Skimmer break in period

[27mtaylor]

I understand that a skimmer has a break in period, but what actually happens during that period? Why does it not start skimming from the start? I've never really seen an answer to this. Can y'all help? Thanks.

 

[pallan]

i think the oganic compounds begin by attaching to the body of the skimmer, as that becomes full the junk has no where else to go but up.
But i could be wrong there.

 

[reefrobert]

the bad stuff attaches itself to the bubbles and goes into the chamber.
So, if your are cycling a tank, then you dont need one yet, or what?

 

[kelly shaw]

mine started skimming from the time i first plugged it in.

 

[fedukeford]

ys mine was skimming the second i hooked it up (my tank was around 7 months old)

 

[27mtaylor]

I just put in an Aqua C remora yesterday. It is going to replace my modified skilter. Hopefully the break in period won't be too long.

 

[reefrobert]

I been doing some compairing, and the aqua c remora is around $180.00 and it good up to around 75 gal. I think that a lot of money for a skimmer that is going on the bank of a 20 gal. They have a Aqua C NANO Remora comming out soon that I might be interested in.
I took the skimmer out of the skilter 250, waiting until my cycling is over and then I will turn it into a refugium with a light and cheato's in there. I was thinking of coralife skimmer that is around $80.00, rated up to 65 gal tank.

 

[reefrobert]

Bump

 

[turningtim]

A skimmer has packageing oils and such on the inside and it takes a while for all the manufactoring stuff to wear off. This is why some take awhile before starting to perform. Even if a skimmer does make skimmate from the beginning it will need to be adjusted as time goes by.
Word to the wise, in most cases you get what you pay for and on such a important pc of equipment don't go cheap.......
HTH
Tim

 

[27mtaylor]

I actually bought the coralife skimmer, but I sent it back. I have a 46 gallon tank and the powerhead for it was huge and so was the bubble difuser. It took up a lot of room in my tank and was aestheticly unpleasing. The two peices of equipment were each close to the size of a softball. That's why I went with the Remora. I can't knock the job that the coralife will do because I have heard nothing but good things about it, but on a smaller tank I didn't like the "look".

 

[27mtaylor]

Originally Posted by TurningTim
A skimmer has packageing oils and such on the inside and it takes a while for all the manufactoring stuff to wear off. This is why some take awhile before starting to perform. Even if a skimmer does make skimmate from the beginning it will need to be adjusted as time goes by.
Word to the wise, in most cases you get what you pay for and on such a important pc of equipment don't go cheap.......
HTH
Tim

... I guess I should have rinsed the skimmer off before I put it in the tank. Hindsight is 20/20. Tim, a question about the skimmate, do you want to produce the wet skimmate or the thick frothy stuff? or do you adjust it for different situations?

 

[turningtim]

I like to run wet. Because my Diy skimmer collects quite a bit in the neck itself. Differents folks have different opinions on what best. In your case run it both ways and see what your test results tell you and what your animals look like. Their the ones who know and are always a great indicator of whats happening in the tank.
Probably would not have made a big difference if it was rinsed or not.
HTH
Tim