Temperature and Protein Skimmers

[x19]

Hello Everyone,

First of all, this is a great forum. I've lost myself in your archives a few times over the past couple weeks...really a spectacular community. Anyway, I'm early in the process of cycling (day 3) my first marine reef tank and had a couple of questions:

1. I'm seeing temperature swings from 75 degrees (morning) to 79 degrees (evening), and I'm getting ready to add a second Hydor Koralia Nano powerhead which I'm afraid will push this temperature even higher. I'm using the Coralife Lunar Strip lights with a glass aquarium cover which the instructions explicitly say to use. Can I safely remove the glass cover to help with evaporative cooling?

(I just added the first Koralia today so it may just be that my base temperature increased, and that the swing range will be smaller but we'll see)

2. I've got the SeaClone 100 protein skimmer (it was recommended on the Foster & Smith site) but it seems to essentially be doing nothing. In order to keep large air bubbles from forming in the J tube I have to turn the air intake down very low, and its creating a cyclone and bubbles in the chamber but no foam. Is it possible there just isn't really anything in the tank to skim yet? or is the SeaClone simply that awful?

Thanks in advance, and hopefully I'll be able to give back to the community soon :-)

 

[Brian_G]

1. that much of a temperature swing is a lot. Remove the glass cover not only to help the heat situation, but to help get oxygen to the water. The Koralias produce little heat, so thats not your issue and addind one more wont hurt your heat issue. Adding a heater (if you dont already have one) would be a good idea. That way it wont be able to get down to 75 at night.

2. if its only day three then you most likely dont have anything to skim. A skimmer needs to break in as well, so its likely that it just needs to run a few more weeks.

ohh and WELCOME to the site. you will love it here :)

 

[PRC]

Welcome to the site. Ask as many questions as you have. We're all here to help out. For the temp swings maybe try a small fan blwoing across the top of the tank to keep the temp down in the day...Is your tank near a window? or has it just been getting that warm in the daytime?

 

[x19]

Thanks for your help. The AC is set to 72 degrees in the house, so the temperature buildup must be due to the lighting. I'm going to pull of the cover to see if that helps. I was a little concerned because the lights said to use over a covered aquarium only, but there is an acrylic cover built into the lights.

 

[Smitty]

Hello and welcome to the site...glad to see another Chicagoan. Go ahead and remove the glass lid, that was an issue of mine also, considering chicago weather fluctuates daily. Any skimmer is better than none at all, but that's a cheapo skimmer, it works for some tho. It does have to go thru a break-in phase, so give it time. :)

 

[Bifferwine]

Taking off the cover should help a lot. It will help the tank in other ways besides heat too. Be sure to top off evaporated water with fresh water only (not salt water).

 

[x19]

Thanks again everyone, I should still be able to return the SeaClone as the seller has a liberal return policy (amazon) would I be better off investing in a different model? I don't want to go too much higher price wise, as I'm way over budget on this project as is...a problem I'm sure many of you are familiar with :-D

 

[Bifferwine]

You should definitely return the SeaClone and get your money back. They are one of the most poorly performing skimmers out there. Instead, look into getting a Reef Octopus brand skimmer. They are fantastic for the price.

Protein Skimmers, aquarium protein skimmers & Foam Fractionators

 

[x19]

Thanks, its actually my second time returning the SeaClone. The first one was missing parts.

 

[Bifferwine]

Check this out.

https://www.livingreefs.com/fs-octopus-800s-hob-skimmer-t27258.html#post365047

 

[yote]

Looks like about all I can add is:
Welcome to the reef and the hobby.Were happy you joined us.

 

[ggNoRe]

Just thought I should point out that with a high of 79 degrees you really don't have a issue at all of the tank getting too hot. In fact, many consider the optimum temp to be 78. As long as it does not go over 82 you're fine. IMO you should stop worrying about the heat and get a heater and set it to 77. Having your temp stay between 77 and 79 would be very good (wish I could get mine to stay in that range).

And to reiturate what has been stated protein skimmers don't do anything until your tank is "dirty". There has to be plenty of fish poop and uneaten food in the tank for it to skim. Even with a dirty tank skimmers take a few weeks to break in and start working well. I found that readjusting the height of the skimmer in the tank as well as constantly adjusting the flow of the pump had to be done several times before finding out how to get optimum performance was neccessary. All that said you would be better off with an Octopus still.

Welcome to the site! :mrgreen:

 

[Ulta]

I like to advise people who are on a budget to check out local forums and cragslist for skimmers, along with other stuff (liverock). Here in Michigan we have michiganreefers.com and there are always good stuff selling on there. You can usually picked up a ~$300 protein skimmer for ~$100 used. And people are always breaking down their aquariums and you can usually get nicely aged, full of coralline live rock for $1/lb.

Welcome :)

 

[Reefrookie]

I like to advise people who are on a budget to check out local forums and cragslist for skimmers, along with other stuff (liverock). Here in Michigan we have michiganreefers.com and there are always good stuff selling on there. You can usually picked up a ~$300 protein skimmer for ~$100 used. And people are always breaking down their aquariums and you can usually get nicely aged, full of coralline live rock for $1/lb.

Welcome :)

Your correct,thats pretty much everywhere. You just have to know where to look for the deals!