Silly Question

[Shack]

Here's a silly question...How do i know if my skimmer is doing a good job?

[fishinchick]

Sorry work is really slow so this is all I have to do. LOL

are ya getting a bunch of dark stuff in your skimmer cup you are having to remove?? Does the tank look and test good?? If you said yes to all three of those questions then "DING DING DING" youre skimmer is a winner.

I assume you are testing your water from time to time. What kind of skimmer you got??

[Shack]

its a crappy wet dry hang on combo, how often should i be dumping the scum cup?

[fishinchick]

On my 60 I have a hang on style Omnilife skimmer (A crappy little skimmer) I am not a skimmer freak and only run mine in the daytime when the lights in the tank are running. I empty my cup about every three days and its rarely more than 1/4 full. I have seen some of those hang on skimmers do a pretty decent job, dont underestimate them. I am a real worrier about my water quality and with this skimmer and how I run it I have no problems and my tests come out fine. I do my water changes every 2 weeks ammo-0 nitrate-10 nitrite-0 Phosphate-0
IMO, thats pretty much perfect for my taste. (my tank is 8 mos. old almost now)

I notice if I overfeed (guilty) or something dies I notice the skimmer gets more mulm in than usual. I think I asked before but how are your tests on your water??

[Shack]

my water tests out good, the same as yours actually! i just get nervous. the tank is about 3 months old, no major problems yet, just some algae.

[fishinchick]

If everything looks good, tests fine, and nothing is dying...... whats to worry about?? Nothin.

If it suddenly stops making skimmer waste alltogether then I would worry (check your airstone wood thing. Whats the technical term for that?) from time to time, keep it clean and running smooth and it should be okay!!

[Jimbo]

Hi,

The first two months my skimmer took out about a cup a day from my 40g, Now it removes only a cup about every 3 days. Everything test good, I just think the biological system is getting balanced. I hope to remove it someday.

Hope this helps.

[Rick O]

The answer depends a lot on your habits. I tend to be a light feeder (about every third day) and do 10% water changes every other week. Still I get about an inch of dark scum in the collection cup after two or three days running. When I do a water change I put some of the water in an opaque white container. I look at the color of the water as a guide to how clean it is. In my 20 gal tank which has no skimmer the water is pretty yellow. In the 120 which has a good skimmer the water is much clearer. These are just observations I've made over the years. After a while you'll get a feel for when things are amiss.

[Doug1]

Assuming( I know) that the feeding routine is unchanged and no major tank changes, the reduced skimmer output prolly indicates a more efficient biosystem unless.....................