Question with Skimmer

[lions den]

I bought a skimmer the other day and I have a question. It only seems to be creating minimal foam on top of the tank. Actually hardly any at all. Is this normal? I know nothing about them. ANy help would be appreciated

 

[fixitdude2001]

Spencer,Some skimmers[most] take time to brake in , also you should not have foam on the top of your tank! it should be in the collection cup. Our first skimmer took a week to brake in. And if you dont have enough organic waste you will only see small amounts of collections.what kind of skimmer is it? ..fixit

 

[lions den]

It is a PS100 I think. It does have foam in the collection cup. I really dont know much about them, atleast not as much as I should. So other than empting the collection cup periodically, how do I know that it is effective?

 

[fixitdude2001]

Well if it has a greenish or brown thick crud in it its working, not as thick as syrup but not as runny as water, it will also smell like a sewer. You should not have a diluted look tho like brown or green water. You cant see through my crud. hope this helps...fixit

 

[lions den]

Generally, how long should it take to start collecting "crud" meaning should I wait a month to see how it does or should there be something in the cup within a few days?

 

[fixitdude2001]

It typically takes a week maybe two. Since its new try washing out the collection cup with hot soapy water and rinse very well, this sometimes helps. also I kleen the cup weekly , if not It tends to slow the production of crud. cya...fixit

 

[noogiefish]

i am having a similar problem with a new berlin xl. i hooked it up a couple of days ago and it started producing some crud, light colored like the manual said it would, but it seems to have stopped producing crud and has started- for lack of a better word-farting out of the vents at the outlets (i think) any ideas why it might be farting? i am running it with a rio 1700. The manual suggests min 500gph and the rio is around 650, but i have an elbow in the feed- so i figure is about 500. anybody have any ideas?