Upgraded skimmer question

littlemannin · 02/04/2007, 09:57 AM

I just upgraded my skimmer from a Seaclone 150 to an AquaC Remora pro with mag 3. I installed it 5 days ago (Wednesday) and for the first 2 days it skimmed nothing, which I expected for the break in. On Friday it filled the cup with light green skimmate. Saturday morning it was full again, this morning (Sunday) it is full again. This skimmer has a much larger collection cup than the seaclone so its definitely working much better than the seacloneWhich pulled about 1/2 cup a week). My question is, Should I start raising the collection cup to get a dryer skimmate or is this new skimmer still removing the buildup of junk that the sea clone missed all this time? Also is it normal for the skimmer to do more at night? The foam looks to be "thicker" when the lights are off for a while? My bioload is very light. It is a 55 gal. with 1 coral beauty, 1 Peppermint shrimp, 1 Cleaner shrimp. I feed every 2 days

UCanDoIt · 02/04/2007, 10:59 AM

You're probably skimming to wet, raise the collection cup some more. When you get fish poop accumulating on the top edge of your riser pipe and the lid of the collection cup, then that's about the right height. Right now you are skimming out more water than organics.

Andrew · 02/04/2007, 11:02 AM

Since you don't have much of a bioload, you won't be getting dry skimmate. I would keep it so it's wet skimming if I was you. Also, put a drain line in the collection cup so that you don't have to empty the cup all the time.

UCanDoIt · 02/04/2007, 11:12 AM

I wouldn't put a drain, I would adjust your skimming so you don't get so much water. With a light bioload, you shouldn't be getting much. How's your nitrate reading? Also, how often do you do water changes and what % of volume do you change?

littlemannin · 02/04/2007, 11:34 AM

Right now I have the drian turnd up so it won't leak on the floor. It looks to be at the same level as the riser tube when its turned up so at worst it should just go back in the skimmer. My Nitrate reading says zero but I don't think it's correct since I have a GHA problem. I am currently running a phosban reactor with 150g of media and the flow through the reactor is only enough for the top inch or so is tumbling. This has been running for about 1 month. Thinking I should change the media today. Water changes are about 15% every 2 weeks with RO water and Tropic Marine salt. I suppliment calcium and iodine everyday. (1 cap of calcium and 8 drops of iodine) The reason I bought the skimmer is the GHA problem. It seems everything i've tryed has no effect on the GHA. I pull it manualy often and it seems to grow back everytime. Maybe a problem in my substrate? It is a finer crushed coral but it is about 5 years old.

UCanDoIt · 02/04/2007, 03:39 PM

I had hair algae problem before, very bad. Not one thing will get rid of it, you have to do a combination of things.

1. reduce nutrients by cutting down of feedings or amount of food at each feeding. with limited fish, twice a week is ok while you try to combact the problem
2. remove phosphates (you're doing that already)
3. get a good cleanup crew, if you already have one, refresh it with a new batch, nothing works better than fresh new hungry hermit crabs and astrea snails
4. great on the water changes!!!
5. some hobbyist use a powerhead to blowoff and vaccum any excess detritus from live rocks and sand, bet you the skimmer will ready kick in if you do this

HTH

02/04/2007, 09:57 AM	#1
littlemannin Premium Member Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Maine Posts: 276	Upgraded skimmer question I just upgraded my skimmer from a Seaclone 150 to an AquaC Remora pro with mag 3. I installed it 5 days ago (Wednesday) and for the first 2 days it skimmed nothing, which I expected for the break in. On Friday it filled the cup with light green skimmate. Saturday morning it was full again, this morning (Sunday) it is full again. This skimmer has a much larger collection cup than the seaclone so its definitely working much better than the seacloneWhich pulled about 1/2 cup a week). My question is, Should I start raising the collection cup to get a dryer skimmate or is this new skimmer still removing the buildup of junk that the sea clone missed all this time? Also is it normal for the skimmer to do more at night? The foam looks to be "thicker" when the lights are off for a while? My bioload is very light. It is a 55 gal. with 1 coral beauty, 1 Peppermint shrimp, 1 Cleaner shrimp. I feed every 2 days

02/04/2007, 10:59 AM	#2
UCanDoIt Moved On Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Bay Area CA Posts: 1,684	You're probably skimming to wet, raise the collection cup some more. When you get fish poop accumulating on the top edge of your riser pipe and the lid of the collection cup, then that's about the right height. Right now you are skimming out more water than organics.

02/04/2007, 11:02 AM	#3
Andrew Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Columbus, OH Posts: 13,640	Since you don't have much of a bioload, you won't be getting dry skimmate. I would keep it so it's wet skimming if I was you. Also, put a drain line in the collection cup so that you don't have to empty the cup all the time.

02/04/2007, 11:12 AM	#4
UCanDoIt Moved On Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Bay Area CA Posts: 1,684	I wouldn't put a drain, I would adjust your skimming so you don't get so much water. With a light bioload, you shouldn't be getting much. How's your nitrate reading? Also, how often do you do water changes and what % of volume do you change?

02/04/2007, 11:34 AM	#5
littlemannin Premium Member Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Maine Posts: 276	Right now I have the drian turnd up so it won't leak on the floor. It looks to be at the same level as the riser tube when its turned up so at worst it should just go back in the skimmer. My Nitrate reading says zero but I don't think it's correct since I have a GHA problem. I am currently running a phosban reactor with 150g of media and the flow through the reactor is only enough for the top inch or so is tumbling. This has been running for about 1 month. Thinking I should change the media today. Water changes are about 15% every 2 weeks with RO water and Tropic Marine salt. I suppliment calcium and iodine everyday. (1 cap of calcium and 8 drops of iodine) The reason I bought the skimmer is the GHA problem. It seems everything i've tryed has no effect on the GHA. I pull it manualy often and it seems to grow back everytime. Maybe a problem in my substrate? It is a finer crushed coral but it is about 5 years old.

02/04/2007, 03:39 PM	#6
UCanDoIt Moved On Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Bay Area CA Posts: 1,684	I had hair algae problem before, very bad. Not one thing will get rid of it, you have to do a combination of things. 1. reduce nutrients by cutting down of feedings or amount of food at each feeding. with limited fish, twice a week is ok while you try to combact the problem 2. remove phosphates (you're doing that already) 3. get a good cleanup crew, if you already have one, refresh it with a new batch, nothing works better than fresh new hungry hermit crabs and astrea snails 4. great on the water changes!!! 5. some hobbyist use a powerhead to blowoff and vaccum any excess detritus from live rocks and sand, bet you the skimmer will ready kick in if you do this HTH