Red Sea Prizm protein skimmer

[Apestyler]

As you may have seen from my other post I have setup my protein skimmer, however I am a bit worried that it is producing alot of wet foam in the collection cup, and alot of micro bubbles in the outlet - I have tried to reduce and increase the flow but it seems to make no different.

I have attached a picture below to illustrate this more clearly - Please let me know if this is setup incorrectly. The first picture was taken this morning after leaving it on all night.

Many thanks!

[Chris]

Set it so the foam rises to the bottom of the collection cup right at the rubber ring. If its the first time you have used the skimmer it may collect any additives you have added. I know for a fact if you add something like stress coat to your tank it will fill your skimmer up over and over. Try waiting a few days and emptying the cup as it fills up.

[Apestyler]

Cheers Chris, will set it as you described and see what happens.

[fishman]

Ha Chris is right it is pulling anything you added to the water out .Also new skimmers need a brake in period the picture looks good ,in a couple of weeks it will have that nasty old brown goop in it .As your bacteria load gets bigger it will really get in gear for you .

[minireefer]

I have mine set in between open and closed.I get brown foam.I do agree with the above they take a couple weeks to get broken in.Also I added some prime in the past and my skimmer went nuts and over flowed the cup.They take some ajusting to find the right setting because of there price but they run nicely after.Since you still cycling I would wait to run this till you cycle is complete.

[Apestyler]

So it'll be best to turn it off until I get the live rock? I turned it on when I added the live sand due to the bacteria etc (I have been feeding them every other day with a small amount of flakes)

[smoot]

Enjoyed reading the comments about Prizm Skimmers as I have one and have had a lot of trouble setting the flow so as to get good dark skim on a frequent basis and not turning it down so much as to not get any skim at all.

The uplift tube collects a lot of black gunk which i remove on a regular basis but I don't get that much actual skim in the cup.

Anybody using the Remora skimmer or the Coralife hang on the back skimmer?

I am a new member so, howdy.

Ed

[Chris]

Welcome aboard Ed!

I used the prizm skimmer with some success but it really only good for a new tank without alot of marine life in it. I personally have not used either of those skimmers but jhnrb recommened the CPR backpack to me in chat last week as a great solution for an inexpensive skimmer. I use a Euro-reef skimmer which is one of the best but its also expensive, I bought mine off of ebay saving a couple of $100 dollars.

Im sure some of the other members will chime in soon as to what their personal favorites are.

Good Luck!

[minireefer]

Smoot welcome to the forum,
I am using a prism skimmer and have it set between open and closed and get good skim foam(brown slime)My tank is only 29 gallons through.The skimmer took about a week and a half to get broken in.I have not used a remora or corallife skimmer,but have heard nothing but good results from the remora.The CPR backpack is also a good skimmer my friend likes his alot,but he added a bubble trap/preskimmer to it to get rid of the mini bubbles coming out of it.Try ebay for some good skimmer pricing as Chris stated

[smoot]

Thanks for the input everyone. I am trying to decide on a new skimmer that is not very expensive ($100-150), is a hang-on model as I have no sump, is reasonably easy to use and skims well. Not asking for much am I?

I am looking at the Remora and Coralife right now in catalogs from That Fish Place and Marine Depot. Haven't tried EBAY yet. Never bought anything on that sight. Is it hard to do?

I have a 60 gallon "tub" tank that is very wide ,front to back and tall but not that long. I have several ree-friendly fish in it; Blue Chromis, Royal Gramma, etc. and several soft corals and mushrooms that have reproduced, mostly by new buds, in some cases.

I use Instant Ocean salts, have two Hagen Aqua Clear filters , the Prizm and a power head providing filtration and water movement. I have two double flourescent light fixtures on top that are a combination daylight and actinic all-in-one-bulb variety.

I use ChemiPure in my filter.

My major problem is red slime algae caused by the food going into the tank and providing it with nutrients.

Thought you might be interested.

Ed