with the air-driven skimmers.

George Patterson
Worry doesn't improve the future; it just ruins the present.

George,
Thanks for setting my mind at ease. The water certainly tests as
clean, and for a 72 gallon tank my bioload is very small right now...8
snails, 6 hermits, ocellaris clown (sp), golden headed sleeper goby,
PJ cardinal, and a cleaner shrimp...so yeah, to respond to another
poster, there isn't much 'poop' in the tank. I've also done my best
not to overfeed, putting in only a tiny pinch of food twice a day.
Seems that just about everyhting I put in gets snapped up between the
clown, card, and shrimp.

Going this weekend to the LFS to add some more snails to help a bit
more with the algae situation, and potentially adding a hippo tang as
well (if they have any smaller ones...I know they get quite large, but
I'd like to start off with it a bit smaller...and according to the
LFS, its rare to find juvenile hippos this time of year).

Mitch

Protein skimmer - what SHOULD I be seeing in the waste cup?
 

George,
Thanks for setting my mind at ease. The water certainly tests as
clean, and for a 72 gallon tank my bioload is very small right now...8
snails, 6 hermits, ocellaris clown (sp), golden headed sleeper goby,
PJ cardinal, and a cleaner shrimp...so yeah, to respond to another
poster, there isn't much 'poop' in the tank. I've also done my best
not to overfeed, putting in only a tiny pinch of food twice a day.
Seems that just about everyhting I put in gets snapped up between the
clown, card, and shrimp.

Going this weekend to the LFS to add some more snails to help a bit
more with the algae situation, and potentially adding a hippo tang as
well (if they have any smaller ones...I know they get quite large, but
I'd like to start off with it a bit smaller...and according to the
LFS, its rare to find juvenile hippos this time of year).

Mitch

Are you poo pooing my "poop"? :-)

Was that the first skimmer you had on your tank?

Jim

Protein skimmer - what SHOULD I be seeing in the waste cup?
 

On Nov 30, 11:15 am, "jthread" wrote:
George,
Thanks for setting my mind at ease. The water certainly tests as
clean, and for a 72 gallon tank my bioload is very small right now...8
snails, 6 hermits, ocellaris clown (sp), golden headed sleeper goby,
PJ cardinal, and a cleaner shrimp...so yeah, to respond to another
poster, there isn't much 'poop' in the tank. I've also done my best
not to overfeed, putting in only a tiny pinch of food twice a day.
Seems that just about everyhting I put in gets snapped up between the
clown, card, and shrimp.

Going this weekend to the LFS to add some more snails to help a bit
more with the algae situation, and potentially adding a hippo tang as
well (if they have any smaller ones...I know they get quite large, but
I'd like to start off with it a bit smaller...and according to the
LFS, its rare to find juvenile hippos this time of year).

Mitch

Are you poo pooing my "poop"? :-)

Was that the first skimmer you had on your tank?

Jim- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Jim,

Not at all, I enjoyed the 'poop' reference.
Yes, this is my first skimmer...I've never needed one because I've
never done a reef tank prior to this one, so the technology is a bit
new to me...to the point hwere when my LFS pulled one out, I was
trying to figure out why he was selling me a bong to go with my tank.

Mitch

Protein skimmer - what SHOULD I be seeing in the waste cup?
 

"Big Habeeb" wrote in message
...
On Nov 30, 11:15 am, "jthread" wrote:
George,
Thanks for setting my mind at ease. The water certainly tests as
clean, and for a 72 gallon tank my bioload is very small right now...8
snails, 6 hermits, ocellaris clown (sp), golden headed sleeper goby,
PJ cardinal, and a cleaner shrimp...so yeah, to respond to another
poster, there isn't much 'poop' in the tank. I've also done my best
not to overfeed, putting in only a tiny pinch of food twice a day.
Seems that just about everyhting I put in gets snapped up between the
clown, card, and shrimp.

Going this weekend to the LFS to add some more snails to help a bit
more with the algae situation, and potentially adding a hippo tang as
well (if they have any smaller ones...I know they get quite large, but
I'd like to start off with it a bit smaller...and according to the
LFS, its rare to find juvenile hippos this time of year).

Mitch

Are you poo pooing my "poop"? :-)

Was that the first skimmer you had on your tank?

Jim- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Jim,

Not at all, I enjoyed the 'poop' reference.
Yes, this is my first skimmer...I've never needed one because I've
never done a reef tank prior to this one, so the technology is a bit
new to me...to the point hwere when my LFS pulled one out, I was
trying to figure out why he was selling me a bong to go with my tank.

Mitch

Bahwaaaaa. Good one. I'm surprised your water is so clean w/o a skimmer. The
first time we put a bong on our tank it went to work right away. Seems
everybody's water is cleaner than mine. :( That's why I'm getting rid of a
lot of my fish.

I'm not a very technical type. That's why I rely on this group and my LFS.

Jim

Protein skimmer - what SHOULD I be seeing in the waste cup?
 

On Nov 30, 1:40 pm, "jthread" wrote:
"Big Habeeb" wrote in message

...





