help new Remora user

[dzhuo]

last night around 7pm, i installed a Remora (hob, with mj1200 and a pre-skimmer box) for my 10g. around mid-night, i went to check on the skimmer and noticed that it have produce half a cup of skimmate. the skimmate is very wet and it's as clear as the tank's water. i emptied and cleaned the collection cup. this morning, another half cup of skimmate was produced. it's also very wet and as clean as the tank water. no smell or brown color whatsoever. again, i cleaned the collection cup. ever since, nothing has been produced. there are many micro bubbles escape to the tank. according to the instruction , the micro bubbles (as well as the noise) are normal for the first couple weeks of operation as the skimmer break in.

what about the tank-water-skimmate that it produces, are those normal as well? i thought the skimmate has at least a slight yellowish color to it, no? i have never seen a skimmate so "clean". if this is normal, how long (usually) does it take for the skimmer to finally produce dark brown skimmate? thanks!

[steelhealr]

My skimmate has never exceeded the color of green tea. You may just be keeping good water condtions. Raise the cup a bit and see what happens if you 'dry out' your skimmate. SH

[dzhuo]

rare. something happen again today. last night and this morning, there were half a cup of very wet but completely smelless and "clean" skimmate produced but nothing else ever since. however, i have come to realize that this has nothing to do with the light. it looks like everytime i put my hand (even for as short as 5 to 10 second and even i wash my hand with warm water before hand), the oil in my hand seems to drive the skimmer crazy and produce this skimmate. i *think* this is normal or at least until the skimmer breaks in ?

[TroyT]

Surface tension is your culprit. Basically, by putting your hand into the tank it creates this situation. You see this sometimes after a water change.

It sounds like you have a rather new tank. It will do this less as your tank gets older and the skimmer breaks in a little more.

[dzhuo]

my tank is about 9 months old so i guess it's still fairly new. the skimmer is also new so i will wait for a week to see if after the break in period, the skimmate will be better. just want to know if you guys have similar experience.

[gil716]

a tip on the microbubbles. i didn't like seeing all the bubbles in my tank and was a bit concerned that it would bother my clam, so I strapped a piece of foam to the output with a rubber band. it cut the bubbles down tremendously.

definitely try raising the cup. i'm getting about a 1/4 cup of green stuff every 2-3 days on my 24g.

[onthefly]

Did you "wash" the skimmer first?

I'd raise the cup for the first 3-4 days and let it break in...then lower it to your desired level.

My urchin produces 1 cup of tea colored skimmate on the lowest setting every week.

[dzhuo]

thanks for the micro bubble tip. will try that out. no, i didn't wash the skimmer before putting it to use. i am too excited to install it when it arrived and was later found out that (according to the instruction) washing the skimmer in warm water helps to remove oil and such and shorten the break in period. i will try raise the cup tomorrow. i am getting half a cup of very "clean" tank water type skimmate every day. how long does it usually take to break in? and how do you know when the skimmer finally breaks in?

[onthefly]

I'd just raise the cup for 3-4 days, then drop it down and see what happens.

AquaC says that manufacturing oils will be present and cause a lenghtened breakin unless washed.

No worries, just give it a few days....