Skimmer issues?

[RocketSeason]

My skimmer hasn't really ever skimmed a ton junk from my tank. my thinking is because my canister filter gets 98% of it. The collection sleeve and carbon is always very gunky whenever I clean the filter. Could this be why my skimmer is not working like a skimmer on a wet/dry or berlin system would?

Check out my sig. for details on my tank.

 

[loganj]

Well...looking at your livestock, you have a fairly light bioload. The canister is trapping the larger trash and the skimmer is getting what little is left. The Bak Pak is a pretty good skimmer and I'd say it's getting what there is to get.

 

[RocketSeason]

any other Ideas???

 

[captivereefs]

I am sure with such a light bioload that the sandbed is processing a fair amount of nutrients itself.And as logan said most of the solids are being removed by the filter before they have a chance to decompose. Have you cleaned the air venturi on the rio pump lately? They clog almost monthly on the bak paks and if the amount of air going into the skimmer is reduced the performance of the skimmer will suffer dramatically!

 

[RocketSeason]

I cleaned it about a month ago, but there really wasnt anything to clean. no real build-up of anything. :|

 

[captivereefs]

Did you take all the lines off the pump and clean them out. Usually the small plastic elbow on the pump gets clogged up.

 

[RocketSeason]

yeah there was a bit of gunk. not much. The skimmer does work, It just only seems to work when the canister filter is ready for a change.