aquaC remora protein skimmer question

[roseselene]

Hi! I just got an AquaC remora protein skimmer. Its the hang on the back kind. We have it set up and it seems to be creating foam well and everything. My problem is that the collection chamber keeps filling with water. Is this normal? We've emptied it several times and adjusted the height of the collection cup as it suggests but it keeps happening. Has anyone experienced this? Any thoughts?
Thanks!

 

[ChrisRD]

What color is the skimmate you're getting in the cup?

 

[roseselene]

very light tea colored....definitely not clear water. Plus some foam.

 

[hdtran]

Takes some time to 'break in.' (On the order of several days to two weeks).

Maybe you also have a light bioload.

Mine (large version with Mag3 pump upgrade) collects dark tea colored stuff with, shall we say, an interesting odor? But it took 2-3 weeks to break in, with some tweaking on the collection cup height.

Don't forget to clean it regularly (cup/column)!

 

[Hypostomus]

I've been wondering about this too, as I've had my Remora for about two weeks now and it's still pulling out water and some light tea-colored crud.

How do you adjust the height of the collection cup? My impression was that it just slid right in and sat there.

 

[mark78]

You move the O-ring around the collection cup up or down to adjust the height of the skimmer. If you do not have an O-ring on yours and the cup slides all the way down into the skimmer, this is why you are getting the wet skimmate.

Mine needed to be very high for about 2 weeks of break in, then lower for the next 2-3 weeks. Now I have it back up as high as the cup will go and am getting a nice skimmate from it.

 

[packman9111]

my question is "what kind of foam are we trying for. the directions tell you how to get different types of foam, but no indication as to which is best.

 

[hdtran]

I know lots of folks want the drier foam, but there was an article either in Adv. Aqu. Onl. or Reefkeeping archives where the author advocated a wetter foam being more efficient at removing crud.

I would say foam wet enough that you need to empty your cup every 2-3 days, and scrub 1x/wk.

 

[Anonymous]

As someone suggested, you have to move the o-ring up in order to slow the skimmate collection up. I have mine set about an inch and a half from the bottom of the main part of the cup. If you didn't get an O-ring, contact Aqua C, they will send you one.

It does take a couple of weeks for it to start working properly, I set mine at the highest point until it started covering the tube going into the collection cup with Green junk. After that happened, I moved it down a bit every time I cleaned it until I got it where I wanted it.


HTH

Bryan