Help, skimmer not breaking in.

[mengyang_neo]

hi bro,

Just bought a skimmer body today, using a aquabee 2000i needlewheel pump for it, After running for 6 hrs le, still haven break in. hmmm is the water lvl correct? i got quite a lot of fish so should have quite a lot to skim out. Thanks a million.

[dnsfpl]

feed pump flow rate not enough?

[FuEl]

New skimmers will take more than a day to break in. 3-4 days is not uncommon.

[mengyang_neo]

feed pump flow rate not enough?

hmmm no feed pump only a pump to run it.

New skimmers will take more than a day to break in. 3-4 days is not uncommon.

The skimmer body is new one, but the aquabee pump is used for around 1yrs le, so consider new skimmer?

Bro how about the height of the water lvl? is it ok? cause this is the highest that i can set.

Thanks.

[FuEl]

Water height seems ok. Break-in period depends on the skimmer material, not the feed pump.

[mengyang_neo]

i see, okok will wait and see how. thanks a million for the quick answer. =)

[mengyang_neo]

just now go n see the skimmer, the bubble rise up le, but haven flow out yet. hopefully by tml will flow out.

[stevenkoh08]

just now go n see the skimmer, the bubble rise up le, but haven flow out yet. hopefully by tml will flow out.

hi bro what is the skimmer body

[mengyang_neo]

hi bro what is the skimmer body

Not sure, go over to irwana see this skimmer body at the 2nd hand area, seem very new, so i just bought it and bring back to modify the piping lor, was told a 1000l flowrate pump is enough, so i use aquabee2000i for it lor. why lay?

[mengyang_neo]

Not sure, go over to irwana see this skimmer body at the 2nd hand area, seem very new, so i just bought it and bring back to modify the piping lor, was told a 1000l flowrate pump is enough, so i use aquabee2000i for it lor. why lay?

Hmmm around 4 day of operating liao, the bubble like still haven flow out, is this normal?

[fishiee]

ya. your skimmer is doing fine.

[mengyang_neo]

ya. your skimmer is doing fine.

hmmm but how come the bubble never flow out? last time my skimmer will flow out one when the bubble reached the top.

[RockyBoy]

What kind of skimate do you want?

If want dry, that water level is ok.

If want wet skimate, adjust the water level higher.

[Gouldian]

hi bro,

Just bought a skimmer body today, using a aquabee 2000i needlewheel pump for it, After running for 6 hrs le, still haven break in. hmmm is the water lvl correct? i got quite a lot of fish so should have quite a lot to skim out. Thanks a million.

Bro, you see the 2 white dots on the skimmer pipe? The top part is usually called the bayonet, it is used to control the water exiting the the skimmer thereby use to tune your skimmer.

I suggest you turn the bayonet slightly towards the 90% direction, when doing so you will notice the water level rises in your skimmer. I like to maintain that water level to be around 3 inches from the top of the skimmer neck.

HTH

[mengyang_neo]

Bro, you see the 2 white dots on the skimmer pipe? The top part is usually called the bayonet, it is used to control the water exiting the the skimmer thereby use to tune your skimmer.

I suggest you turn the bayonet slightly towards the 90% direction, when doing so you will notice the water level rises in your skimmer. I like to maintain that water level to be around 3 inches from the top of the skimmer neck.

HTH

I see, hmm i think i got adjust the bayonet 360 degree before slowly, like no effect, hmmm will try again tonight. =)

[mengyang_neo]

What kind of skimate do you want?

If want dry, that water level is ok.

If want wet skimate, adjust the water level higher.

Oh so my water level is ok for dry skimming, meaning the skimate will be all stick at the wall of the rising funnel instead of flowing out, am i right to say that? thanks. Hee regarding the skimmer thing still very confuse.

[fishiee]

Dry skimmate means that the skimmate will be extra thick and will stick to your skimmer funnel. However, you will still get some dark brown liquid, just that it will be much less than what you get from a wet skim. Don't worry. My skimmer (reef octo DNWB 110) also took the same route. The skimmer neck slowly turned brown and a bit of foam finally came out of the skimmer at the end of the first week (and my skimmer is still producing very little foam and skimmate, in contrast to the boyu skimmer i upgraded from). Don't worry. As long as your tank survives, the skimmer is doing its job. As I say, the only perfect skimmer is the ocean. Haha.. (and that's with no human interference, if you want to add to the humour).

[Gouldian]

I see, hmm i think i got adjust the bayonet 360 degree before slowly, like no effect, hmmm will try again tonight. =)

360 degree will bring the bayonet back to same position. If you remove the bayonet, your should see that the bayonet edge is tapered, thus at 360 degree water exiting the pipe will be free flow, by turn it towards 90 degree position, you are restricting the water outflow thereby raises the height of your skimate. You will need to adjust in small increment and wait for a couple of seconds to observe the height of the skimate.

HTH

[mengyang_neo]

360 degree will bring the bayonet back to same position. If you remove the bayonet, your should see that the bayonet edge is tapered, thus at 360 degree water exiting the pipe will be free flow, by turn it towards 90 degree position, you are restricting the water outflow thereby raises the height of your skimate. You will need to adjust in small increment and wait for a couple of seconds to observe the height of the skimate.

HTH

Hi Gouldian,

I have adjust the pipe 90 degree last night, but the water fail to go up, so i place any other 90 degree Elbow joint at the outlet, with the exit of the 90 degree Elbow joint parallel to the ground. With the extra height of the 90 degree Elbow joint the water lvl is able to rise up to about 2 inch. is it ok to place the 90 degree Elbow joint at the outlet? will it cause any problem like back pressure or affect the performence of the skimmer? Thanks.

[mengyang_neo]

Dry skimmate means that the skimmate will be extra thick and will stick to your skimmer funnel. However, you will still get some dark brown liquid, just that it will be much less than what you get from a wet skim. Don't worry. My skimmer (reef octo DNWB 110) also took the same route. The skimmer neck slowly turned brown and a bit of foam finally came out of the skimmer at the end of the first week (and my skimmer is still producing very little foam and skimmate, in contrast to the boyu skimmer i upgraded from). Don't worry. As long as your tank survives, the skimmer is doing its job. As I say, the only perfect skimmer is the ocean. Haha.. (and that's with no human interference, if you want to add to the humour).

yup my tank still survive. =p Thanks for the reply, this few days very scare my livestock may up the lorry, now not so worry liao, will see how the skimmer perform after 1 week. =)

[dnsfpl]

feed pump flow rate not enough?

increase flow rate if you want to wet skim

[mengyang_neo]

increase flow rate if you want to wet skim

Increase the water lvl now more towards wet skim, wash the collection cup, after 1 day, no kopi only green tea.

[dnsfpl]

based on my personal experience

for wet skimming, there are 4 methods of tuning

1. increase flow rate to skimmer

2. increase sump volume

3. reduce output flow rate

4. open air valve(larger bubbles) - it will be better to be partially closed(at 2 o'clock position) for better skimming performance

you may want to explore to see which of the method suits you best

HTH

my 2 cents

[mengyang_neo]

Hi bro dnsfpl, what do u mean by increase flow rate to skimmer? can further explain? cos my skimmer only got one inlet, so by increase the flow rate to skimmer do u mean change the aquabee 2000i needlewheel pump to a strong needlewheel pump?

Thanks.

[dnsfpl]

i believe the ab2000i is to help your skimmer generate bubbles instead of feeding water

changing it will not increase the flow rate

you might want to try to increase sump volume or reduce output flow rate

cheers