Clean your protein skimmer's neck!

Broder

Broder

Mudshark
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I just thought I'd post this reminder, more for the new guys really, as I don't think that I've ever seen it mentioned before.

The gunk that collects agaist the sides of your skimmer neck must be cleaned as soon as it starts to become visible. If not, ammonification will begin there and ammonia will return into the water column with water running down the inside of the skimmer neck. This obviously applies to the gunk on the lid as well.

This ammonia will not be skimmed out later as it does not adhere to air bubbles. Here's an explanation why: [ame="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protein_skimmer"]Protein skimmer - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia[/ame]
 
:) i just cleaned mine this morning including the cup.
i just thought it was a given that it needs to be cleaned.
thanks for the reminder thought!
 
Just out of curiosity, how often do most of you guys empty/clean out your skimmer cup? Mine has to be emptied out at least every 10-12days, is this normal? It's a TS2 (not for long ;) ) and set on dry skimming..
 
THis drives me crazy, petshops are the worst culprit, a skimmer doesnt skim if its dirty!
 
gMAN said:
Just out of curiosity, how often do most of you guys empty/clean out your skimmer cup? Mine has to be emptied out at least every 10-12days, is this normal? It's a TS2 (not for long ;) ) and set on dry skimming..
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all depends on your bio load but i empty my cup every third day...12 days does sound like you need to tune ur skimmer a bit more
 
Here's a pic from this afternoon...



27224f117b801dc2c.jpg
 
gMan, I'm also running a TS2. You can run it a bit dryer. I cleaned my skimmer the other day in a tub with 30L RO water and 2L vinegar. Must see the improvement.
 
Yip, put it in a tub, for 4 hours (about). And let it skim.
 
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You run the skimmer in the tub with ro and vinegar. Just as what you would in the sump. It cleans itself basically
 
wow, my ATI powercone took 3 months to break in and 4 weeks to fill the cup, orgasmic skimmer
 
deadmeat2016 said:
wow, my ATI powercone took 3 months to break in and 4 weeks to fill the cup, orgasmic skimmer
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it all depends on the amount of organic waste(fish sh!t) that there is. Your skimmer sounds a little over rated for your system. Can you set it to skim wetter? Ie, the bubble level closer to the edge of the neck of your skimmer?
 
I clean my skimmer cup every morning. Some times I might skip a day but I really prefer not to. As mentioned above a dirty skimmer neck really effects the performance of the skimmer. I have a high bio-load and I 'm feeding heavily. I believe in heavy skimming.
 
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