Skimmer Question

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Warr7207

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I cleaned my skimmer earlier this evening (last evening) basically 10 hours ago. Is my skimmer being too efficient ? I have read that skimmer can make systems almost sterile with their cleaning efficiency. Any comments ?

Livestock load - 4 fish, 3 shrimps, 2 snails, seastar, 3 hermits.

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Warr, need to take that and wash out the inside with a sponge or something.
 
Yea agree with Alfie, undo the cup and give it a good clean...(no soap and only new brush or sponge) I find that if I dunk mine in the pool after it's clean (salt pool) it starts to skim within a few mins. If not it takes an hour or two...think it's from the oils on my hands and stuff in the water...
 
Yip, you need to clean the inside of the neck, remove all of the brown stuff.
 
Warr7207 said:
I cleaned my skimmer earlier this evening (last evening) basically 10 hours ago. Is my skimmer being too efficient ? I have read that skimmer can make systems almost sterile with their cleaning efficiency. Any comments ?

Livestock load - 4 fish, 3 shrimps, 2 snails, seastar, 3 hermits.

52847b3a9382a235.jpg
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Two schools of thought. I believe not possible to overskim. And i have not met anyone that has proven otherwise. There are certain elements that the skimmer can remove like iodine. But this can easily be replaced.
Regarding your skimmer, i believe that you should also raise the bubble column. Skimm slightly wetter. This way only the top quarter or less collects gunk. This is a personal preference coming from a lazy reefer.
 
sunburst said:
Two schools of thought. I believe not possible to overskim. And i have not met anyone that has proven otherwise. There are certain elements that the skimmer can remove like iodine. But this can easily be replaced.
Regarding your skimmer, i believe that you should also raise the bubble column. Skimm slightly wetter. This way only the top quarter or less collects gunk. This is a personal preference coming from a lazy reefer.
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problem is when I skim wetter the cup is full within 24 hours, and I am not always around to empty, and I then have the wife complaining about the stink shit
 
I agree with Sunburst, I dont think you in any danger of over skimming, you will have to find the sweet spot on that skimmer and often its a very fine adjustment. basically the gunge you got sitting in the neck of the skimmer you only want it to build up on the top 1cm of the riser tube before spilling over into the cup, this should start producing a dark skimmate in the cup and take about 3 days to fill. Yip when you clean the skimmer use a sponge to clean the riser tube as that gunge really impedes effecient skimming.
 
Hi Warr -

My TS2 also skims like yours - it takes about just about 4 days for the amount of skimmate to fill my cup to +-half....
I currently have 7 fish (smallish) and 26 corals....
 
jacquesb said:
Hi Warr -

My TS2 also skims like yours - it takes about just about 4 days for the amount of skimmate to fill my cup to +-half....
I currently have 7 fish (smallish) and 26 corals....
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Yeah but my is doing that in 10 Hours ???? na dmy tank is less than half the size of yours. When I get home tonight it will be half way fill. NOT too much skimming ?
 
Nope, it might be skimming a bit wet but then again not if you look where the bubbles are sitting in the riser tube.

Honestly, your a long long way of from overskimming, we all are:thumbup:
 
Warr7207 said:
Yeah but my is doing that in 10 Hours ???? na dmy tank is less than half the size of yours. When I get home tonight it will be half way fill. NOT too much skimming ?
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You need to check your water and feeding routine. The skimmer is that active when there is a lot of crap in water. Have you checked redox/Mv, could be where the problem lies.
 
Alfie said:
You need to check your water and feeding routine. The skimmer is that active when there is a lot of crap in water. Have you checked redox/Mv, could be where the problem lies.
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I am still investigating the Redox, the feeding is so minimal that I have other members telling me my Tang is too thin. I feed twice a day, and one feed is Nori only.
 
You won't be wasting your money. In the long run it will pay off. We all check our normal parameters and you still have tank crashes although these are all in line. IMO this is the one item that most people neglect and could be a cause of some crashes.
 
Alfie said:
You won't be wasting your money. In the long run it will pay off. We all check our normal parameters and you still have tank crashes although these are all in line. IMO this is the one item that most people neglect and could be a cause of some crashes.
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Thanks for the heads up, I will definitely do something there.

I just got a BIG refund from SARS :lol::lol:

Nice when your accountant actually gets money back for a change
 
Warr7207 said:
Thanks for the heads up, I will definitely do something there.

I just got a BIG refund from SARS :lol::lol:

Nice when your accountant actually gets money back for a change
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CAn I send you my bank account details?:whistling:
 
Kanga said:
Nope, it might be skimming a bit wet but then again not if you look where the bubbles are sitting in the riser tube.

Honestly, your a long long way of from overskimming, we all are:thumbup:
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What Kanga and Alfie said - It seems that you got that ReefTek tuned like a nice V8! ;-)
 
Warr7207 are you using filter floss anywhere in the system as putting in unwashed filter floss causes a skimmer to go off the rails.
 
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