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

"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.

"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

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.

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.

"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 :-)

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.

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

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