Skimmer Break-in??

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billb

Guest
Recently I purchased a prizm skimmer for my tank. It's only a 29 Gallon and the skimmer seems to be working fine. I have added two mods.
1.) I put a t-valve into to air line for fine tuning as per Internet reading, and it works rather well.
2.) I extended the out-flow by 2 inches or so, because the height of the stock item was to high from the tank water surface, causing large bubbles to be created. This was due to the drop distance from the stock out-flow. (I needed to exetend it because I have it mounted on the side of a MarineLand Eclipse3 tank, which has high sides (above the tank water level). This mod helped that problem out considerably.
That said:
I still do have quite a bit of Micro-bubbles traveling with the water down the slide into the tank. It makes the top 30% of my tank get cloudy. Now it is to my understanding that this is "normal" during the "break-in" period of the skimmer. I'm wondering. What or why is there a Break-in period.
I could understand a break-in period if something was physically changing to the skimmer during the process. Each week, If I clean my skimmer of all debris, I am starting out with the same piece(s) of plastic that I started with, Hense, a basically new skimmer, all shiny and pristine. Why would the physics of such a thing change, and its operation not be like day-one, in these instances? Whats the difference in a skimmer that is new and needs 2-3 days to "break-in", and a skimmer that is 2 months old and has been cleaned properly.
I'm missing something here, and laugh at me if it's obvious, but I would like a few opinions...
The way I'm looking at it is, I could Clean my skimmer on Mondays, spend tuesday and wednesday with a break-in period, and then have things looking good for the weekend...only to turn around and have mon-wed look like crap again...
CLUES??
Thanks much...
Billb
 
B

billb

Guest
it needs a break in period..
Certainly not to be rude..but did you read my questions, it was the whole point of the post...
Thanks for reading it, anyway...
Billb
 
donmgicwon

donmgicwon

Member
:notsure: The only thing that makes sense to me is that the "break in period" is the time it takes for the skimmer to adjust to the water conditions. This would apply to any time the skimmer is cleaned or the water quality is changed (IE, partial water changes). Now from my experience, the more familiar you get with your unit the faster you will be able to adjust for these changes. again :notsure:
 
apl111

apl111

New Member
Not to sound to stuipid but can you explain the mod of the t valve. I am assuming this goes on the air line in the skimmer. What does this do? Can anyone show pics please.
 
B

billb

Guest
Normally, for Priming the skimmer you would have to take the hose and put it on the priming plug (basically a closed plug) and open the flow regulator all the way, while the pump primes.
Once the priming is done you would then remove the hose from the Priming plug and move it over to the regular hose barb for normal operation.
At this point the water/foam level adjustment could be made using the main flow regulator.
If any air gets into the air tube it changes the operation/flow of the skimmer and this process must be repeated.
The T-Valve will let you constrict the air flow without having to remove it from the Normal hose barb. (yes, pinching it will work too)...
During Normal operation the water level should only be at the level of the O-Ring on the lower porttion of the collection cup. This is a hit and miss situation that seems to take a bit of "tweaking" with the flow adjustment valve (a minor move with the valve has a lot of impact so to speak).
By setting the flow adjustment valve in a good general working position, finer (and easier) adjustments can be made by using the t-valve, to keep the water/foam levels where they should be. This helps you get an even flow of what they call dry foam as opposed to wet foam bubbles running over the side of the cup. This increases the time the water has a chance to bind with the proteins, thus giving good nasty dirty foam!
A cheap modification...that works for me...:)
Billb
 
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