Skimmer Question?

[Cash]

When adding a skimmer to my refugium about how long should it be before I should see anything in the top cup?
Thanks

[schminksbro]

It varies based on a lot of different factors. What kind of skimmer is it? How much DOC is in the water and what compounds are they? Sometimes a skimmer can start pulling right away and other times it can take days. When tuning a new skimmer your best bet is to make very small adjustments and then let it run for an hour or two. See what it is doing and tweek it from there.


When adding a skimmer to my refugium about how long should it be before I should see anything in the top cup?
Thanks

[Cash]

ok well it is an older skimmer (dont laugh) I got for free. Just had to add a pump to it. Red Sea Blerlin Classic. Is it even worth adding this skimmer to my setup? Quick rundow on system- 90g DT with a 29g fuge. I am currently running it in my mixing tub (W/SW) just to see how it works as I have never used one before. It looks like it makes alot of micro bubbles with the adjustment knob full open.

thanks for any input, and let me know if this should be in the newbie section lol

[ReeferRob]

Old or brand new shouldn't matter, its just a tube of acrylic. The only diff of newer ones is design and cone shapes.

The bubbs are what you want. As they rise to the top and pop is how the skimmer collects the crude. The more the better!

[jojo22]

A crappy skimmer is better than no skimmer. Plus what skimmer is a good skimmer will vary a lot with different people and tanks, I had a sea clone and was happy with it on my 10 gallon tank. But I would not have ventured to more than 20 gallons with it and it was moded.

[Cash]

Ok I have this thing running in my 18g mixing tub with water from a water change in it. The bubbles are no where near getting high enough to get into the collection cup. I am gonna try to take a pic to see if anyone can help with this. The water level is about 11" in the tub. I am using a 460gph pump on this.

[ReeferRob]

Not sure of the sweet spot on that skimmer, most have them but try lifting it a little. You can make a skimmer table out of egg create and beneficial bethnic organisms will live there!

[jojo22]

Also fresh clean water will not create the hight of bubbles you need. The DOC's in the water make the bubbles harder to pop. Which is why the bubbles at the top of a skimmer are dark brown, just DOC's up there.

[Cash]

Yeah I put it in my sump and it has bubbles going all the way to the top and into what looks like the collection cup. The thing I am now confused on is, the lower part of the collection cup has a drain in the side. The bubbles flow into this and eventually drain out as water. I dont see what would eventually collect any nasty stuff. The upper part of the cup has holes in the lid and what looks like the bottom. The bottom part also has a screen.

Sorry if I am making this hard to understand just getting frustrated lol
I have a pic of it running I am uploading in a min.
Thanks

[Cash]

If you look to the left side of the skimmer right next to the edge of the fuge you can see the 90* drain in it. Hope this helps

http://i772.photobucket.com/albums/yy3/Mcann01/117_0366.jpg

[Tom@HaslettMI]

Have you tried to get info on this skimmer from the manufacturer? You may be able to get a PDF version on the instructions on their website. These would help for proper set up and tell you if you're missing any parts.

Of course we'll try to help as well!

Tom

[jojo22]

May be a self draining unit. Put some air tube on that and drain into a milk jug or 2 letter pop bottle. Just cut a hole in the lid, as if you leave it open you may get a nasty smell.

[Cash]

Yeah that was the 1st thing I tried to do. All I can find is the newer model of this one, which has a completely different collection cup setup. This is the Red Sea Berlin classic. All I can find info on is the X2

[Cash]

May be a self draining unit. Put some air tube on that and drain into a milk jug or 2 letter pop bottle. Just cut a hole in the lid, as if you leave it open you may get a nasty smell.

I thought of that also, but is sure has alot of water going through the drain

[jojo22]

Well it could be just breaking in or you may need to adjust it a bit. There "SHOULD" be an air hose that allows air to enter the water at the skimmer, and that hose "SHOULD" have an adjustment capability. so if you close of the line a little it "SHOULD" lessen that issue. Just be sure to keep an eye on it until it steadily produces the skimmate consistency you are looking for.

[Cash]

Yes there is a air line with adjustment on it. When open full there is alot of bubbles/foam flowing into the cup, then after so much flows in it drains as water. The more I close off the air line the less goes in there. I guess I need to find out about how much I need flowing in.

[jojo22]

For now I would keep it at a minimum, just until it breaks back in. Then adjust it until the skimmate it just a tad watery but still green. You should also have a few chunky floaters in there from time to time. As you use it and test your water you can adjust it to suit what you feel is best, some skim wet, some dry and many somewhere in the middle. IMO the key is to skim just enough to keep the water nice and clean.

[Tom@HaslettMI]

Yeah that was the 1st thing I tried to do. All I can find is the newer model of this one, which has a completely different collection cup setup. This is the Red Sea Berlin classic. All I can find info on is the X2
I can't see the insides of the skimmer but may be it is similar to the X2? if so, the diagram and info would still apply. Here's the link http://www.redseafish.com/berlin.asp

If it's totally different then I'd try contacting the company as see if they can email you the info. http://www.redseafish.com/contact.asp

[Cash]

Yeah the insides do look similar to that one but it looks like they changed the collection cup setup. I am gonna let it run for a day or so and see how it goes. I am going to tune it down to just flowing into the cup.

thank for all the advise

[jojo22]

No problem, I always set mine to where the bubbles popped just before entering the cup, and every now and again a few would slide sown into the cup, worked sweet for me.

[Cash]

How long do these typicly take to break in? I read I will get alot of micro bubbles til they break in.

[jojo22]

between a day and a week, too many variables to give an exact time