Prism Skimmer

The friendliest place on the web for anyone with an interest in aquariums or fish keeping!
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.

Fish_fanatic

Aquarium Advice Activist
Joined
Nov 13, 2003
Messages
141
Location
Canada
Ok, I just bought a prism skimmer. I know everyone says that these aren't the greatest but I was able to get one for 70 bucks which is really cheap compared to all the other ones.

So now its all hooked up to the tank and running. The tank is brand new so should i only be getting pure white foam? Also how am I supposed to set the flow? Do I always want a bit of foam going into the collection cup? Or will the foam rise higher when it becomes dirtier?

Any help would be appreciated as this is my first time using a skimmer and I am kinda lost.
 
if the tank was just setup and has not cycled you probably dont need to even run the skimmer yet. The white foam may be from water conditioners that are added to the tank. What type of water are you using and are you treating it(if it needs it).
 
Set it so that the level of the water just reaches the bottom on the bubble neck when it is running with air. You'll find that adjusting either the water flow or the air both affect the water level.

As it foams and collects, the foam will be pushed up the neck and into the collection cup. It will take days for this to happen.
 
All I know is that I had a prizm skimmer and I was always adjusting it. Every day it had to be adjusted. Some days it wouldn't skim at all and some days It would just wet skim and overflow. I just got fed up and got a better skimmer.
 
Overflow....? You must have been running the water level too high in the collection throat.

Don't get me wrong...I'm not saying it is the world's best skimmer...only that it is functional and that I've never have one overflow.
 
I think you'll be fine with it. It won't skim anything if there's nothing to skim.

IMO, a skimmer is a skimmer. They all use the same principle. Air and bubbles can only get so fancy. The major difference is whether you want to spend $20 on a plastic tube or $300 on a name-brand plastic tube.
 
Sorry, but the prism is junk. Its too bad you've already hooked it up, cuz for another $34 you could have gotten a CPR bak-pak which is 10 times the skimmer of a Prism. Or I would've sold you my old prism for $30 to get it out of my sight.

But since you're stuck with it, I say let it run as soon as you've got live rock in the tank, so it starts breaking in. However be prepared to adjust it every day, and after you adjust it, check it again in 10 mins to make sure it's still ok. The problem with them overflowing is you turn up the flow a little, it seems fine, but it creeps up the collection tube slowly, and then in 20 mins you're pouring seawater out of the top of the cup and making a huge mess.
Then again, some days it won't skim anything.
 
Ok, but it still does a decent job right? And I should be fine as long as I keep the water level at the base of the bubble neck?
 
YOu want the water level just below the O-ring, which seals the cup to the main unit.

And no, it doesn't even skim decently. I was lucky to get a half inch of collection a week (otherwise flow was too high and I'd get mostly sea water)...mean while my CPR gets at least that much every few days (the cup sizes are very different so I can't compare inches of skimmate effectively).

Lets put it this way...I fought and fought and fought with cyanobacteria, and after only changing my skimmer, the cyano completely went away. I did nothign else to the tank during this time, adn the cyano still hasn't returned now, after a little over 2 months with the CPR.
 
Well that kinda make me wish I would have spent a little more money one something more reliable. The guy at the store said that this would do fine on a FO tank like I will be doing. I guess I'll have to see how it goes. :roll:

Is a protein really all that necessary on a FO tank anyways?
 
A skimmer is always gonna be beneficial. On a very simple FO setup that's not over stocked, or not full of messy carnivores, a skimmer will have less to remove, and thus its not a critical piece of equipment.

I have issues with the fact that the manufacturer says the standard Prism is for tanks up to 100gallons. I only tried it on a 40gallon, against the advice of several people who said I'd need the Pro for my tank...and I have a light bioload, certainly not overstocked.
 
Thats exactly another reason I bought it... it says up to 100 gallon so i figured a 20 gallon would be no problem. I guess I'll just play it by ear and if I see that its not working out then I'll get a better one.

Thanks for all the help
 
I would consider a protien skimmer one of those necessities. If you have fish, or anything in your tank that creates wasted material, its either going to be filtered by liverock/filter system, or its going to float to the top. I remember the 150gallon without a skimmer... 8O ..worse enough, the owner purchased one of those Prisms. Ugh.. that thing pee'd me off. It was so difficult to tweak it just right. Especially hanging off the back of a huge 150gallon where you can't effectively see the water level. Regardless, I was always curious how some of these people got their water so clear/removed floating gunk -- and even with the Prism it equated to water that is MUCH more clear.

My tank has a custom skimmer... and yes, I can say there is a huge difference in quality, given my skimmer is also a bacteria tank with the bioballs. I just had to find the right power pump (rio800 was perfect) so that it didn't dribble down the back of the tank *smirk*. I'll need to take pictures and post them eventually.. of both tanks.

G'luck with it either way, you'll be annoyed setting it up, but happy with the results nontheless.
 
Well my skimmer seems to be doing the job :D . I bought 10 pounds of live rock 3 days ago and today there is about half an inch of brown water in the collection cup. So far so good.
 
Back
Top Bottom