Skimming too much?

[rjarnold]

Having problems with my skimmer again! I got a Mag 7 for it...the guy at the LFS thought that $10 more for a Mag 7 vs a Mag 5 was a great idea. But is this too much? The skimmer is skimming a ton - mostly water, from my tank - is a Mag 7 too much for a Red Sea Berlin Hang-on? The tank has nothing in it currently other than water and salt.

Thanks!

 

[Taras12]

Sounds like you've just set up your tank. Do you have any LR and/or substrate? The skimmer needs waste, like proteins and fairly large molecules, to produce a skimmate. These molecules attach to the air bubbles to form a foam, which then collects and "overflows" into the collection cup. No waste/molecules = no skimmate.

 

[Snowboarda42]

No its not too much.

I know someone who has that same skimmer, and a Mag 9.5 on it that's modded. It takes care of her 240gal reef pretty well

 

[west]

im not sure on names and stats for pumps as from britain but most local fish shops in england do not like the red sea skimmers and favour other makes, the reason for this is because they think they dont skim as good as other makes such as tmc v2's or tunze skimmers and are far less noisy.

 

[rjarnold]

Yeah, there's no LR or substrate in the tank currently - it's being flown in tonight!! I agree that there shouldn't be much skinmate, but the problem is, is that the collection cup is filling with bubbles that very quickly turn to water, and it fills up in less than 5 minutes... I'm just not sure why this would stop if there's 'real' stuff in there to skim...it would seem like it would just flow even more heavily. The skimmer is dialed up as far as it can go, as well, so I cannot make any other adjustments that would stop the water from overflowing quickly into the collection cup.

 

[dailydriven911]

Congrats on getting the l/r! Get some pics up once aquascaped!

 

[Taras12]

I had a similar situation with my tank when first set up. It takes about 48-72 hours to start to get decent skimmate. Fine tuning your skimmer is an art not a science -- patience.

 

[rjarnold]

Congrats on getting the l/r! Get some pics up once aquascaped!

Shall do! It's Tampa Bay Saltwater uncured LR, so I'm pretty excited =D It's going to take forever to cycle it in, but I'm prepared to do it in exchange for the crazy live critters that it comes with!

 

[rjarnold]

I had a similar situation with my tank when first set up. It takes about 48-72 hours to start to get decent skimmate. Fine tuning your skimmer is an art not a science -- patience.

I have set up several tanks and never had this problem...of course, I don't remember running one on an 'empty' tank before either. Can't tune the skimmer any more either since it's up as far as it goes. The question, I guess is, is it worthwhile to dump out the collection cup or put it right back into the tank since it's just tank water that's not really dirty *shrugs* Maybe I should just stop running it on an empty tank and wait for the LR

 

[Taras12]

I have set up several tanks and never had this problem...of course, I don't remember running one on an 'empty' tank before either. Can't tune the skimmer any more either since it's up as far as it goes. The question, I guess is, is it worthwhile to dump out the collection cup or put it right back into the tank since it's just tank water that's not really dirty *shrugs* Maybe I should just stop running it on an empty tank and wait for the LR

I agree with your last choice -- wait until the LR is in and then skim.

 

[Skimmy]

"Skimming too much?"

NO



jk, if it's filling the cup in 5 min then cut the amount of air it's pulling,
i would suggest buying an air valve to control it with(available at home despot/lowes).
i would say set it where it fills the cup once a day, and be glad the berlin is skimming at all