Protein Skimmer Woes

[jb61264]

I have removed my Remora C skimmer...it continues to pull straight water out of my system and although its probably been good for the tank (lots of changed out water) I know this isn't working right.

I replaced it with a skimmer by "Aqua Clear Aquatics" (in sump)...a not so local fish store (about 50 miles away from where I live but highly recommended) that I visited last weekend, had some used protein skimmers for sale and I bought the one in my sump now for $30. I bought it because it is what they use on all their saltwater tanks and their saltwater tanks are amazing. The lady at the store even showed me all their skimmers and said they swear by them...all the skimmers were pulling insanely green/brown gunk out of their system.

So...here I sit with this skimmer and it is foaming but pulling straight water out as did the Remora. Intially I thought it wasn't high enough in my sump so I built a stand that raises it, it still is doing the same thing. I have it just skimming back into the tank at the moment, wondering what the hell is going on, wondering if my tank just doesn't have anything to pull out (which I know can't be), and wondering what I'm going to do now.

I think I need to look at an external skimmer that I can plumb out of and back into my sump with PVC.

[ccCapt]

Can you take a pic of the setup?

[Bifferwine]

We may have gone over this already, but do you use any water conditioner, stress coat or chlorine/chloramine remover in your water?

[hotimportknight]

I realized for quite a while I was running the water level in my skimmer too high. I misread the directions and it was way higher than recommended. Just lower it to a level thats lower than you think would do anything, then as the foam builds up it comes out then...

[jb61264]

Thanks for the replies...

I don't use any water conditioners at all...my water is RO/DI water from a heavy duty system at a local grocery store.

I will be taking some video to show (although I'm not sure if I can upload video to the forum) how the used skimmer I bought is behaving in my sump.

Interestingly, I moved my Remora C up to my display tank to hang on the back and it appears as though it may actually work up there...when I looked at the cup this morning there was nothing but pure foam in there. Actually, having the Remora on the back of my display tank doesn't look bad or intrusive at all so I may just leave it there permanently.

Still, I really really want to figure out why skimmers weren't working in my sump...videos/pictures to be posted tonight.

[Altohombre]

Get rid of your new skimmer and keep the Aqua C . It is much better, without seeing what you are doing it is hard to tell what you are doing wrong. Lower the 0-ring around your collection cup and see if that helps.