Skimmer skimming too little?

[MT79]

Originally Posted by ahochan

question to people who are feeding twice daily... how often/much do you do PVCs

I do a 12% PWC every week, use 1/4 cup GAC changed weekly, and I clean the collection cup on my Aqua-c at least one a week for the reason mentioned above.

When I clean out the collection cup, it seems to take a while before the skimming kicks in again.

I noticed that to be more of a problem on low-end skimmers. I always use aquarium gloves when handling/cleaning my skimmer cup. Besides skimmate being nasty stuff, oils from your hands will stop skimmate productuion if it gets on the riser tube of the collection cup. HTH

[ahochan]

I gave the collection cup a good scrubbing two days ago (taking care to keep my oily hands off the insides After about 48 hours its still not skimming at all.

My NO3 is climbing, I take that to be a sign that the skimmer should be skimming and isn't doing its job...

Back to PWCs. Any thoughts on the difference between a 10 % weekly PWC vs. two 5 % PWCs a week?

[MT79]

One 10% PWC will remove more DOC's, etc. than two 5%.