Nitrate Blood Red but fish seem fine, skimmer in right?

we have a problem with only the nitrate, very red. but the fish seem fine, I allways clean the glass, never over feed,, water changes every 10 days, nothing is dead, but can'r bring the nitrate down? We just purchesd a protein skimmer it's been in the tank 3 day's now, nothing in trap cup! could i have hooked it up wrong? we have 2 clowns 1 anemone, 1 bi-angel, 2 cleaner poly-jaws, 1 scooter blenney, 1 fox face, 1 Koren Angel, 3 fire fish 3 green chromis, 1 tri-colored wrass, 2 cleaner shrimp, 2 bloood shrimp, 1 red scallop and 3 tube worms. any suggestions? I have some pic's of the skimmer, it's cycloning, but not percolating to the top cup? Nitrate has been high for about 10 day's now...





so if the cup is not collecting anything, should I assume I've hooked it up wrong? Thank you...

 

Just like cars, many skimmers have a break-in period. I would just leave it be for a week or so and it will probably start skimming. If the fish were in the tank the entire time that nitrates were rising, they get used to it slowly over time too. However, if you were to add a new fish, it might be very stressed with that high level and die.

 

What kind of skimmer is that? Looks overly small and doesn't seem to be producing much air.

 

Looks like the seaclone 100 to me

 

it's a SeaColne Protein skimmer Model 150 (good upto 150 gallons) Turbo-Venturi Injector System w/ Maxi-Jet 1200 pump, no air-stone needed.

 

I wouldn't use that skimmer on anything over 20 gallons, nothing personal but seaclones are about as bad as skimmers get. It looks to be putting more bubbles in your tank than in your skimmer body.

Try a different test kit for the nitrates just to make sure, or have your LFS test your water. What size tank do you have all those fish in, and how long has it been set up?

~Will.

 

What is the actual nitrate reading? How long have you ran the tank without a skimmer? Do you use RO water for top ups and mixing up salt?

 

Fish can live in nitrates in the hundreds and do just fine, corals cannot. Regular 20% water changes with RO/DI water and cutting back on the feeding is advised.

What size is your tank? Thats a lot of fish!!! I only keep 5 or 6 fish in a 100G tank with a 30G sump under it. I don't think you will ever get a handle on your nitrates without things like a deep sand bed and lots of live rock to support denitrifying bacteria.

Is the air intake on the skimmer open? Make sure the venturi is not blocked or restricted.

 

I have that skimmer and mine works great.......

You might also want to check your test kit.

 

I used to run that skimmer a while ago, from the look of your pick you need to shut the air valve a little more as the water in the j tube is not enough. Its hitting the first bend and trickling down.

To adjust turn the air vent until the tube is completely filled with water then turn the air valve until the point where the tube just starts to loose water.