skilter 400 :-(

[bms]

well i decided to waste the money to go out and buy myself a skilter 400 for my 60 gallon FOWLR because it sounded like a solid investment and unique style of HOB filter/skimmer combo. well turns out i should have done some research AHEAD of time (which i will now do on everything i buy) because everything i have found on these things suggests they are a waste of money. well ive had it for about a week now or so now on a two week old (still cycling) 60 gallon tank and i cant seem to get it to produce any foam at all into the collection tray. ive tried adjusting the little knob on the end of the air intake tube and nada..ive pulled it completely off, set it at its max, put it at the lowest setting, everything i can think of and not only is it super loud and annoying but it will NOT produce anything into the collection tray. i bought it because i was starting to see a layer of film forming in one end of the the tank on the surface and i know how important a protein skimmer is. the guy at my LFS swore by it and even showed me that he has/had one running on one of his tanks (which wasnt on there because he dropped it and a piece broke off) but he said it works just as good as any other skimmer for that price range. well i went back today and told him the problem i was having and asked if i could exchange it for something else or maybe a new one and he said that the problem is because its a new tank and has no protein to be pulling out yet because my bioload isnt very high. well i had an outbreak of brown algae and i used a toothbrush to scrub it all off so it would float all around hoping that the skilter would suck it up and produce some skimmate, but nothing. i told him this and he says to just give it time. i dont know if i have it set up wrong or what cuz from what ive read people at least get foam into their collection trays and sadly i threw out the box the other day along with the very confusing directions. ive read about a few modifications that can be done a couple days ago but i cant seem to find the link. anyone out there have any experience with these things or any advice on what i may have done wrong to set it up? thanks, bms

 

[aquaknight]

Ahhh the Skilter... Many people's first skimmer (unfortunately). You are not alone, I had one on my 29 many years ago, the 250 model. The LFS guy is kinda right, it will take some time before the Skilter starts working (most skimmers do actually), if you can call it that. After about a week I had what I would call the wettest (very light in color) skimmate I've ever seen, basically tank water with barely some skimmate in there. Followed later by some very light green build up on the top of collection bin.
There are some mods that can be done, unfortunately many of the links are not postable there on SWF due to forums rules (competitor links/etc). Just enter 'Skilter mods' into google and a number of links should come up, the third one is probably the best. Basically the best mod is adding an airstone which helps with foam build up.
As far as setting setup the skilter/the knob, neither max or min work the best. At maximum open (it off) the pump is sucking in too much air, and not enough water to raise the height high enough. Closed, the opposite, too much water and not enough air to build foam. Somewhere close to, but not fully open is going to be the 'best'

. But like earlier, you will need to give it some time.
Also that build up of proteins on the surface of your tank is due to a lack of surface agitation. Even in tanks with huge bioloads and tons of nasty organics, if there's enough water movement at the surface, won't have that slim build up. Try aiming a powerhead up to create some small waves.

 

[bms]

so you at least got SOME kind of skim in your collection tray? cuz i cant seem to get even the slightest bit foam/water into mine. i took the advice of some other members on this forum and i now have a koralia powerhead in there, i also purchased a second canister filter today so now i have one canister filter that pulls 1200 L/H (about 315 GPH) and one that does 1000 L/H (about 263 GPH) and the skilter. i have plenty of surface agitation now since i aimed one of them up a little bit and i have tons of circulation going through and around my tank due to the positioning of the outputs. i only bought this second one because the first one came with the tank and stand off of craigslist and is a bit beat up and is only rated up to a 45 gallon tank and even though i have the additional filtration from the skilter i got a really good deal on it. i kinda complained that the owner of the store mislead me to thinking the skilter was a GREAT addition to my tank. the LFS is also moving to a new location so they took off 25% and threw in a brand new gravel vac, 6 gallons of premixed saltwater, a sponge cover for the intake, and extra media for the canister filter. i think i am going to have to do the airstone mod to hopefully get at least some kind of skim to start collecting.

 

[flpriest]

I bought one as well when I first started SW.

lesson learned.

 

[pete159]

does fisher price make the skilter?
A good protein skimmer costs over 150$ for a 60g
try the aqua c remora pro, or just the remora

 

[bms]

yah im going with the aqua c remora pro. ive been reading on another question and answer website (which i will not post due to respect for this SWF) and everything i read says to try the acrp if looking for a lowend yet quality skimmer.

 

[windlasher]

Originally Posted by bms
http:///forum/post/3098231
yah im going with the aqua c remora pro. ive been reading on another question and answer website (which i will not post due to respect for this SWF) and everything i read says to try the acrp if looking for a lowend yet quality skimmer.

on the ACR. I use it on holding tanks so I can move it around. It works great for the money.

 

[rlablan]

I don't know about skilters but did you say that you are still cycling? Does that mean you have no livestock in your tank? If so, there is the problem. There is nothing to skim. When I first set up my tank, I had no livestock and I put a skimmer on there and after 3 daya of no foam or skimmate, I took it back and claimed it was broken and thought it was a bad piece of equipment. It was just because there wasn't enough in my tank it skim out. That was may experience with the regular skimmer, I don't know much about skilters though. Good luck!

 

[bms]

yes i am still cycling. i believe its almost done as all the tests i have done have been coming up with proper readings or near proper readings. ammonia 0, nitrite 0-.25, nitrate 5 ppm, and pH 8.3. i am cycling with about 65-75 lbs crushed aragonite/coral combo and about 40 lbs "dead rock" that i am bringing to life and 5 lbs live rock. i have seeded with a cup or two of live sand and stress zyme bacteria so it would speed it up. i also have 3 damsels in there to keep producing ammonia so that my bacteria will colonize.

 

[rlablan]

Don't give up hope on your skimmer. I had two clowns as my first two fish and even after they were in there for a bit, all the skimmate my skimmer collected was basically just clear water. It took a while to get the tea colored syrupy gross kinds of stuff. probably about a good three weeks AFTER i added the fish... That was well over a month of having my skimmer installed. Again that is just a skimmer though, not a skilter.

 

[bms]

thanks for your advice. i guess i will just have to wait a couple more weeks til i have some fish and a decent sized bioload and hopefully i will see this thing start to work. anyone else have one of these things and recall how long it took before they began pulling skim out of their tank?