rookie-- how do skimmer's actually perform on new tank?

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Mann2021

Aquarium Advice Apprentice
Joined
Sep 10, 2021
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25g IM Fusion Lagoon----saltwater--cycled after 4 weeks, Nitrates at 10ppm
getting light algae on the walls, etc.


I got 2 fish this week and they seem to be doing fine. I also got a Icecap Nano skimmer in. I decided to start it running, mainly to start the break-in process, the gate is wide open, so not making skim really......but I have tried dialing it in but it has been difficult mainly because I'm unsure how the skimmer should actually perform through out the day...... and should I even be trying to make any skim now?

I have a couple of questions about when should I start trying to make skim? should nitrates be a certain level or what? The water is crystal clear and all other test are in the middle of the ranges....all look good to me.

The other question is how skimmers actually operate ideally .....does the skimmer collect all the gunk in the neck and when it gets to a certain toxic level it then comes foaming out? sand this process repeats sporadicallyh through the day ? or should I be trying to dial the foam into the top neck and when it gets toxic now and then it will boil out? and stop after a few mins. or should I be trying to make it foam all the time a little bit?


Right now if it foams out it's all very light in color, not dark like most I see online......... I imagine this is because my tank is so young..... and my bio load is just starting...
 
25g IM Fusion Lagoon----saltwater--cycled after 4 weeks, Nitrates at 10ppm
getting light algae on the walls, etc.


I got 2 fish this week and they seem to be doing fine. I also got a Icecap Nano skimmer in. I decided to start it running, mainly to start the break-in process, the gate is wide open, so not making skim really......but I have tried dialing it in but it has been difficult mainly because I'm unsure how the skimmer should actually perform through out the day...... and should I even be trying to make any skim now?

I have a couple of questions about when should I start trying to make skim? should nitrates be a certain level or what? The water is crystal clear and all other test are in the middle of the ranges....all look good to me.

The other question is how skimmers actually operate ideally .....does the skimmer collect all the gunk in the neck and when it gets to a certain toxic level it then comes foaming out? sand this process repeats sporadically through the day ? or should I be trying to dial the foam into the top neck and when it gets toxic now and then it will boil out? and stop after a few mins. or should I be trying to make it foam all the time a little bit?


Right now if it foams out it's all very light in color, not dark like most I see online......... I imagine this is because my tank is so young..... and my bio load is just starting...

It usually takes skimmers a few weeks to "break in" and really start pulling stuff from the water. Give it a little time and you should see improvement. Your tank is young so you probably don't have a ton to skim at the moment. As your tank matures, the collection cup will fill faster. You want your skimmer to be creating an amount of foam where it is just barely over flowing into the cup. Usually in a mature tank you will have a full collection cup after a week or two in my experience. You DO NOT want foam flowing out of your collection cup. If that is the case dial your air back a little bit. As far as light foam, that is actually ideal. Overly dark foam indicates that you are running the skimmer too rich with too much water and not enough air. A light skim foam head is ideal. This is a really good video from BRS on skimmers. I find the visuals to be very helpful:
 
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