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

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

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

"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

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

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.

"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