How do you KNOW if your skimmer is doing enough?

[PaintGuru]

Ok so my barebottom tank is doing ok as far as corals go, but I still seem to be having issues with algae growth that has gotten worse, even with continued water changes and detritus syphoning. I know the skimmer is very important when it comes to BBs, and i have an Old Euroreef CS8-2 that I bought used a number of years back. Still seems to be running fine, it gets skimmate out, etc. I guess the question is, how do I KNOW it is enough to handle my tank (I have a 92 cube)? How do I know it is running as it should and doesn't need replacing? I'm just trying to evaluate my setup to see where problems may lie. Thanks.

[Geoff]

how much skimmate are you getting a day? what colour is the skimmate you are getting out of the tank? my gut feeling is that you are not skimming wet enough. i would think you should be getting at least half a gallon of skimmate a day out of the tank. it should also be light tea coloured.

G~

[PaintGuru]

I'm getting "moderately" tea color stuff. I would say the cup fills about 1/4 of the way per day (but this varies). Problems I have noticed:

1. Even though I have the unit in a constant water level part of my sump, the level of bubbles in the neck will vary slightly

2. Sometimes the pump will start to humm real loud, and I think the air supply has been reduced for some reason. If I crimp the air hose briefly and release, it will fix the problem. Someone suggested to me that my venturi was too small, so I drilled it out slightly. Reduced the problem, but not totally eliminated.

3. I do have the bubbles breaking pretty high in the neck, but it doesn't seem to do a good job getting stuff over the top. Is this due to insufficient air flow? What can I do to increase this?


Yeah there is no way I'm getting 1/2 gallon in a week much less a day.

[Fly Guy]

What pump do you have driving that skimmer?? The sedra 5000 needlewheel??

You could do two things that might help your situation.

1. Switch that pump out for a sedra 9000 nedlewheel. You will have to either lift the skimmer a touch or mod the legs of the pump, OR mod the fittings.

2. Look into the meshwheel mod. I hae heard people have had good luck doing this with all needlewheel driven skimmers.

I have done the first option i listed to my ER skimmer and it worked. I havent looked into the second yet, but i am ok with what it is pulling out right now. I am getting nearly a gallon a day of light tea, and i am targeting only about 500 GPH through my sump.

[PaintGuru]

Did the meshwheel, no major help. Actually an Ehmin 1060. I should say I can not confirm that this is a CS8-2, as the pictures I see online do not look like mine. Here is a picture of mine:

[PaintGuru]

No ID number anywhere on the unit either so I have no idea if the pump is even right or not.

[Fly Guy]

Does the pump have a GPH listed on it anywhere??

If its an old pump, it might be a world of difference by throwing a new Sedra needlewheel on it.

Youve probably been over all this...but just to back up for a minute........are you using ro/di water that you know is testing 0 TDS?? Not using ro/DI or using one tht isnt operating up to snuff can cause you algae problems as well.

[PaintGuru]

602gph. Yeah actually I did just find out my RO-TDS went up drastically and I have filters on order. However, even when it was working ok, the skimmer wasn't pulling much and I had some hair algae issues.

[tundra reef]

hey guys, just checking out the new posts and saw this thread. my skimmate is dark green colored on a counter current skimmer. it doesn't have an awful smell that i've heard some people say there's has. what does that mean?

like the thread subject!

peace.........js

[Geoff]

how often are you cleaning the cup out. the skimmate gets stronger smelling the longer it is in there. the chunkier it is the worse the smell also. if you are able to keep it completely liquid than the smell will not be horrendous.

G~

[tundra reef]

I'll clean it every day if i can. it is very wet, not chunky at all. i have a minimal bioload; tang, coral beauty and a clown in a 180g.

js

[SPC]

Originally Posted by tundra reef

it doesn't have an awful smell that i've heard some people say there's has

I used to wonder this too. I have a 4' double Beckett that sounds like a jet taking off. I clean it about every month or so and have never, ever had the skimmate smell real bad. In fact the colection bucket is a 5 gallon bucket with an open top. While at an LFS one day I was in the back of the store and just happened to see their skimmer (a 1980's model Oceanic, yes I said Oceanic ). It looked to me that this skimmer would probably be rated for about a 180. Anyway, I took the top off and had a sniff....WOW what a stink. Alot like a dead rotten snail.

i have a minimal bioload; tang, coral beauty and a clown in a 180g.

Me too, even lighter than yours. IMO this real bad smell comes from systems with a large bioload (like the LFS with 100 fish and no telling how many dead animals each day).
Steve