OK, I'll be the first to reply to this one...I'm no expert, but until someone does reply...First thing that comes to mind is the adjustment. What kind of skimmer is it? Does it have an adjustable riser tube? Also, most skimmers will require some breaking in before they operate 'normally'.

 

I have purchased a coral life skimmer and nitrate setup. Do I need a skimmer for a 25 gallon tank or will the nitrate balls work? it does have the riser tube for the air, and i have adjusted it so there is really no air flow and it still fills up maybe ill give it some time.
thanks

 

You need to run the skimmer with the water at a level about 3 to 5 cm below the base of the collectipn neck (for the foam), and open the air valve enough to allow the foam to build up over a day or two. Intially, you will just see the foam dissipate at the top of the water column, but as the organics begin to accumulate there, the foam will begin to form a column above the water that with thicken and grow over a two day period to begin to overflow the top of the foam collection column and collect in the cup. final adjustment of the water level and the amount of air will determine how thick or thin your skim,mate will be, and conseq4uently how efficient your skimmer will ultimately be. Keeping the skimmer clean is paramount to success for these devices, and you will go through this same little play each time you restart the skimmer. Just a consequence of the process.

Having a skimmer in any SW tank is a good idea, as it removes much of the organics that would otherwise decompose into their constituents (short chain carbon frags, nitrates/ammonia, and phosphates/organophosphates) that feed algal blooms and other nutrient-related issues