protein skimmer queries

[Achilles Tang]

At, wiff regards to thick black skimmate...

im using a normal venturi skimmer...

its very difficult to get that dark skimmate....

furthermore, most of the bubbles would collapse at the foam riser...

the best i think i got was a rather wet foam,but with spots of blacks and browns....

is it suppose to  be like that ?

or shd i let the thing run even longer ( the longest it was on was 2 weeks i think)

Sinn,

You have to control the amount of air going in ie. using air intake valve/gauge control.

Too much air... and the foam will be 'wetter'.... control the air intake till you achieve 'drier' foam.

Here's what my skimmate looks like after a few days.

[Sinn]

AT, gotta admit the look of yer skimmate made me feel sick

but anyway controlling the air intake is very new to me...

so now theres 2 things to tune....

1)the gate valve controlling the outflow and determining how high the foam wud rise

2)the air intake which is connected to the venturi...

but somethings making me wonder...

wont less air being injected into the skimmer result in less bubbles -> less collision between the bubbles-> not so efficient?

anyway care the clarify? <_<

[hongqixian]

Valleyman,

Is this the "escaped bubbles" you're referring to? I don't know if its supposed to happen, but yeah, I get it too.

Tweak the height and level of the thing to make sure that the bubbles stay inside. Increase the bubbles coming out of the airlift tube -dragging more water in and stopping bubbles going out.

[Explorer]

Valleyman,

Is this the "escaped bubbles" you're referring to?  I don't know if its supposed to happen, but yeah, I get it too.

Looks like the water level is too low. Try increase the water level or lower the skimmer to just above where the bubbles escapes.