No Skimmate

[AndreT]

Hi Guys,

I have modded my Weipro but I am affraid I have done more harm than good.

How long does it take for a skimmer to produce skimmate on a fairly new tank with only LR as bio load?

Cheers

 

[viper357]

Hi Galibore

Is it a brand new skimmer? they do tend to take up to 3 days before they settle in.

 

[AndreT]

Hey Viper,

No it's not a new skimmer, but it hasn't run in a few months. I will wait another day or two before I make a decision as to what to do.

 

[viper357]

Is your water still brown? I should imagine it would try and remove all of that. Are you not getting any foam at all?

 

[Alan]

If the rock is uncured it should start producing fairly quickly. What mods did you do to the skimmer?

 

[AndreT]

Viper,

No, the brownness is gone thanks to a really big water change and a good vacume.

No, I'm not getting any foam. I adjusted the water level to be more in the neck of the cup to see if it will speed it up.

Alan,

I removed the powerhead it came with and added a slightly stronger pump. Then, I removed the venturi and modded the pump to rather suck air in to be chopped up by the impellor. The resulting bubbles are much much finer than with the opriginal configuration. I was thinking, can the bubbles be too small?

 

[AndreT]

O, and the rocks must have been cured as it have been in the LFS one tank for quite a while.

 

[viper357]

Must be that funny salt you used just kidding, I would just leave it to run for a few days and see what it does.

 

[psycho]

There is no bioload ((hope that is the right word)) in the tank yet

 

[Alan]

I removed the powerhead it came with and added a slightly stronger pump. Then, I removed the venturi and modded the pump to rather suck air in to be chopped up by the impellor. The resulting bubbles are much much finer than with the opriginal configuration. I was thinking, can the bubbles be too small?

Doubt if the bubbles are too small, the theory is the smaller the bubbles the better because of the larger surface area, so if anything you have done the skimmer a favour. If the bubbles were too small they would pop in the riser tube. Give it a day or two, there may be very low nutrient in the system.

 

[AndreT]

Ok, thanks guys I will give it another two day.

Viper, only half of the salt is that cheap stuff...lol.
With the water change I got Reef Crystals.

Alan, what do you mean if they were too small they would pop in the tube? Because that is exactly what they are doing. The bubbles go up and pop in the cup neck.

 

[Alan]

Its fine if they popping in the neck, if they were too small they would pop in the reaction chamber itself before getting to the neck.

 

[viper357]

I think Alan meant the skimmer body.

Yeah I also use Reef Crystals. It is Steven Pro's preferred salt

 

[AndreT]

Thanks guys, will wait patiently.

Viper, yeah, was kinda an emergency and the only shop I could go to only had one box left (of any salt) so I had to take it. Glad I did.

 

[AndreT]

Guys, if I assume that my mod does not work and this skimmer isn't doing it. What would be my alternatives for a skimmer that will fit in a really confined space?

 

[viper357]

Maybe wait for the new Resun Nano Skimmer, I think it is being currently being tested by the importer, no idea what it looks like though, but if it's as cheap as the RIO nano skimmers were (about R200) then I think that might be an option.

 

[Alan]

There are a few new skimmers coming in for the Nano tanks or you could try the AM bio star, ran a 4ft off one and was really impressed at the performance of the little skimmer. Would also supply enough space to add carbon directly after the skimmer if you remove the bio sponge.

 

[AndreT]

Viper,

Yes I remember reading about that. But did the same importer not say that it's crap after doinbg a few tests? Or was that the Rio ones? I can't remember properly now.

There are a few new skimmers coming in for the Nano tanks or you could try the AM bio star, ran a 4ft off one and was really impressed at the performance of the little skimmer. Would also supply enough space to add carbon directly after the skimmer if you remove the bio sponge.

Alan, do you know if these are available already? If so, who stocks them? 'Cause this will solve two of my problems at once.

 

[Alan]

i dont know about the nano skimmers, but the bio stars are available and i am sure you can get them at any of the AM outlets.

 

[viper357]

Hmmm, I may be wrong, will have to check again, but I know they recalled all the RIO nano skimmers as they were not performing. I still have 2 of them which I need to send back.