Skimmer Question

[robsweet]

Hi everyone.

As some of you know, I'm cycling up my first tank and I'm trying to figure out how to 'dial in' my skimmer. I'll start with some specs on my setup:

- 65 gal. RR tank (3' x 18" x 2' tall)
- 25 gal. sump
- Mag 7 return pump
- Tunze 233/2 skimmer
- (1) 250W MH - 6500k Iwasaki
- (2) 96W 7100k blue PC's
- RedSea wavemaker w/ 4 Maxijets
- 45 lbs. of semi-cured Marshall Island rock from Jenn's shop

Today is the first day that I'm actually seeing skimmate in the collection cup but the skimmer hadn't been used before this week (the tank was filled with water and rock on Monday night) so that's not surprising. It's my understanding that pretty much all skimmers have a 'burn-in' time of at least a couple days before they start producing skimmate. My questions are about what I should be seeing as far as the color of the skimmate and density of the bubbles.

Right now, the skimmate kind of puffs up near the top of the tube where it overflows to the cup and occasionally flows over to the collection cup. The bubbles appear to be pretty large (when I picture 'good' skimmate, I think of something like the head on a good pint). What kind of density should I be seeing? The only adjustment I see is the air intake. Can anybody explain what effect opening or closing that valve should have?

As far as color, the stuff in the cup looks dirty but not really sludgy. I've read post about people who get dark, dry foam out of their skimmers and I'm wondering why mine isn't that way. Is it just a matter of time before the gunk come off of the rock and hits the skimmer? Does the skimmer need adjusting somehow? This is my first tank so I'm inclined to think that I just need to be patient and that things will sort themselves out but I'm still a bit skittish and looking for some feedback from more experienced people.

BTW, I'll try to post a few pics later tonight.

So, what do you guys think?

[rcassidy]

People choose to run their skimmers differently, But I go for a dark brown/green skimmate. I don't go for the real think dark sludge skimmate some people do. On my 90, I get about 1/5-1/4 gallon skimmate a week. And that varies sometime too depending on when I last cleaned the skimmer.

I'd prefer to inject more air into the water and use the skimmer to increase the oxygen a bit. I may overskim a little, but I feed pretty heavy too.

[Rick O]

Hi Rob.

You probably have a couple weeks to go before the skimmer is broken in real good. Ideally the bubbles should be fine and look like milk (or the head on a good pint). If you're getting foam into the collection cup you're on the right track. You can open the air valve to get more bubbles and a wetter/lighter skimmate or close it to get a dryer/darker skimmate. I prefer a wetter even though that means cleaning the collection cup more frequently.

[robsweet]

Thanks for the feedback guys. As a newbie, it's nice to get a little reassurance.

[AriZonaD54]

Hey.. the biggest thing to remember is that the tank is still.. cycling. I wouldn't be too worried about the skimmate at this point in time. Once your bio-load goes up... then you will be seeing the skimmer doing what you really expected it to do. As for now, even if the skimmer is "skimming" alot, it will most likely almost be clear if not a little yellowish intint. So.. in summary... don't worry until you start adding your fish and other animals. Hope that helps... and have fun!

[hesstondc]

Wow this is an old post

[georgiajams]

After 2.5 years, I hope the tank is cycled