Can't get skimmer Right

[Noobeef]

After much research I purchased the Reef Octopus 6 for my 120 gallon reef tank. It has been 4 months and the skimmer still doesn't work properly. It will work like a beast for a week then be functionally retarded for two weeks.

My question is can I get away with not having a skimmer if I use that room in the sump to grow a TON of chaeto? I really don't have the funds to try a different skimmer. But my current one is useless 75% of the time. My bioload is going to be light, relatively speaking.

Yellowtail damsel
Tomater Clown
Flame Hawk
Kole Tang
School of 5 Lyrtail Anthias

Yet to be purchased

Blue Tang
6-Line Wrasse

That's 11 fish with a lot of small ones in the mix in a 120 gallon tank.

[LPS_Blasto]

Did you tune and adjust the skimmer properly?

With skimmers, you can't just plug them in and walk away. They need to be adjusted. There's usually an air intake adjustment and a water outlet adjustment. If you have not taken the time to adjust both, no skimmer on the planet will work worth a darn.

[1fishkeeper]

Is the water level where you have your skimmer stay the same? Or does it go up and down between topoffs. If it goes up and down that would be the reason why your skimmer only works then stops. You need to have it in a area in your sump where the water stays the same all of the time so you can tune it to really clean.

[Noobeef]

Well, for the two posts

I did noodle with the intake and return quite a bit. For the second post, it is NOT in a place where the water level stays the same. I was not aware that was important as the pump and the return pipe are always submerged and the air intake is always above water. I'm not doubting that it is the issue, but what makes it an issue out of curiosity? It seems as though that shouldn't matter as long as the parts doing the work remain submerged?

[reefsurfing]

If the water level is fluctuating outside the skimmer, it will also then, fluctuate inside the skimmer effecting the bubble level. Running your investment in a stable water level should help you fine tune your new skimmer and alleviate any issues.

[RcToners]

I will give you an example with my skimmer although my skimmer is an external it is still the same concept.


1. If the water level in my skimmer is to high the bubbles do not have enough time to do the job, they simply overflow into my skimmer cup along with alot of water and pretty much just waste water.

2. If the water level in my skimmer is to low then the bubbles do not make it up to the skimmer cup, although it is creating a ton of bubbles they simply just stay in the body of my skimmer and go through the return back to the tank.

3. If the water level in my skimmer is going up and down all the time then part of the time the skimmer will create very very wet skimate doing basically nothing but wasting water, the other part of the time it wont skim at all and then sometimes when the water level is correct it will work like a champ.

My skimmer is set to where the water is always at the correct hieght so I dont have any of the above issues but in your case its easy to see where the issue is comming from .

[Grendel0501]

ATO ftw!