what does a skimmer do and how can you screw it up? FYI

[Sk8r]

Ever been to a beach when the waves have been pounding the shore? Froth. Froth everywhere.

That's the ocean's skimmer. Remember the pix from when children were playing in mountains of seafoam washing ashore this last year? Tank owners were appalled.

When water is charged with amino acids from protein breakdown, and you hit it with a garden hose, it will foam and froth. That foam and froth is the amino acid bit. "Skim" it off and throw it away and your water is cleaner for it.

That's what a skimmer does: a jet hits a reservoir of water, creates froth, bubbles rise and rise in a column, plop into a cup, reliquify as the froth piles deeper and surface tension on the bubbles breaks, and you get to dump the collection cup.

Many advanced skimmers have several adjustments, an air intake toggle, a water inflow adjustment, and a water outflow adjustment. "Tuning" a skimmer means to adjust these to get the best compromise between speed and not wasting water by having a very wet froth [containing a lot of water] plopping into collection.
"Skim wet" means run it with wet froth and get whatever it is out of your tank fast, but when you are skimming 'wet' you need to monitor your salinity: it will be pulling water out and your autotopoff will be pouring fresh water in.
"Skimmate" is, of course, the crud in the collection cup. You want it to be as dark as possible, indicating a) a good job and b) it's not disturbing your water/salt balance.

How big a skimmer should you buy? I say, me, one 2x the rating for your water. I have a 54g tank and an EV 120 skimmer: my previous one wasn't doing it for me. There are several technologies, but the end result is the same: this machine is the 'kidneys' of your tank, part of its waste disposal system, and it is way important to keep it operating at optimum.

What screws up a skimmer? Number one---oil. Anything oily. Your hands. Especially, women, your hands after using hand lotion. Or moisturizing soap. You name it. Read the label: if it says oil, it is going to foul up your skimmer. Skimmers come, sometimes, with a protective oil coating from manufacture: wipe a new skimmer down with vinegar: seems to help.
Foods contain oil. Fish oil. Etc. If you stick your hand in the tank, your natural skin oils will stop it skimming for the better part of an hour. Feeding will do the same thing. Any oily contaminant will take longer than that. If you are trying to 'tune' your skimmer and keep sticking your ungloved hands in the water---guess why you're having a problem getting it adjusted.

HTH

[FragMan07]

I empty my skimmer once or twice a week. The cup is not nearly full, but whatever IS collected is the scummiest, darkest, crud you can find. Really nasty stuff.

Is that normal? I've heard of people emptying their skimmer cups which are completely full 3-4 times a week. When I empty my cup, it's maybe an inch deep of the crud.

Does that mean my tank is clean or that my skimmer isnt working up to par?

As always, thanks for the great advice Sk8r.

[McTeague]

I empty my Coralife SuperSkimmer 125 daily or every other day at the most. I have had it since Christmas and have finally gotten it dialed in to the point where I can trust it not to overflow. I have overflown it about 3 times. It is very sensitive to water level. Here is a picture of it in operation with the custom micro-bubble diffuser I made for it:

[Sk8r]

A young tank won't have as much as an older tank. And there are skimmers and then there are *skimmers*. If you look behind the scenes at your lfs, what lets them keep so many fish on the same system without having the tanks all crash is very often a skimmer about waist-high to a human. There are brands, too, that are better than others. My own is kind of a middle of the road skimmer: good but not the priciest---entirely enough for what I keep and my size tank. It is very much a department of get-what-you-pay-for, because the killer skimmers do really mix it up and pull crud.
Fine-tuning your skimmer, though, can often get just a bit more from it. And the darker it is, of course, the more it is condensed. If you skimmed wetter you would be dumping more often and it would pull stuff faster, but what you describe is perfectly fine for a tank your size.

[Sk8r]

Yes, re the overflow: my Aqua C EV 120 is classed as either out or in sump; I have it out, but it will vomit water like crazy in a power glitch, an off/on. This clever habit has made me site it on eggcrate poised OVER my sump, so if it throws up, there is just an instant recycle.

Freeing that middle chamber of my sump gave me 20 g of room for my fuge.

[FragMan07]

Are you thinking I might need to upgrade my skimmer???

[leoslizards]

Good info, Thanks Sk8r!
Oil will not permanently ruin your skimmer, it just temporally disables it right?

That's some pretty nasty stuff McTeague, but not as bad as THIS!

[McTeague]

You make the best info threads Sk8r! You rock!

