Skimmer question.

[tava716]

Hey all!

Just installed my new 20 gallon sump and ASM G-3 skimmer about 24 hours ago. I know I should not be seeing any real skimate yet (also tank is 90 gallon, 6 months old, 3 fish, 2 bristle stars, 1 sea urchine, 1 shrimp, 55 lb live rodk) because I do not have a very heavy bioload yet.

My question is, how high should the water/bubble level be in the skimmer. Right now (as you can see from the pic), it is just right at the top of the cone (bottom of collection cup). Is this the proper level?

Thanks gang!

James

 

[Krish]

Glad you finally got it...It looks great! I think you are going to have to let it break in first before you worry too much about adjusting it. It is usually adviseable to lower it a bit so it doesn't keep flowing in the collction cup when it really starts to work. You don't really want an accidental overflow of skimmate everywhere.

 

[tava716]

How far should I lower it? Maybe down to the bottom of the cone? Maybe an inch from where it is now? How long should it take before I see it function properly and produce skimmate? I have some foam on top of my bioballs to kinda pre filter the water before it hits the bio balls. Should I remove the foam and let the dirt go over my bio balls and then into the skimmer or is it a good idea to keep the dirt off of the bio ball? I rinse the foam every 3 days of so.

 

[Krish]

I put mine down to about half of the neck or maybe even a little lower, but that's because my skimmer is setup different from yours. Mine sits outside and can flood the place if it got out of hand. It depends on the skimmer when it will break in. Some take longer than others, but is said about a week or 2. Mine took 2 days to show any effect. I guess I got lucky.

About the bio-balls, it is good to keep the foam on it as they can become clogged with detritus easily. I would assume then that your skimmer feeds from the water after the bioballs. I think it is best and adviseable if possible, to have the skimmer feed from the raw tank water coming in from the tank, to do the work before it gets to your bio-balls. Most setups you see are setup this way. If you can't set it up this way dosn't mean it won't be efficient and that it's wrong. It's just that you'd get more junk on your bio-balls more quickly. Nevertheless, you skimmer will still skim.

 

[tava716]

I have the raw water going over the bioballs, then skimmer. Too late to change it now. I will just have to clean the bioballs a lottle at a tiem now and then. I have heard that if you just shake them gently in a bicket full of tank water, that is the best way to clean them without killing the bacteria.

 

[Krish]

Yeah, that's the best way James. I wouldn't go through the trouble of changing it now because I know you are already crammed for space. Like you said, you'll just have to clean them a bit more, but atleast that's no major task. O.k...Time for some more pics...I love pics!

 

[tava716]

Krish,

Here are some pics of the sump. I just did a major cleaning of the tank, so it looks clowdy. Will post some pics of it tomorrow.

James

 

[tava716]

One more............

 

[Krish]

I like it a whole lot better now James! Cool picture and you did a great job putting it all together.Sorry I didn't reply last night...Our server was down. Maybe you should add your pictures to "Show your filtration pictures" thread. It would be a great addition.

 

[tava716]

Thanks for the kind words!

I think I will add them to that page.
Here is the tank.

 

[tava716]

And a few more.........

 

[Krish]

Very very nice James...I'm going to take mine down now!(LOL)

 

[tava716]

Thanks man. I like it. But nothing beets being able to save all that money by catching your own fish!! LOL

 

[Krish]

Nope, but it sure is expensive as hell to get supplies brought into the country! I guess it's a bit of a trade off.

 

[tava716]

What do you pay for a 5 gallon bucket of salt? I pay $40.00 for 5 gallon bucket of Instant Ocean.

 

[Krish]

I pay about that for 50 gal worth of salt.