New Oceanic Nano Protein Skimmer

K

kat74

Guest
Another question I just thought of....
How often will the cup have to be emptied? My tank is at work and I am pretty much there from 8am-6:00pm, Monday through Friday. I also stop by on Saturdays. If I empty it before I leave each day and then on Saturday when I come by, will it be okay?
 
sazarac

sazarac

Member
That would be a MaTT question, since he seems to have had it the longest. But I empty mine about ever other day. I think you would be fine with a couple of times a week. Good idea getting your maintenance guy to do the work for you ( *I* need one of those!)

BTW, what do you have in your tank?
Saz
Originally Posted by KAT74
Another question I just thought of....
How often will the cup have to be emptied? My tank is at work and I am pretty much there from 8am-6:00pm, Monday through Friday. I also stop by on Saturdays. If I empty it before I leave each day and then on Saturday when I come by, will it be okay?
 
sazarac

sazarac

Member
I tried putting mine in there, the knob was the only thing stopping it from fitting.
As for the filter, I removed my bioballs, and removed that top removable grating. I put in a bag of chemi-pure and placed the blue coarse filter from the pump chamber right under the water stream from the first chamber with some loose filter floss on top of it. That takes care of both the noise and the particulates.
If you replaced your BBs with LRR you could just place the original filter on top of them or use some filter floss.
Saz
Originally Posted by john_waggs
I mounted my heater in the second chamber at an almost horizontal level. The heater was too long to fit completely sideways. I placed the heater below my live rock rubble and it seems to be working fine.
What is the best type of filter to use on the 29 gal biocube if you don't use the standard stock filter that WON't reduce my water flow?
 
sazarac

sazarac

Member
Hi phils29bcinwa,
Could you tell me what sort of bio-load you have? I'm still just getting a green tea skim mate. I was expecting something heavier. Is it helping your overall water quality? And where did you find yours. Thanks!
Saz
Originally Posted by phils29bcinwa
I just added my new skimmer this afternoon, it was very easy to install and to adjust the air flow. I already have about a quarter cup of greenish brown junk. It seems to working great in my 29 biocube, I will let you know more as I find out more.
 
matt b

matt b

Active Member
Originally Posted by KAT74
Another question I just thought of....
How often will the cup have to be emptied? My tank is at work and I am pretty much there from 8am-6:00pm, Monday through Friday. I also stop by on Saturdays. If I empty it before I leave each day and then on Saturday when I come by, will it be okay?

u should be fine bcus i have a bicolor blenny a maroon and 2 cardinals an i feed every other day and i empty mine every 3 days but ur gonna get ALOT of gunk the 1st few days so if u put it in on the weekend and r not gonna be there for a few days i would adjust the air bubbles so u dont get alot of skimate while ur gone but after the 1st week u can go prob 3 maybe 4 days without cleaning it
 
phils29bcinwa

phils29bcinwa

Member
Hi Sazarac, I have a maroon clown, two firefish, neon goby, yellow rose goby, and a sailfin tang in my tank right now, I bought my skimmer at my LFS ( JJ's Reef & Aquarium) in Moses Lake, Washington.
 
K

kat74

Guest
Originally Posted by sazarac
Good idea getting your maintenance guy to do the work for you ( *I* need one of those!)

BTW, what do you have in your tank?
Saz
Yeah, the maintenance guy is awesome! We have a 225 gallon tank in our lobby here and he comes every Friday to maintain it. I like it because when he's here, if I have a question about anything going on in my tank, I can just ask him. Plus, with the installation of stuff, I'd rather he do it than me.

I have a thread here of my tank if you want to see what all I have in it.
https://forums.saltwaterfish.com/t/291308/kat74s-29g-biocube-diary
Aside from the corals, fish-wise, I have a bicolor blenny, percula clownfish, scooter blenny (*eats prepared foods) and a yellowfin fairy wrasse.
 
sazarac

sazarac

Member
Thanks everyone for info on your bio-loads. Mine is currently very light, which explains why I'm not getting the "crud" I was expecting.
phils29bcinwa, did you have any issues with your water quality? I'd be interested in knowing if the skimmer helps, and how quickly.
Hey MaTT, have you replaced your air stone yet? Any problems finding one? I've found a few places online, but I've yet to look locally.
KAT74, yup, I've seen your post about your tank setup, unfortunately I'm still on dial-up (until Jan. 08) so I haven't been able to view the photos. I look forward to finally getting a look!

Saz
 
phils29bcinwa

phils29bcinwa

Member
Saz,
I haven't had any water quality problems even before the skimmer, havent noticed much of a change since I put the skimmer in, but the more I look the water may be a little more clear. I do a 5 Gallon water change every sunday and make sure not to overfeed. I will watch and let you know more about the clarity after another few days.
 
sazarac

sazarac

Member
KAT74- Did you finally get the skimmer? Was it installed successfully?
MaTT B- Did you find a new airstone?
phils29bcinwa- How is your water doing?
BTW, I hope everyone had a happy holiday!
Saz
 
K

kat74

Guest
Originally Posted by sazarac
KAT74- Did you finally get the skimmer? Was it installed successfully?
Hi Saz!~
I'm actually getting the skimmer today and will install it but not actually use it until I get back from vacation (tank is at work, and I am going up there every other day to feed and visit the babies) I don't want it to be in use until I am able to monitor it to make sure that there are no problems. I'll be back at work next Thursday.

