Protein Skimmer function

[grouper 42]

I can't seem to get a straight answer from my lfs about the consistency and amount of effluent my skimmer should produce. On various occasions such after a water change it will produce up to 1.5 gallons over a short period of time. I would say it has done this 3-4 times in the last 11 months. Other then that it never produces enough to even collect in the upper chamber. The pump is working and there is active bubbling in the skimmer column. One guy said you may not collect that much as a lot of it evaporates before collection. Now I understand that the water portion of the skimmed fluid could evaporate but anything else in this such as protein can't "evaporate". It is a SeaLife 150 and I have a 128 gal tank. Any suggestions?

 

[blutang]

Sounds like you have too much air going into the chamber with the water.....try to turn it back a bit. That should help you out.
Later!

 

[mr . salty]

How old is this tank,and what is the bio load(# of,and kind of fish)???It could be that your tank is just not producing anything to skim...My skimmer hardly pulls anything out anymore.You may be seeing this "overproduction"after a water change for a couple reasons.New water contains alot of nutrients,trace elements,and minerals that could be causing this.Also you could be stirring up the accumulated waste on the rock and substrate during the change.

 

[grouper 42]

My set-up is 11 months old. I have 7 fish in the 4-6 inch range in a 128 gal tank.