My tunze protein skimmer isn't producing any bubbles!!

Hi, so i just placed my tunze 9002 in the center compartment of my 28g nano cube about 4 hours ago. It hasnt produced any bubbles in the collection cup. Do I have a faulty unit?

Also I cannot see where the waterline is on my skimmer, so how high up should the skimmer be above the top of the tank on my jbj 28g nanocube?

 

You my friend are running into an issue I get about every few months.

When you take apart the skimmer there is a clear 90 deg angel bend for your airline hose. Over the few months you have been sucking small amounts of salt water and now there is salt stuck in your 90 deg bend. Take a tooth pick and smash it out.

I think the water line should be .5 inches from the top of the skimmer.

This should fix your problem.

 

Hi SurgeonSween

skimmers are not an exact science, some work perfect right out of the box and produce foam immediately
some can take 2 or more days to break in and start producing

depends on the skimmer, the conditions of the water, any oils or residues on the plastic, etc

as long as the main body is full of tiny bubbles (can you see into the main body, taking the collection cup off should enable you to see inside) then it is working OK

in which case give it more time and even if it is not today or tomorrow = nothing to worry about

height of cup/ unit
when it does produce skimmate, foam climbs up and bursts into the cup
if the stuff in the cup is clear to pea green, raise the cup slightly so it gets darker green to browm IMO

Steve

 

If the tube is not kinked, which I have had happen with this skimmer, then give it 5-7 days to start to produce noticeable skim.

The water level is indicated on the side of the body of the skimmer. Start there and if in 5-7 days readjust it if you are not seeing any skim.

 

It takes a bit for it to break in.... They will produce after it runs for a few days. The water level should be just under the very bottom of the collection cup compartment. On Mine if I remove the collection cup with it running the water level is at the very top of the skimmer body. Hope that helps you

 

My bad, I thought this has beeb running for a while. About every 3 month I need to tear mine apart and clean the clear elbow bend. Love the skimmer and it works a million times better with the MP10 on NTM.

 

Thanks for all the help everyone. I looked into where the cup inserts and there ARE tiny bubbles there!! I think this video threw me off because it looks nothing like this:
Tunze 9002 Protein Skimmer - YouTube

 

Hmm actually I dont know if there is any bubbles where the collection cup goes. It just looks like flowing water from the pump

 

So its been almost a couple days and my skimmer still hasn't produced any foam or skimmate. Should I be worried?

 

This skimmer was new or used?