bak pak II

[jcarter752]

I have a 45 gallon reef tank with 60 lbs of live rock. I am currently running a bak pak II protein skimmer. Recently, I have been gettin a tan powder like substance collecting on my rock and corals. For the last month or so I have been having a hard time keeping Nitrates and Nitrites under control. I only have a yellow tang and 2 green chromis in the tank, along with a cleaner and 2 peppermint shrimp. Also, I have noticed there is not much going into the collecting cup. Can anyone tell me why the skimmer isn't working? How do I fix the problem without buying a new skimmer?

 

[mr . salty]

With 60lbs of rock in a 45gal tank,and not many fish, The rock may be taking care of it. Is there any adjustments on the skimmer? STEVE

 

[jcarter752]

What kind of adjustments are you referring to. I apologize for my questions, I am relatively new to this and have had no problems until the last 2 months.

 

[mr . salty]

I'm not familiar with your model,but is there a way to adjust the power? If it sits in the tank can you put it deeper,or shallower in the water? The one I've got is adjusted these two ways. After a few days playing with it,it kicks ass. STEVE

 

[broomer5]

I have Bak-Pak II also, and at first had to play around with the depth of the collection cup. The large rubber O-ring that wraps around the cup rolls up and down sorta like. You must position the O-ring such that the lower portion of the cup is just at or slightly below the water/foam surface in the skimmer. If too high you will get very dry foam/waste but supposed to pull a lot of waste out that way. If too low, the waste material will be too wet, and I understand that will pull a lot of trace elements out of tank water as well. There is a position somewhere inbetween that I found works well. Get all kinds of gunk out, about 1/4" to 1/2 inch a day if running continuously. Hope this helps.
p.s. make sure the Rio-600 is running well and that none of the small air lines are blocked ( salt-creep ) etc.
Good luck !!! It is a GOOD SKIMMER !!!
Broomer

 

[jcarter752]

Thanks for all the help. I have had the skimmer for about a year and had it working perfectly. That is, until this month. Maybe the tubing is clogged. The Rio has starting making a weird noise as well. Also, the air flow into the unit is not as much as when it was working properly. I adjusted the valve but it doesn't increase much. Thanks again, and if anyone has any other suggestions on how to fix the Rio pump let me know. Oh, one more thing, will corral line algae growing on the Rio pump affect its performance?

 

[kmr]

Hello,
You can run the Rio in some white vinager for a hour or so. That will clean it up. As for the algea, it's o.k. as long as it is on the outside of the pump. Also the 90 degree elbow on the Rio clogs with salt. That should do it.