I hooked up my skimmer and......

[runway1]

After about two weeks into cycling a new tank, I placed my skimmer (it's a generic, venturi style) in the sump a turned it on.

Problems are; I can't keep the water level at the water line. It just spews out the top and secondly, all these bubbles are clouding my tank. It's only run for 1/2 hour. Is this normal? [acronym:643ec787a5="Thanks in Advance"]TIA[/acronym:643ec787a5]

[IfoundNemo]

Micro bubbles are normal for all new skimmers. Give it some times to break in, and the bubbles will disappear.

[bluejam]

I've been told not to run my skimmer untill Im done cycling. That it defeats the purpose of the cycle.

[RLG2182]

Have you tried to put a flow restrictor valve on the outlet of the unit? Not sure if they recommend it for your particular skimmer... could you possibly post a picture of it, or list which generic one it is? Amiracle by any chance?

~~Rob

[runway1]

Rob, here's the skimmer:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...e=STRK:MEWN:IT

Seems to be working ok, actually. It sits in a sump and there's no way of regulating the water level. It is what it is. Is that a problem? I guess I'll have to see if it's skimming as the days go by.

[RLG2182]

Not really a problem, just might be an issue if you can't control how high the water is inside the skimmer itself. If the water level is too high, all of the crud will overflow into your sump (defeating the purpose of the skimmer itself). If the water level is too low, then you won't really get any skimmate production at all that gets put into the cup. See if you can put a ball valve on the outlet (even if you have to alter it a bit, or add on to the [acronym:f615388c49="Plastic pipe"]pvc[/acronym:f615388c49] outlet).

From the pics, I gather that the outlet is that big white [acronym:f615388c49="Plastic pipe"]PVC[/acronym:f615388c49] pipe... if so, you could easily add in a ball-valve from [acronym:f615388c49="Home Depot"]HD[/acronym:f615388c49] or whatever (most likely 1/2 inch... or 3/4 on the large end). By limiting the outflow pipe, it'll alter how high the water is inside of the skimmer. Try it yourself... put your finger over the outflow and I'm sure the water will rise inside of the skimmer. If the unit seems to be working fine, then just see how it goes day by day. Just make sure the skimmer is in a place where the water remains at a constant water level.

About your micro-bubbles... did you add a bubble trap? (baffles before the return pump). If not, try it, and also try adding a sponge to the outflow. A sponge will generally keep most bubbles from gathering into your return pump. [acronym:f615388c49="Hope this helps (or) Happy to help"]HTH[/acronym:f615388c49]. Cheers

~~Rob

[runway1]

Thanks, Rob. You're right on both issues. A bubble trap (filter stuff for water to fall on worked) cured that problem and I induced the other myself.

Wanting my return pump to pump "skimmed" water, I added plumbing to the skimmer's exit pipe you noted. The plumbing I added traveled up about 6" and then over about 14" and dropped into the other chamber of my sump therefore (to reiterate) returning skimmed water closer to the return pump. (The engineer in me always creeps out).

Removing this added plumbing solved that problem. Same as your suggestion to regulate the output end. I was inadvertently doing that by adding useless plumbing. Live and learn. Thanks again!