protien skimmer

[vsnsofadrgn]

i have the "lees" skimmer. when i first installed it to my tank there was always stuff in the collection cup, now theres nothing and its been that way for awhile. ive modded it ( applied silcone to the suction cups to get it to stay in place, it was always falling sideways and ive modded it to keep the airstone at the bottom of the skimmer) i change the airstone regularly and i still have nothing in the collection cup. my nitrates are high (refer to "nitrates through the roof") so i dont think this thing is working. i saw one at petco, a berlin something or other, would this be a better skimmer?? its like 40 bucks. ive also been looking into a diy skimmer, and since i dont have the bugdet for an expensive upgrade, which would be the wiser choice?? protein skimmers should "always" have something in the collection cup if theres the bioload, shouldnt it??

 

[Brenden]

If it is skimming correctly then yes there should be something in the cup. Have you cleaned the skimmer up? I run a AquaC skimmer but have no experience with the smaller models. Hopefully someone else will help out there. I do not see where your mods would hurt its performance. If it has not been cleaned, that can cause a problem.

 

[vsnsofadrgn]

i do clean it regularly, most recently last wednesday....

 

[vsnsofadrgn]

heres a pic, but sorry for the por quality....

 

[greenmaji]

the counter current skimmers need a good running air pump.. you might want to check your airpump to make sure its up to par.. check to see if the diaphram is still in good shape in the airpump..
I agree your mods. dont sound like they whould harm performance.

how big is your tank? how high a bio-load (how many fish and wich fish) do you have?
this information will make it much easier to determan what type of skimmer would work best for you..

 

[greenmaji]

what airstones are you using? limewood?

 

[vsnsofadrgn]

its a 20 gal, 2 clownfish, about 5 hermits, 1 snail..... and yes limewood airstones

 

[greenmaji]

have you inspected your airpump to see if the diaphram is intact (in other words not cracked)

 

[vsnsofadrgn]

air pumps fine.... seems to be airstone, i clean and replace regularly...

 

[Melissamustang]

Greenmaji...........did you ever have a salt water set up? Just out of curiosity :?

 

[vsnsofadrgn]

i just cleaned the airstone again, and theres bubbles, but even when i do that, theres nothing in the cup (from past experiences)

 

[vsnsofadrgn]

i think i need a new skimmer, im jsut wondering which is the best way to go, the diy or the berlin from petco??

 

[vsnsofadrgn]

heres the link on the diy skimmer...http://www.reefcentral.com/diy/frac.htm

 

[greenmaji]

Greenmaji...........did you ever have a salt water set up? Just out of curiosity :?

17years FW and helping friends/aquiances/family with there SW over the years.. lived with one and did most of the maintance/purchasing equipment desions (owner drove truck.. so he wasnt there most of the time to take care of it)
Im reaserching my own first SW/Reef tank setup now..

vsnsofadrgn... RC has alot of good DIY skimmer threads.. Ill check that one out..

 

[greenmaji]

wow.. I havent seen that one before...

I would think you would want more ump.. like a bigger stone or a bigger airpump..
a more powerfull airpump would likely help the skimmer you have now..
what airpump are you using?

 

[HoopsGuru]

If it did produce skimmate but now isn't either there is something wrong with the skimmer or your tank could very well be below the minimum threshold where it will be able to produce skimmate.

It is recommended you change the limewood airstone every 3-6 weeks and if you haven't done so I would start there first. Any idea what the air output of your pump is?

 

[vsnsofadrgn]

it runs off 2 air pumps, i cant remember their brands, but one is fro a 30 gal and the other for a 20. they do have to puch the air up 3.5 feet, could this slow them down? i change/clean the limestone regularly. i cleaned it last night and there was a little bit in the cup this morning...

 

[HoopsGuru]

It's tough to tell if the air pumps are appropriate, but given the fact they worked at first then you should at least be consistent even if not optimal because of being undersized, etc. The fact that you cleaned the airstone though and it helped lends more of an indication to the problem. They really need to be swapped out on schedule, as regardless to their cleanliness they start to break down and the bubble size becomes too large....one of the major downsides to this type of skimmer.

If it were my 20g tank, I would remove the skimmer entirely in favor of larger weekly (or every two weeks) water changes of 5g, you will remove more nutrients especially if you stir up the detritus from the rocks, etc. with a turkey baster before siphoning it out.

 

[vsnsofadrgn]

i really wanted to take it out, but with my nitrates being high, im now afraid of not having one. once everything is normal id like to ditch it, or upgrade. if its affecting my nitrates, id like to upgrade it now. i just dont have a big budget. (or any budget) i found a berlin something at petco for $40. i could prolly swing that. or i could get a new airpump, and new airstones. but if that doesnt work, then i jsut wasted 15 i coulda put twoards the new one....

 

[vsnsofadrgn]

i think ill just get new airstones and see how that works... now that ive made the mods it might just work