not enough foam in my skimmer?

[ebosshard]

got my crummer skimmer going but not getting any foam.

from what i see in books it is a european style skimmer, powerhead/pump sends water to it with a extra tube that adds air. problem is i am getting like no foam at all.

6 week old tank.

1-too young to foam?
2-not enough bubbles (and what do I do about that)?

thanks

 

[taikonaut]

Don't know what type of venturi skimmer you have there... any brand name?

Typically, you have to adjust the air intake to get the largest number of bubble in the chamber. Some may takes a few days to "break-in" if it is a brand new skimmer.

 

[JennM]

What's in your tank?

If you have raw live rock, I'd say you should have foam.

If you have cured rock and low/no bioload, it's not unusual.

Jenn

 

[Anonymous]

You're gonna have a real hard time getting any real help with this skimmer (which you should have listened and taken back) if no one can tell what it is.

If you're going to keep it and keep asking about it, how's 'bout sending a pic of it so we can tell what you're using..?

 

[Anonymous]

Your tank is very young so you will not see much skimmate at all for awhile. What do you have in your tank?

 

[taikonaut]

Age of tank usually is not related to how much foam the skimmer generates.

 

[Anonymous]

Age of tank usually is not related to how much foam the skimmer generates.

It has been my experience that I will not get much skimmate untill the tank =has cycled about 12 weeks then it inceases alot.

 

[ChrisRD]

IME, if anything, you will see more skimmate on a newer tank while the rock is curing. At least if you've got a decent skimmer. If it takes 3 months of DOC build-up to see a lot of skimmate, I'd recommend a new skimmer...

 

[taikonaut]

I agree with both of you to some degree, but that does not contradict my statemenet above. The amount of skimmate is related to what is in the tank at that time, that's what you are saying. It is not about the age of the tank. I guess I did not make the connection between new tank and uncured rock, since I cure rock separately (last time I did this when my tank was 4 years old).

 

[ebosshard]

Sense I get is that I am not far enough along to be getting anything out of this skimmer.

tank is 6-7 weeks old
200gallon
200lbs live rock
75lbs live sand
2 clowns
1 tang
5 damsels
1 dotty
(yes, I have already been told I have too many fish)
0 ammon, 0 nitrite, other levels clean as well.

Thanks for the feedback

Eric

 

[Anonymous]

FWIW: I've been able to get skimmate out of 1 week old tanks (with no visible bioload) using "skimmers" (term used loosely) such as Seaclones and Visi-Jet PSs' after (at most) a 2-day break-in period...

With that bioload, you really should be getting something..

 

[ebosshard]

thaks for the advice. will try to get a picture online tonite.

Have a pump that does 900gpm running the skimmer with the venturi line wide open and getting hardly anything. LFS has what looks to my young eyes a good used skimmer I may pick up tonite and throw in the towel on my current useless skimmer.

thanks again

 

[Anonymous]

Before you jump off onto another unknown, at least find out for sure if what you have needs to be scrapped.

And I'm gonna guess you meant the pump driving your current one runs at 900 gph, not gpm right?? (A skimmer that needs a 54,000 gph pump to drive it is the skimmer of my dreams!! - WAAAY over-rated for a 220 gal tank tho... :wink: )

900 gph is very respectable though, that's why I say hold off and get an idea of what's up for sure before jumping off onto another that you're really not entirely sure about..

 

[ebosshard]

Pleased to announce I traded in my crummy skimmer for what the LFS marketed as the greatest skimmer going (famous last words).

Bought a MTS-250 (http://www.marinetechnical.com) with a 900gph pump.

Didn't get a chance to hook up last night but it makes the crummy one the other LFS had sold me look like a tinker toy.

Hoping for foam tonite!!

Eric

 

[jbpig]

Too many fish for a 200G?

 

[Anonymous]

I don't know about that, but I think Eric was cautioned about how SOON to start adding livestock...

 

[jbpig]

Id buy that! I did the same things years ago, got the tank set up and spent hund of $'s. A big lesson learned.

 

[ebosshard]

i admit i have pushed it on fish at this stage of the game (week 7)
do have 225lbs+ of live rock now (probably 250) and 200lbs of live sand.

hard to keep explaining to the kids why we had no fish.

hope i don't learn my lesson the hard way

 

[jbpig]

LOL ya kids will not accept " the tanks needs to cycle for a few months", but then again neither did my wife!

 

[ebosshard]

Wanted to close the loop on my skimmer.

The MTS-250 (in sump) is doing an amazing job. Thanks for the suggestion to upgrade. Getting a ton of foam that is ugly and brown (a thing of beauty to be taking this out).

Took out 50% of my bioballs to fit the skimmer in that side of my sump.

Thanks for the help again. Now just tweaking it to control the amount of foam (from too little to too much, but I am not complaining!!)

Lastly, I know I have too many fish for week 7 but was proud to take levels this morning and find no ammonia and just a trace of nitrite. All that live rock and sand (250+200) is doing the job.

Eric

220g
250lr, 200ls
7 week old tank
5 damsels, 3 clowns, 1 naso tang, 1 bicolor dotty.