Hope you had a Happy Holiday too!~
 
perfectdark

perfectdark

Active Member
I got mine for Christmas... so far it works well IMO. I like the way it works however getting it into the cube is a bit complicated, especially if you modified the cube at all. I cut the slot deeper from chamber 1 to the middle chamber to allow for greater water flow in the early months of having the biocube. Thats where they recomend you hang the skimmer on to so that the lid has clearance to close. I was forced to use the suction cups but they are of poor quality so getting them to stick was a pain. All in all I made it work and its results have not yet been seen. But its not uncommon to see this take as long as a week to get the collection cup to show any debris. Of course this depends on your bioload.
 
sazarac

sazarac

Member
Excellent! Nothing is better then an after x-mas vacation, eh?
Let us know how it goes! Mine is still going strong, although, it needs a good cleaning about now. ;)
I had a great time, loads of loot!

Saz
Originally Posted by KAT74
Hi Saz!~
I'm actually getting the skimmer today and will install it but not actually use it until I get back from vacation (tank is at work, and I am going up there every other day to feed and visit the babies) I don't want it to be in use until I am able to monitor it to make sure that there are no problems. I'll be back at work next Thursday.

Hope you had a Happy Holiday too!~
 
sazarac

sazarac

Member
Neat! I'm getting my aquarium x-mas stuff tomorrow. The store was closed x-mas eve.
I was wondering about those that have expanded the opening when I put mine in. I never had any reason to make mine any bigger, but I can see that the stock opening is barely long enough to accommodate the skimmer as it is.
Suction cups NEVER work! Magnets seem the wave of the future.
Keep us appraised of your results. I'm still only getting green tea. I was really hoping to get rid of the algae that covers my glass. It seems a BIT better. I guess I'll always have some?
Saz
Originally Posted by PerfectDark
I got mine for Christmas... so far it works well IMO. I like the way it works however getting it into the cube is a bit complicated, especially if you modified the cube at all. I cut the slot deeper from chamber 1 to the middle chamber to allow for greater water flow in the early months of having the biocube. Thats where they recommend you hang the skimmer on to so that the lid has clearance to close. I was forced to use the suction cups but they are of poor quality so getting them to stick was a pain. All in all I made it work and its results have not yet been seen. But its not uncommon to see this take as long as a week to get the collection cup to show any debris. Of course this depends on your bioload.
 
perfectdark

perfectdark

Active Member
You shouldnt get hardly any water at all in your collection cup. You may need to adjust your airflow. The bubbles should only come up to the top of the holding chamber below. Any skimate that accumulates will be forced up into the collection box over time.
 
mfp1016

mfp1016

Member
What I did was this.
I took a piece of plastic the length of the 1st chamber so that it fits inside the slot where the carbon insert goes. Then I glued a plastic ballast (piece of hollow plastic that floats) to the bottom of that strip of plastic. This way, the skimmer's height is automatically adjusted to appropriate height.
Sazarac,
The skimmer does not need to be off to dose iodine. However, I strongly discourage the dosing of iodine for enumerable reasons. I recommend trying to find a paper by Randy Holmes-Farley about the dosing of iodine located on other sites. Especially in a nano, iodine levels are something you don't want to play with. Also, weekly water changes (which are done, or should be done on all nanos) will add any needed iodine that may be required.
 
mfp1016

mfp1016

Member
Originally Posted by sazarac
Neat! I'm getting my aquarium x-mas stuff tomorrow. The store was closed x-mas eve.
I was wondering about those that have expanded the opening when I put mine in. I never had any reason to make mine any bigger, but I can see that the stock opening is barely long enough to accommodate the skimmer as it is.
Suction cups NEVER work! Magnets seem the wave of the future.
Keep us appraised of your results. I'm still only getting green tea. I was really hoping to get rid of the algae that covers my glass. It seems a BIT better. I guess I'll always have some?
Saz
You should check your phosphate levels. Also, using RO/DI will greatly diminish nuisance algaes. If this is a new tank, several algae blooms occur before coralline growth. A skimmer will cut down on algae as it will take out nutrients, but using RO/DI water is the biggest factor.
 
K

kat74

Guest
Well, mine is in my tank now but not plugged up. I had the maintenance company guy who maintains our 225 gallon install it for me while I was out and I went by about an hour ago and saw that he did put it in. When I get back to work next Thursday, I will plug it in and see how it goes!~

How much did ya'll pay for yours, BTW? I paid $59.99 for mine.
 
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