On Nov 30, 11:15 am, "jthread" wrote:
George,
Thanks for setting my mind at ease. The water certainly tests as
clean, and for a 72 gallon tank my bioload is very small right now...8
snails, 6 hermits, ocellaris clown (sp), golden headed sleeper goby,
PJ cardinal, and a cleaner shrimp...so yeah, to respond to another
poster, there isn't much 'poop' in the tank. I've also done my best
not to overfeed, putting in only a tiny pinch of food twice a day.
Seems that just about everyhting I put in gets snapped up between the
clown, card, and shrimp.

Going this weekend to the LFS to add some more snails to help a bit
more with the algae situation, and potentially adding a hippo tang as
well (if they have any smaller ones...I know they get quite large, but
I'd like to start off with it a bit smaller...and according to the
LFS, its rare to find juvenile hippos this time of year).

Mitch

Are you poo pooing my "poop"? :-)

Was that the first skimmer you had on your tank?

Jim- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Jim,

Not at all, I enjoyed the 'poop' reference.
Yes, this is my first skimmer...I've never needed one because I've
never done a reef tank prior to this one, so the technology is a bit
new to me...to the point hwere when my LFS pulled one out, I was
trying to figure out why he was selling me a bong to go with my tank.

Mitch

Bahwaaaaa. Good one. I'm surprised your water is so clean w/o a skimmer. The
first time we put a bong on our tank it went to work right away. Seems
everybody's water is cleaner than mine. :( That's why I'm getting rid of a
lot of my fish.

I'm not a very technical type. That's why I rely on this group and my LFS.

Jim- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Jim,
From my understanding of it (and mind you I'm new to this part of
things too), the protein skimmers primary use is to remove organic
crap, before it breaks down fully and pollutes the water. The reason
I've never had one is, that in a fish only system I typically notice
if something is laying dead at the bottom of the tank, and get it ouf
ot there before decomposition becomes an issue. In a system with
liverock, on the other hand, as I'm sure you know theres a TON of crap
living in the rock...worms, stars, little snails, copepods etc which
live and die on a daily basis...so as a result you can end up with a
lot more organic 'crud' in the water...which is what the skimmer is
for. I've heard of it being used in salt water fish only environments
as well, and it probably reduces the frequency of water changes, but
it's not as much a necessity as a live rock system.

Now mind you, most of what I'm typing here is just stuff I'm
regurgitating from reading, so don't take my word for it, but that's
my understanding of the whole shpiel.

Mitch

Protein skimmer - what SHOULD I be seeing in the waste cup?
 

I've heard of it being used in salt water fish only environments
as well, and it probably reduces the frequency of water changes, but
it's not as much a necessity as a live rock system.
Mitch

the skimmers help reduce water changes either way, so they are always
good in either type system(FO, FOWLR, or Reef), just more critical in
live reefs. you can always change the water in reefs more often and
test more often instead of skimming, but its just better to skim the
water and see if you can make it 2 months(+/-) without a water change
by testing nitrates/phosphates carefully. The skimmer more than pays
for lost salt due to more changes.

If you go this long between H20 changes and do skim, you could use
something like KENT "Essential Elements" or something of the like, to
replace the elements that are skimmed along with the skim-ate, or
poop, lol, like the poop reference. skimpoop, hehe.
the Essential Elements contains Calcium, Iron, Iodine, Magensium,
Manganese, Molybdenum, and Potassium, but a word to the wise, if you
have any hair algae i would take care that first before dosing any
kind of iron.
We skim the 60 gal over here, but not the 29gal pod, its too easy to
do water changes on the 29gal and too much room for an external
skimmer since its on a table top instead of a tank stand and theres no
sump in use.

Protein skimmer - what SHOULD I be seeing in the waste cup?
 

"wolfdogg" wrote in message
...
I've heard of it being used in salt water fish only environments
as well, and it probably reduces the frequency of water changes, but
it's not as much a necessity as a live rock system.
Mitch

the skimmers help reduce water changes either way, so they are always
good in either type system(FO, FOWLR, or Reef), just more critical in
live reefs. you can always change the water in reefs more often and
test more often instead of skimming, but its just better to skim the
water and see if you can make it 2 months(+/-) without a water change
by testing nitrates/phosphates carefully. The skimmer more than pays
for lost salt due to more changes.

If you go this long between H20 changes and do skim, you could use
something like KENT "Essential Elements" or something of the like, to
replace the elements that are skimmed along with the skim-ate, or
poop, lol, like the poop reference. skimpoop, hehe.
the Essential Elements contains Calcium, Iron, Iodine, Magensium,
Manganese, Molybdenum, and Potassium, but a word to the wise, if you
have any hair algae i would take care that first before dosing any
kind of iron.
We skim the 60 gal over here, but not the 29gal pod, its too easy to
do water changes on the 29gal and too much room for an external
skimmer since its on a table top instead of a tank stand and theres no
sump in use.

Better have a good sump system. I tried running, with only a canister filter
in, my 45 gal. and you have to be rich to keep up with the water changes. 10
gals every other day.

OTOH:

You probably have the same pod I have.

The Oceanic Bio Cube and the Nano cube (sort of) has a skimmer built in. We
have a shaphire skimmer too but I think it would do just as well filled with
LR. I'm probably doing once a week 5 gal changes now. Better~but I'm getting
rid of a lot of fish.

"Poop" is the official name now. Sorry I had to dumb it down but you guys do
too much reading :-)

Jim