TOO much water in my collection cup!

Ok, I'm TOTALLY new to this skimming thing. I have a Coralife 65, and I installed it in-sump (2-chamber 15g acrylic sump, skimmer placed in 2nd chamber, where return pump is located). The main tank is 40g tall with a small bio-load.

I tried and TRIED to follow the instructions closely, and for one thing, I'm not sure (and the manual does NOT SAY) what the tube coming out the top of the collection cup lid is. It goes nowhere, and is attached to nothing else.
Main problem is the amount of water in the cup- the foam starts, then the cup collects water almost to the top in less than 15 minutes. Should I decrease the flow coming from the skimmer pump, OR increase/decrease bubbles with the red knob? I played with both, and couldn't get it right. The skimmer is sitting in about 7" of water, the bubble diffuser cup (bottom white filter pad) is a little over 1" from the bottom of the output tube, and the air valve is well above the water level.

Can anyone tell me what I'm doing wrong?

 

How long has the skimmer been setup? There will be about a 3 day break-in period.

 

Oh and that tube coming out of the collection cup is for you to be able to drain it without having to remove it (the cup).

 

The water level in the skimmer is way too high. Adjust the red dial down until the water level in the skimmer is even with the red lock ring. If the water won't go down that low, then the skimmer may be too deep in the water. Adjust that red dial and watch it for a few days. I had to make my water level go a little higher because the skim was too dry for my liking. But to me that is what it sounds like.

 

Oh, jeez, I didn't know that... I just set it up the night before last, and it's not running now. Should I run it constantly even WITH the high water level for a few days (because it will just empty back into the sump)?

 

The tube coming out of the pump with the little plastic piece on it is the air line for the skimmer to produce bubbles. That airline tubing needs to be out of the water or the skimmer won't skim properly (wont' even make bubbles).

 

No, if you run the water too high, the scum can't even develop on the neck of the skimmer (the scum helps the bubbles get thick and spill the nasty stuff over into the collection cup. To break in the skimmer, you need to turn the little valve on the neck of the pump to half open. Then adjust the red dial until the water level is even with the red locking ring. Let this run for a few days to a week. Then open that little valve to full and adjust the red dial again. It takes a lot of tweaking at first but it is starting to work well for me (I have the same skimmer and installed it about 2 weeks ago).

 

OK, that helps a lot! Thanks for the quick reply! I will do that and watch it for a few days.

 

Yea run it for a few days keeping the exit tube flow wide open. You're not really going to get any skimmate for a couple days. Just let it break-in.

He was asking about the tube coming out of the collection cup. I believe that one is for him to be able to drain it without always having to remove the cup.

 

The super skimmer 65 doesn't have the collection cup drain feature unless it was modified.