After skimmer break in...?

[RYknow]

Hey guys. We got our Bermuda Rouge skimmer up and running. It's been running since monday night. I was told to just run the skimmer, with the gate wide open for the first few days, to let a nice layer of slime build up inside the skimmer. I've done that, and was planning on starting to tweak the skimmer this weekend, and work on getting it dialed in.

This is our first skimmer, so I don't really know how one is supposed to work, or what to expect from one. Bassically I just want to know, how should it behave? What would be ideal? How much skimmate/foam/water should I expect to be accumilating in the collection cup/bucket for the over-flow?

Right now I'm not getting much in our collection cup. In the last two days, it's accumilated about a 1/4" of nasty brown water/skimmate (not quite enough to need the over-flow.). I never see any of the foam inside the skimmer, unless I take the cover of the collection cup off, and look down inside the neck into the skimmer. Should the foam be flowing up in the neck? I've seen it come up into the neck once or twice. It seems like the level goes up and down on it's own, without any kind of adjustment to the gate.

Anyway, I'm just looking for some suggestions/opinions on how I should adjust the skimmer in the next couple days.

-RYknow

 

[yote]

Adjust it slowly.
I dont have any experince with that brand skimmer,but I'm sure its like most others.
You'll want a good ammont of micro-bubbles inside the body and up to the bottom of the cone.

 

[Swifty]

It might take a little longer than a week to "break-in" a new skimmer, more like 2-3 weeks. It will be up to you to decide on how much skimmate you want to deal with. My first skimmer I was crazy and was dumping it every day which was like doing mini water changes. The new skimmer takes about a week to fill the cup with the foulest sludge you can imagine. If overfeeding is a problem, the skimmer is going to fill up faster. Mine goes crazy when I feed my corals especially when I put phyto in the water.

 

[McCrary]

A skimmer should break in fairly quickly, within a few days you should begin pulling skimmate out. Keep the air unrestricted until you get a feel for the quality of skimmate being produced, then slowly begin restricting the air, this should cause the skimmate to get more watery. Some people like to skim dry and some like it wet, its just about finding whats right for your tank.

 

[RYknow]

So after some more reading, I've made an adjustment (or maybe it would be classified as a modification) to the Rogue Wave. I added a small valve to control that amount of air the skimmer is getting. Here are a few pics.

Here is a pic of the head (the foam...? Not sure about a technical name..:frustrat:).

So my question is, Is this where I want the water level to be? My goal is dryer skimmate. The skimmate is very wet. Not to mention not very dark at all. So is the foam where I want it to be? I have it pretty well balanced near the top of the neck. Do I want it balanced right up near the top (close to over-flowing into the collection cup), or do I want it lower?

-RYknow

 

[yote]

I like to keep the foam right at the bottom of the cone.Gives a good dry,dark,stinkin skimmate.
JMO,But I'd lower the foam down to just inside the bottom of the neck and let it run for a week or so.

 

[Piggy]

Agree if you want dryer skimate with a stronger stink.

 

[reeffreak]

If that is the level of foam giving you the wet skimmate.Try lowing the foam a tad,down an inch or two and see if it gives you a dryer,darker skimmate.

 

[RYknow]

I think my biggest problem is I'm always playing with the skimmer. I can't just leave it alone. :frustrat:

I'm going to lower it, to just about the bottom of the neck, and not touch it for a week, and see where things go from there.

-RYknow

 

[RYknow]

Sweet....Just had a HUGE flood to clean up!!!!! God damn skimmer. Hope the water didn't flow too bad on the downstairs neighbor's heads. :frustrat:

The foam was at the very bottom of the neck leading to the collection cup. It's been there since last night, it was very concistant. Next thing I know we get home from the store, and there is water everywhere!!!:pissedof: I'm the only one that touches the tank. Not to mention no one else was even home, so there was no adjustment made.

What causes the water level to just...all of sudden jump? I didn't think that setting up a skimmer was going to be such a task. Is it supposed to be this difficult? I went with this skimmer cause it's got a bunch of great reviews, and said to be one of the easiest to setup.

*sigh*...sorry to vent. I'm just very frustrated at this point. I'll get this thing figured out...I just thought I would have had it by now. :frustrat:

-RYknow

 

[daugherty]

they can be a pain in the ass sometimes

 

[Bifferwine]

Skimmers can be very touchy, some more than others. The most common reason for floods all of a sudden like that is using a water conditioner/dechlorinator or stress coat additive. But for the first couple weeks, floods are all too common, unfortunately. During the break-in period, some people just leave the skimmer at the lowest setting when they're not home.

 

[RYknow]

I was hoping the break in would be over by now? The Skimmer has been up and running for about a month now. The most frustrating thing is no sooner I get the thing adjusted right...I'll have to clean it. So I'll have to turn everything down...clean it...and probably never get back to where it is now. :frustrat:

The valve for the air control is WAY too sensitive. I need to come up with a better solution for that.

-RYknow

 

[reeffreak]

Welcome to the hobby..sorry!You're not a true reefer unless you go through one flood.

 

[yote]

Welcome to the hobby..sorry!You're not a true reefer unless you go through one flood.

Amen to that.
We've all done it.So your not the first,and dang sure wont be the last.
Seems like the better skimmers are more prone to flooding,just because.