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

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

"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

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.