still not quite right..

momma2angels

momma2angels

Member
I have fixed all the little bubbles in the tank but now the skimmer it's self doesn't have all the little bubbles in it....what is with this thing?
 
snakeblitz33

snakeblitz33

Well-Known Member
It sounds like your air tube is clogged with something or preventing air from being sucked in your powerhead. Make sure your air tube is high and dry and not sucking in water from your tank and also check to make sure the tube is not clogged with salt creep or anything. If you have a really bad problem with microbubbles in the tank, you can put a small piece of blue and white filter media at the end of the output tube and rubber band it on there and clean and replace the filter media regularly to make sure the output doesn't get clogged and overflow your protein skimmer.
If you can not get your bubble line up to where it needs to be, you can use a gang valve to slowly modify the amount of air coming into the unit. Another way would be to try to increase the powerheads output if there is a ball valve on it - play with it. Some protein skimmers have a dial that you can use to modify the amount of water that flows into the unit.
If your still not satisfied, then build/buy a sump/overflow system and put the protein skimmer in the first chamber of your sump. Good luck and I hope this helps!
That's all general stuff... the question is, what kind of protein skimmer do you have?
 
snakeblitz33

snakeblitz33

Well-Known Member
Not really asking current/concurrent or airstone... what brand and model and size of protein skimmer do you have? Maybe there are specific things we can tell you about how to operate at specific skimmer to full capacity.
 
S

saxman

Guest
There are many "in-sump" skimmers that are REALLY picky about water height in the sump...if the water is too deep, they can't pull the air into the skimmer body due to pressure differential. Try turning the skimmer on and lifting it little by little to see if it starts working. If this is the case, you'll need to adjust the water height or sit the skimmer on something to raise it up. I actually had a skimmer (ASM Mini-G) sitting on an acrylic shelf to get it to work (I tossed the POS eventually).
 
florida joe

florida joe

Well-Known Member
Greg is absolutely on the money. The same thing will happen as you lose the high of water in your sump do to evaporation or a slowdown in return to your sump due to dirty filters
Quote:
There are many "in-sump" skimmers that are REALLY picky about water height in the sump...
 
slice

slice

Active Member
In another thread, I believe the OP said the skimmer is a "Berlin Red Sea Skimmer" and from the description, I *think* it is the HOB model.
 
momma2angels

momma2angels

Member
My dad come over yesterday and worked on tweeking it for 2 hours and finally got it to foam up top but now it's noisy This is deff something we will be upgrading in the future! Thanks for all your help!!!
 
S

saxman

Guest
Get yourself a small pharmacy pill bottle, drill a 3/16" hole in the lid, slide it onto the breather tube of the skimmer, pack the bottle loosely with cotton balls or filter floss, and screw the cap onto the bottle (be sure to place the end of the tube down between the packing. You now have a skimmer muffler. You can drill 3 or 4 smaller holes areound the 3/16" hole if you need a bit more air in the bottle.
 
snakeblitz33

snakeblitz33

Well-Known Member
A small modification to saxman's muffler design... You can add filter floss or cotton AND carbon. The carbon removes air pollutants and prevents it from being mixed in the water. Just a thought.
 
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