Silly skimmate questions...

[kwsm]

How thick should it be or how much water? How much should be produced daily? How dark should it be?



Read one article that said it should be producing about "one cup of dark skimmate per day." Ours isn't producing that much, but moving the cup makes it watery and I guess I was under the impression that it shouldn't be or something.

So what should we be aiming for?


Also, it's a fairly new skimmer (a little over a week old) so I don't even know if it's broken in yet.


Filter sock to control micro bubbles, yay or nay?

 

[Bifferwine]

A skimmer is going to produce something different for every tank. One cup per day is not going to be the same for everyone. It depends on how many animals are in the tank, what kind of animals they are, how much you feed, how often you do water changes, etc.

Whether you want to skim wet or dry is up to you. And it usually takes 2 to 3 weeks to break in a new skimmer. If you don't have a lot of fish in your tank, it may not pull out much at all.

 

[RIJohn]

I started my skimmer out in march and was getting wet skim, really nasty stuff. As it broke I started getting dry skim at the same setting and my parameters seem to be good. I dont get any where near a cup of skim a day.

 

[d2mini]

Color/thickness is up to you. Some like to skim wet, others dry. I like wet and a nice dark tea color. The wetter it is the more often you have to empty the cup.

Your tank, your tank's inhabitants, your feeding schedule/amount, are all factors that will determine how much skim you will produce. And the size of your skimmer cup will also determine how quickly it fills. I have a good sized skimmer and my tank is lightly stocked so it takes me a good week to fill the cup, if not longer.

I like to use a filter sock. Try to change it out every 4-7 days.

 

[VAreef]

Same with me Dennis. I skim kinda wet with a real dark tea color and with only 2 small fish I can go almost 2 weeks to fill a cup.

 

[OmegaOmega]

Filter sock to control micro bubbles, yay or nay?

I'd say yay - my DT will end up with micro bubbles without it even though my skimmer is on the 'other side' of the return pump in a 30g sump. I use the foam that came with the ASM G1x I have an added a media bag over it to make it a finer mesh - it will probably require more cleaning but it's eliminated all the bubbles.

 

[OmegaOmega]

I started my skimmer out in march and was getting wet skim, really nasty stuff. As it broke I started getting dry skim at the same setting and my parameters seem to be good. I dont get any where near a cup of skim a day.

How does one know when a skimmer has 'broken in'? I didn't realize there was a break in period - does the actual function of the skimmer change over time from out-of-the-box performance?

 

[Reefrookie]

It's usually broken in when you get a consistant amount of skimmate that is pulling the GUNK out of your tank

 

[OmegaOmega]

It's usually broken in when you get a consistant amount of skimmate that is pulling the GUNK out of your tank

And is that an actual indication that something technically has shifted or changed with the device itself, or simply that sufficient 'skimmable' content exists within your water?

 

[kwsm]

Fantastic, thanks everyone!

 

[Reefrookie]

skimmable content depends on your bioload.....less fish=less skimmate

Once the skimmer is broken in, it will pull out the dissolved organic compounds out of the system

 

[OmegaOmega]

skimmable content depends on your bioload.....less fish=less skimmate

Once the skimmer is broken in, it will pull out the dissolved organic compounds out of the system

Thanks - I understand the concept overall; my question is more about 'breaking in' a skimmer.

There's a pump, water column, skim cup, air bubbles and bio-load. If bio-load remains the same, what is it that 'breaks in' for a skimmer over a 2-3 week period as posted before?

Does the air intake change? Pump needle shift? Nothing in the manual of the two skimmers I've purchased indicate that I need to wait for the skimmer to 'break in' - hence my question/clarification on this.

 

[VAreef]

It just takes that long for all the stuff in your tank and the skimmer to get balanced out. I wish I could tell you the science of it but I can't it baffles me but somehow works. I restarted my skimmer after it was in storage for almost 3 yrs and it took it 2 months to settle out. One day the thing would be ready to over flow the next it wasn't making anything and the level dropped where it wouldn't. Of course I have a corraline skimmer and they are notoreous for this but it's still evident in others. After 2 months now of constantly adjusting the stupid thing I'm now for the past few weeks been getting a pretty constant increase of dark tea colored skim.

 

[Reefrookie]

The center tube gets a slime coating on it which helps the skimmate to travel up to the collection cup

The air intake doesn't change, it just works differently and will get more of a foam look to it

You have no choice but to wait till it breaks in.........There is nothing for you to do or to speed this process up, it just takes time!

It wouldn't tell you about breaking in in the manual because all skimmers break in differently time wise

 

[VAreef]

And is that an actual indication that something technically has shifted or changed with the device itself, or simply that sufficient 'skimmable' content exists within your water?

Not really just means everything has balanced out. Since your trying to recreate nature in your tank you need it to also be balanced. There is no scientific answer that I know of as to why

 

[Brian_G]

if you have corals or are planning to get corals. If you skin very hard you will have to target feed more often than if you dont skim too hard.