New Protein Skimmer

[gwtank]

I just installed a new skimmer and after setting it up (and chopping up half my hood to make it fit It seems to be working OK but it is spitting out a whole bunch of really fine bubbles. Is this normal when it is first set up? Or did I do something wrong. It is a hang on tank SeaClone 100 (lfs recommended).
Thanks.
GW

 

[quiet storm]

i have the same problem i dont know what to do

 

[gwtank]

well at least I know i'm not alone

 

[quiet storm]

yea i keep tryin to fix it but i have no idea what im doin lol

 

[clarkiiboi]

well, I have the prism and still am not sure if it running right (havent got it to full blast yet). But with mine if there are micro bubbles I have to turn down the flow---I would think all skimmers have a flow rate valve--so try to turn that down. correct me if I am wrong, but just trying to help and bump at the same time.

 

[twoods71]

The seaclone takes a little time to break in, up to a week. Give it some time the tiny bubbles should go away.

 

[joebuckmaster]

When I installed my prizm skimmer it had alot of bubbles. I contacted red sea via e-mail and they told me that it would come out of it. Let it go fo 48 hours with the valve closed then open it a little at a time so it can get use to your tank. I did just that and now it works wonderful.

 

[smalltimer]

As far as the seaclone, not to bust your bubble, it is a less than par skimmer, but ok for the $, check out these mods that you can do to the skimmer that WILL make a diffrence in performance, oh, and it took a month to break in my turboflator, gotta build up some skum to catch some skum.
http://www.reefcentral.com/diy/seacl...ifications.htm

 

[wrassecal]

I have a seaclone and it put out the micro bubbles and I tried every trick anyone could think of but bottom line was it took about 2 months before it just quit putting the bubbles out.

 

[twoods71]

GWTank,
The seaclone 100 is the latest model and will not need any of the modifications mentioned above.
It is a good skimmer after the break in period and I am sure you will be happy with it as I am happy with mine.

 

[pyro383]

Are you hanging it on the back of the tank? This is what I didHave had it for 1 week)
1) It does need to build up a little bit of slime, give it a day or two.
2) Open the valve all the way and then screw it back a quarter to half turn (barely catches). Although this goes against the direction of the book but most people do it this way. Look at the tube coming from the powerhead going into the base of the unit. It should like a whitish foam almost.
3) Make sure the powerhead and sponge is 3-4" under water
4) Make sure that the return lip is slightly under water
5) If you are really concerned about the amount of bubbles going into the water you can put a fine fish net onto the return lip as this will break up the bubbles.

 

[quiet storm]

will the bubbles harm any fish or anything?

 

[pyro383]

The bubbles shouldn't harm any fish, however I read that bubbles caught behing a fish's gill could suffocate them. Highly unlikely though

 

[gwtank]

Thanks for your replies everyone! It looks like the best thing for me to do is just let it break in. As far as the quality of the skimmer goes I think (hope) it will be ok for my setup (not a large tank 44gal)... if not I won't go back to the store that said 'buy this one it is perfect' in the future
Thanks.
GW