New person with a question about skimmers

Hello, I've been lurking for a while and decided to register and ask a question. I have a 55 gallon tank that I have been cycling for 5-6 weeks with thirty pounds of good live rock and a Biowheel 330 powerfilter. I installed a Prizm (not Prizm Pro) skimmer this afternoon. No matter how much I adjust it, all i get is a large quantity of frothy white bubbles and clear water in the collection cup. I understand that there might not be enough organics at the moment to cause any gunk to build up yet, but does anyone have any idea about adjusting it? If I set it how the manual recommends, the cup fills with water very quickly.

Thanks,
Jason

 

From I have been reading those Prism skimmers are touchy!
Typical quote:

"The problem I had was that it was so sensitive to water level that if the level changed at all it would freak out. It is extemely difficult to adjust with just a tiny knob to turn. The slightest move creates major changes."

Some Mods:

"Attach an airvalve to the air tubing on the intake tube, that will give you more precise control over the big valve.

Also with mine, I noticed that if I adust the angle in which the out flow (perpendicular to the surface) it makes differences."

Karla has one, hopefully she can chime in with some real world experience...

 

Also once the scum builds up you should have an easier time. The break-in period is normal for all skimmers..

 

dont worry give your skimmer a chance to break in. mine took a little while. ours was real noisy at first and all bubbles and they are a bit touchy. you have to find that certain spot a little off and you will get the bubbles. open the valve all the way then slowly close it you may have to turn it and leave it set for a few minits then adjust it some more. its a pain at first but they do work well especially for the price. once i found the spot where it worked best i used a permanent marker to mark it. now when i clean it i just turn it to that mark and have to do very little adjusting. also i dump it every couple of days keeping it from clogging

 

I agree prizms are good skimmers but they do take a little of adjusting at first (so do most skimmers). Just give it time and slowly adjust like karla said and you should be fine. Actually, I just put a skimmer in my sump last night. It is an in-sump style and it took a little bit to get it set. At first I thought I had it set, so I left my house for about 30mins, when I came back it was full of clear water and overflowing. Think I got it set now! ;D

 

OK.
New view on protein skimmers. As Matt Rogers knows I just changed my 10g fuge on my 20H to hold a protein skimmer and a 10" x 5" section of dsb (5&quot. Well I had no algae problems at all. After talking with many people I decided to put in the protein skimmer altho nothing was wrong in my tank when I was just running the fuge.

I put the skimmer in and after taking 2 days to get it dialed in, the algae started blooming. I now have red diatoms in the sand and green algae starting to appear on the glass. After leaving it in operation for about one week, the diatoms were out of control.

I decided that the protein skimmer must be the problem. On Sunday I took out the skimmer and put the sand back into the fuge (the sand was stored in saltwater to keep it alive). Now it has been three days and the algae is already starting to disappear again! Yippie!

Not sure why that happened, but I guess if it ain't broke, don't fix it!

Just my input!

 

So you had removed the sand from the fuge?
I bet that was it! Why don't you think so?

 

Well, I kept a 10"x 5" section in the sump. That is a small section in between baffles. Altho, I did take out about 10lbs. Maybe that was it, but it is running fine again so not sure. Guess I could always get a prizm later and use it as a hob so that I don't have to get rid of the fuge. I am just now a firm believer of fuges.

Thanx for that, maybe you are right. I might save up the money after my cruise to get the prizm and we will see what happens then!

 

Well you know I am biased about skimmers.
But removing a lot of sand is a MAJOR change in a closed system.

 

Ok I see your point!

I am about to post something in the lighting section that I will need help with! Hopefully you will join me there! [smiley=afro.gif]