protien skimmer question

[CleverBs]

So my skimmer arrives tomorrow and I'm turning my hob filter into a fuge. How long should I keep my filter running after putting my skimmer on the tank? I'm trying to figure out what I use for substrate in my fuge. Any help there would be nice as well. Thanks!

 

[Dary421]

Most skimmers will require a break in period before they start to skim correctly.., usually somewhere between two days to a week... Is this skimmer a hob unit???
As far as a substrate for your little fuge goes.,you can use sand, crushed coral, live rock rubble etc...add some chaeto and away you go

 

[Sniperhank]

From everything I've read, if the fuge is small thent he use of sand and LR is minimal, especially sand as it requires a deep bed to be effective. When I get mine up and running, I'm not going to use any sand or mud and toss in whatever LR rubble I have left laying around in my tank just to get it out of there and keep it alive. I have just started reading, but there has been some backing that I have seen in these forums...hopefully they'll speak up and give some more detailed information.

Basically, if you have spare LR then I would toss it in, if not I wouldn't worry about it unless you aren't currently running 1-1.5x LR per gallon...in that case you should put it in your DT. No sand or mud, just macro of whatever you choose.

 

[CleverBs]

Yeah it's a hob. The break in period was the reason why I was asking about when I cam remove my hob filter. From what I read the skimmer I got takes about 2 days to break in.

 

[Sniperhank]

Every skimmer is different. Just install it and open the air valve the entire way until it starts doing its thing and tone it down if needed. Took mine a week to work right. I ran it side by side as HOB with my carbon filter. I have since moved my skimmer into my sump, but am still running my carbon filter. I'm planning on continuing to run my carbon filter and the skimmer, especially since I will be getting some free pods with my incoming order. It'll be another place for them to live.