Protien skimmer adjustments

[ca161406]

just wondering how yeal adjust your skimmers. i have NW-150 on my 125 and it pulls out great amounts of gunk. but i see in the pics of other skimmers that the gunk is dark greenish color. what i get is a thick tan that settles on the bottom of the skimmer cup. ill get an inch of light brown water with a half inch of thick solid tan stuff on the bottom of the skimmer cup. is this normal? or just because i have a light bio load right now?

 

[nordy]

It sounds like your skimmer is working OK. If it was putting out too much water into the collection cup, or if the water was not dark and gunky then some adjustment might be needed. I don't recognize the barnd you have, but if there is an air valve, I would suggest adjusting it for as much foam as possible, as it's the collapsing foam that produces the gunk, no matter what type of skimmer you have. Skimmer adjustments can take awhile to take effect so be patient if you do adjust yours.

 

[ca161406]

its the octopus NW-150
yeah it has the airline on it, should i put a valve on the airline or just leave it wide open?

 

[nordy]

I don't know if that one comes with an air valve, but you could pick one up at your LFS and try reducing some of the air going in.
My skimmer pulls out dark greenish gunk but I have found that when I run carbon, the skimmer output is much lighter as the carbon is doing some of its work.

 

[ca161406]

yeah i dont run any carbon at all. i have tons of air valves from our FW tank, i never thought i wld actually reduce the air input though lol ill give it a try

 

[mr_x]

don't restrict the air valve. the more air the better. can't you raise the riser tube some?

 

[zman1]

Originally Posted by Mr_X
http:///forum/post/2830706
don't restrict the air valve. the more air the better. can't you raise the riser tube some?
Ditto

 

[ca161406]

^yeah that was my thought, the more air the better. i tried it and the valve didn't do much but make the bubbles bigger
i can raise the riser more but ill just get more water in my collection cup

 

[mr_x]

oops..i meant lower it.

 

[zman1]

Good point X. I didn't even take the last part of your comment into account when I did "ditto". I only focused on the "more air the better". It is a high volume of tiny air bubbles you want, so that the protein particles have more surface area to attach to and foam out into the collection cup...

 

[ca161406]

if i lower it i will get no skim at all. i think its because i just have 2 3" puffers in a 125 tank. not enough load maybe

 

[mr_x]

i would lower it ever so slightly. you'll get skim when necessary.