skimmer help?

[Jeffrock]

i have a grey skimmer that has a red ring where you screw on the cup.... there is a little nipple that points down where the skimmed material sits.... is it supposed to drain back into the sump compartment or is it supposed to drain at all? i bought it at a garage sale and am wondering if i may be missing something? it produces skimate and falls into the cup...but it drips back onto the outside of the skimmer back into the skim area on my sump...... HELP!!!

 

[Ziggy953]

You do not want the skimmate to drain back into the sump. that is just putting everything you skimmed out back in the system. You can either attach a drain line there that will drain into a separate container or you can plug that hole and allow the skimmate to collect in the collection cup.

 

[furrymurray]

I think that might be a coralife skimmer that you have. If it is, that little hole you are talking about is to attach a tube to and have the skim mate drain into a large collection container so it doesnt over flow the small collection cup.

 

[Sniperhank]

I wish my coralife skimmer would skim enough to fill half the cup... I empty it weekly and a large amount is about 1/3 the cup.

 

[Jeffrock]

thanks for the info.... ill look into it, i thought there was something screwy with that...

 

[Jeffrock]

ok, so i got the skimmer working. any imput as to how it should be set to run? i had the bubbles going over the tube and into the cup, but it was filling the cup way to fast...like i would have to dump it after an hour or so...i haven't started my cycle yet and want to have everything set and ready to opperate. i would appreciate your input.

 

[carey]

You want the bubbles to just kinda flop over into the cup. You don't want a steady stream of foam as like you know it fills up way too fast. I'd start at the beginning and close the flow upwards. then just add teeny tiny bits more of air. You will need to do this over an hour or so maybe. Do a slight adjustment and wait like 15 minutes before adjusting it again. And if this is a brand new skimmer it will be wacky to adjust for the first week or so anyways as the skimmer has to break in.

 

[Jeffrock]

it is a used one, i think someone told me it sounded like a coralife skimmer....how do you go about adding tiny bits of air? i have the 2 airlines hooked up already, one to the pump and the other is just up in the air.

 

[carey]

How do you adjust the bubbles? However youre doing that make sure the bubbles go all the way down the cylinder. THEN I would slowly open it up by doing the opposite that you did to get the bubbles to drop. But don't rush it. Adjust and wait a bit. adjust and wait a bit. When the bubbles are just at the verge of tumbling over into the cup you have found the sweet spot. lol

 

[Jeffrock]

ok, thank you ! ill play around a bit and see what i come up with....

 

[carey]

It's a pain but you'll find the spot. lol

 

[melosu58]

Moved to General Hardware and equipment discussion.