[NCguy]

Originally posted by Sk8r
Yes, re the overflow: my Aqua C EV 120 is classed as either out or in sump; I have it out, but it will vomit water like crazy in a power glitch, an off/on. This clever habit has made me site it on eggcrate poised OVER my sump, so if it throws up, there is just an instant recycle.

Freeing that middle chamber of my sump gave me 20 g of room for my fuge.

I have an AquaC EV 120 that did the same thing during an off/on until i raised the outlet water pipe from the skimmer up out of the water just a little.Now it doesnt suck water back up during a restart and cause that water spew or burp.

[baldomero]

hey leo whats that ball of scum?

[Sk8r]

I think you're fine, Fragman. As long as your tank isn't objecting---if it starts getting cruddy---it's just one of those things you track, and you think y'know, MAYBE my water isn't as good as it could be. There's no test I know of for amino acids, [Randy in Chemistry would know] but as long as its running nicely, has some down time, and keeps pulling stuff, it's fine. As you get more fish/corals, you may want better, but early on, it'll do you fine. I used to run with a simple Urchin, like the plain Remora. Stepped up to the EV 120 [same co] and am quite happy with it.
Nobody EVER thinks they have enough skimming. Lol!

No, Leo'sLizards, oil won't ruin your skimmer, just slow it down for a while. It'll recover usually within an hour or so. A really bad dose of something oily might make it wonky for a few days, in which case---run carbon, run 1-micron filter sock, and just dump and be patient. If ANYTHING you propose to add to your tank says "oil" anywhere in it, even a honking great capsule of "fish oil" don't do it. But "fish oil" does appear in fish food: you can't avoid that---but that is one reason the skimmer goes on strike for an hour or so.

NCGuy, brilliant! It is submerged, and can easily NOT be submerged. I'll check that out!

[NCguy]

Originally posted by Sk8r

NCGuy, brilliant! It is submerged, and can easily NOT be submerged. I'll check that out!

lol yeah i got tired of seeing it spit water out of the air intake and fill up the collection cup with water(a few times) so i tinkered around trying a few different things until raising the outlet out of the sump seemed to solve it. I hope it works for you too..I know how much of a pain it was.

[Sk8r]

SOmething many people don't know about their skimmer: it is one major source of oxygenation for the tank. The bigger the better if you have oxy-hungry fish.

And microbubbles. They're always worst when a skimmer is new. You'll notice that bubble-deflator is a nice attachment on that nice skimmer.

But I have what I think is a rather clever way of getting rid of them, too. I send my skimmer outflow back to the first chamber of my sump, forcing the microbubbles to go through the fuge and a huge ball of cheatomorpha algae. No bubbles make it to the other side, where the next chamber is the heater and then return pump and skimmer pump.

[otrlynn]

McTeague, I have the Coralife65, which looks to be the same design. Mine has been running several months and I'm fine with what it's taking out of the water, but not so pleased with the microbubbles. How did you make that bubble diffuser?

[McTeague]

Scroll down a ways on this page for info on the bubble diffuser:
http://www.tylermerrick.com/content/css_notes.php

[Misled]

Originally posted by Sk8r
Nobody EVER thinks they have enough skimming. Lol!

OK, thought my ears were burning. I must agree go at least 2 times the rating. Though there are a few of us who will go 5 times.

Since I'm now getting into sps, I figured I wanted to do as much for my water quality as I could. I do run a bit wet. My cup was cleaned on Saturday.

[down and outman]

My CSS is in my sump. I put a 5 gal plastic aquarium for the drain to run into and the skimmer pump so I have a consistent water level. I lose a lot to evaporation so my sump can vary quite a lot when I'm at work. Also added a drain with a hose to a 2.5 gal jug to catch heavy flows off the skimmer.

[reefhead165]

My Er rs 180 stop foaming today.....is this b/c it has pulled everything out? when i cleaned out the cup i used my finger and went around the cup to get the gunk off... i heard the oil from your hands could make the skimmer stop foaming is this true? So i used distilled vinegar to clean out the inside of the cup...

[McTeague]

I always clean mine with my finger and it does not cause a problem.

[Misled]

Could be from a few things. If it didn't start foaming after one to two hours, you could check the venturi,( air inlet ), for obstructions. I drip kalk and have to clean mine once a month to keep it running smoothly. I also let RO/DI water suck through the airline once a week.

[leoslizards]

Originally posted by baldomero
hey leo whats that ball of scum?

That scum is what came out of a 100 gallon capacity protein skimmer. It's from the Jan 08' Tank of the Month.

[Nanz]

When you empty the skimmer collection cup do you clean it? If so how? Tap water? Mine build up this brown muddy slime inside the collection cup. Should I clean this stuff out each time I empty the skimmate?