Protein Skimmer ; to clean or not to clean?

[furyclown]

I've been reading that you should keep your protein skimmer (cup and tube) clean to keep the "bubbles" from breaking before they reach the top of the cup.

Yesterday, I just got the opposite information; to NEVER clean the top cup of the protein skimmer to keep the "bubbles" from breaking before they reach the top?

Your advice and opinion(s) would be appreciated.

 

[2poor2reef]

Maybe it depends on the skimmer, but If I never cleaned the collection cup on my skimmers they would clog and while I wouldn't have to worry about bubbles breaking, it wouldn't be skimming either. On second thought, I wouldn't have to worry about emptying it either.

In my experience it is true that it can take awhile for a newly cleaned skimmer to begin skimming optimally after cleaning. So I assume that a slight coating of organics or some other factor may be beneficial. But I don't think you can get away with not cleaning your skimmer. My opinion only.

 

[BROKER]

I clean mine once a month. You will see a diffrence if you clean it to much and not enough. If you clean it to much I notice that I have alot more bubbles returning to the tank. I believe it has to do with the change in surface tension of the water. I have also noticed that if you don't clean the cup it restricts the bubbles from entering. I have a bkpk2r if you are wondering.

 

[rBeOeBf]

I clean my collection cup about twice a week on my Bak Pak 2. It gets pretty nasty otherwise. It doesn't skim immediately after cleaning, but within an hour or 2 it is skimming again.

Bob

 

[DK]

I clean my ETS once or twice a week. Skims within an hour of cleaning. The solid matter that is cleaned is NOT going to make it into the collection cup so cleaning is required.

Hey, it gives me something to do.

 

[danmhippo]

I clean my EV150 every so often as I sees a thick ring of crud in the riser tube. I tried to let them sit over 5 days without cleaning the crud out. For that 5 days, I have very little skimmate. As soon as I cleaned the riser tube up, 2 hours later I am getting about 1/4 of skimmate. I believe in cleaning it.

 

[waterloomarc]

I clean mine about every other week. I do notice more bubbles returning afterwards but this only lasts for a couple of hours. I can't imagine that it would be good to leave all of that crud in there. Just my thoughts though