Is collection cup supposed to be full of water always?

[neowind]

Ok I am guessing no to the question but I have just installed a Prizm Pro Deluxe Skimmer on my tank. It filled the collection cup up twice with wate in less than 3 hours. I don't think this is the way its supposed to be. Do I need to adjust the flow or the air intake? Am I doing something wrong? I have the flow set to pretty low because it was putting a TON of low in the tank and if you cranked it to high then it would spill out in the floor. SOOOO is it safe to leave your skimmer running wither being home? I don't wanna flood the house.

 

[misskitty]

the skimmer is way to high then. Is it a air stone like where you have to adjust the tub? If so turn it down.
:happyfish

 

[samantha68]

good ? because i have asked that ? on here before but i never got a answer..i have the same one ,if it's high it makes your whole tank little white bubbles ,i have mine on real low or it looks really bad..mine is also full of water all the time .....i'm not the one to help but i'm along for the ride to figure it out to...i'm not sure what level it should be on but i can't see it doing much when it is set as low as it is on mine but not sure what else to do
Sorry i can't help ,but i'll learn with you

 

[neowind]

From what I have been told the collection cup is not supposed to be full of water. Its supposed to be dry foam. If its full of water it is overskimming I just don't know how to stop it from doing so.

 

[razoreqx]

Originally posted by Neowind
From what I have been told the collection cup is not supposed to be full of water. Its supposed to be dry foam. If its full of water it is overskimming I just don't know how to stop it from doing so.
You should see dry foam.. If its extracting white foam and clear to semi clear liquid its not working properly. You have it to set to high... (to much air)

 

[saltcreep]

It should have a black knob you can turn on the intake from the tank. You need to turn this until the flow slows a bit

 

[shawnhardy]

If it has a venturi valve, adjust it to lower the amount of air being pumped so that only dry foam goes in to the cup. You wil have to watch it while making small adjustments. If it is filling the cup up with clear water, it is overskimming...as other have said here. I had to adjust mine over a few hours. You should do this when you haven't fed your fish for a while. Feeding will cause the skimmer to "work" and pull stuff out of the water. You will know you have it right when the cup fills with stuff that you couldn't believe was in your water. There is no way you would want to pour it back into your tank.

 

[samantha68]

my valve is almost off and it is still full of water
and not flowing really fast ?????

 

[crash519]

Originally posted by RazorEQX
You should see dry foam.. If its extracting white foam and clear to semi clear liquid its not working properly. You have it to set to high... (to much air)
How in the world are you getting a Berlin to do that I've got the Kent venturi valve and a Mag7 running on mine and it's either all (water flowing out the top) or nothing (no foam at all). How is yours set up. Are your outlets connected, in submerged, etc... Do you have a valve regulating your pump or the airline? Please help, I would love for mine to look like that just once

 

[razoreqx]

Originally posted by crash519
How in the world are you getting a Berlin to do that I've got the Kent venturi valve and a Mag7 running on mine and it's either all (water flowing out the top) or nothing (no foam at all). How is yours set up. Are your outlets connected, in submerged, etc... Do you have a valve regulating your pump or the airline? Please help, I would love for mine to look like that just once
that model is the HOB turbo. I have it setup in the sump though. Its just hanging on the sump. Im not sure what model pump that comes with but It was doing that right out of the box.
Wish I had more useful info on it.. I also have several other skimmers setup on the 400g sump in the bacement. Seaclone 100, seaclone 150, and a remora C.. They all seem to do an okay job.

 

[neowind]

Mine is foaming really well its just a very wet foam. So it fills up the cup very fast. Should I set it up so the foam is in the middle of the neck instead of flowing over the top?

 

[salty rob]

You might need to adjust the waterflow down with a small ball valve. This would put the water level lower where the foam starts to form, thus allowing only dry foam up the tube.

 

[neowind]

I can adjust the water level with the valve on it. Maybe I should lower it down a little. When I lower it there is foam in the neck but it never actually comes all the way up into the cup.

 

[brownleaf]

I got the same skimmer on my tank. If it is a new one, it will take some time for it to break-in. My took about a week. Here's how I did it.
First you turn the valve to very low, the bouble should be half way in the neck, then wait a little to see if they go up.
If not, than turn up a little more and wait and see.
Repeat that til you got dry foam.
Make sure you don't adject it too fast.
Hth

 

[neowind]

Leaf do you mean adjust the water flow or the airflow? Also has yours ever overflowed into your floor?

 

[brownleaf]

Sorry, it's the water flow.
It did overflowed couple of times at first when I set it up, that's why I start to adject the water flow from way low and work my way up.

 

[neowind]

Heres what it currently looks like. It is filling up about every 2 hours.

 

[neowind]

Heres another view.

 

[cindyski]

Originally posted by Neowind
Also has yours ever overflowed into your floor?
hmmm, my skimmer is a Pro Clear Aquatic Systems and my skimmer cup has a tube about 1/2" that goes into an empty milk jug incase of an over flow. which has happened.
my cup is always full of liquid & foam, the liquid is usually pretty dark and nasty looking (and smelling) does it mean i am over skimming also if i have this yucky water?

 

[donmgicwon]

Originally posted by Brownleaf
Here's how I did it.
First you turn the valve to very low, the bouble should be half way in the neck, then wait a little to see if they go up.
If not, than turn up a little more and wait and see.
Repeat that til you got dry foam.
Make sure you don't adject it too fast.
Hth

Yea, "an adjustment" should be SO small that you can hardly even feel the knob move (maybe 1 or 2 degrees). After the very small adjustment watch the bubbles for a minute or so and adjust again as required. Did you read the instructions? They are very descriptive and should help you out. They touch on all the poblems mentioned here.

BTW, mine broke in after a day or two but every time I clean it and do a water change it takes about a day to start working again. I just emptied mine out this morning (did not clean it) and it started skimming perfectly when I plugged it back in. When you empty the cup and don't clean anything its better to unplug it than it is to move the black knob from its "magic spot" to the closed postion as the inst. say to do. Just make sure you watc it for an hour or two after you plug it in.
I did have a couple over flows but was there to catch them, I forsaw it happening so I had (and still do) towels on the floor behind my tank to catch any minor spills. I wish they would have designed these things so that any overflows would be redirected back into the tank, but they were designed by engineers who like all engineers only see what is RIGHT in front of them and nothing more!!!!!!!