Lots of bubbles but not much skimate!

[Joshsmit56001]

I built a skimmer and I have a lot of bubbles coming up through the neck and into the collection cup, but I have very little skimmate in the cup. I get a lot of skimmate up through the neck and on the lid of the collection cup but this is some dryer stuff. I have very little wet skimmate. Could my small bioload (Yellow tang and maroon clown in a 150) be the answer?

Thanks,
Josh

[TandN]

this is interesting my friiend is having the same problem with his and he has 20+ fish in his 120g

[fewells]

What kind of skimmer are you running?

[Joshsmit56001]

It is a DIY venturi

[SeaView]

How long has it been running? Does it need to break in. I just setup a NW200 and it took 2-3 weeks before it started producing. Now I'm getting 2 cups a day of dark, stinky skimate.

[TandN]

i agree it takes time to not only break in but also to fine tune it to where it performs best

[RandyStacyE]

Post a pic ... some of the questions above should be answered. If it's been running for a couple days already then you should probably raise the water level in the skimmer.

[daytonians]

It definately sounds like the water level is too low.

[douggiestyle]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9297066#post9297066 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Joshsmit56001
I built a skimmer and I have a lot of bubbles coming up through the neck and into the collection cup, but I have very little skimmate in the cup. I get a lot of skimmate up through the neck and on the lid of the collection cup but this is some dryer stuff. I have very little wet skimmate. Could my small bioload (Yellow tang and maroon clown in a 150) be the answer?

Thanks,
Josh

that is a small bio load. i get poor skim for that reason. may want to buy more fish :).

could be breakin period. and as randy stated post some pics.

speaking of break in periods has any one ever tried using critical-cleaning detergents to scrub the inside of a skimmer and speed up the break in process? just an idea.

[daytonians]

You have to keep in mind, bio-load is not really how many fish you have, it is how much you feed. You can have only one small damsel and have a huge bio-load if you over-feed.

[TandN]

not really bio load has also to do with the amount of fish since there the ones crapping into the water

[douggiestyle]

true. you could over feed. but that aside bio load is usually determined by the number and size as well as type of fish.

[fewells]

Bio load does is not only limited to fish. If you over feed, the food ends up somwhere and breaks down. Increasing your bioload just like you had more fish in the system. Even if your filters catch the extra food it still breaks down, unless you get it out immediately.

Anyway, do you have any pics of your skimmer in action. Can you give us some dimensions on the skimmer and what kind of pump and venturi you are using.

[daytonians]

I have to dissagree. Bioload has little to do with how many living creatures are in a tank. Here's why.

Almost all food eaten by any tank inhabitant is given off as waste. Only the small amount that is turned into growth or burned off as fuel dissapears. The rest is pooped back out.

You will have almost the exact same bioload if you feed the same amount wether you have 10 fish or 0 fish. In reality, the tank with 10 fish would be cleaner, because the fish will turn some of the food into fuel and growth.

Remember the simple rule. EVERYTHING that goes into your water, has to come back out somehow.

[daytonians]

I have to disagree. Bio load has little to do with how many living creatures are in a tank. Here's why.

Almost all food eaten by any tank inhabitant is given off as waste. Only the small amount that is turned into growth or burned off as fuel disappears. The rest is pooped back out.

You will have almost the exact same bio load if you feed the same amount whether you have 10 fish or 0 fish. In reality, the tank with 10 fish would be cleaner, because the fish will turn some of the food into fuel and growth.

Remember the simple rule. EVERYTHING that goes into your water, has to come back out somehow.

[douggiestyle]

matt,
i think im a bit confused by your statement.
lets take your earlier post. one damsel in a tank. you can over feed (which would be bad husbandry) or you can feed just what the fish needs. not to be confused with feeding only what the fish eats but feeding him alot. will leave that out of this dicussion as i feel it will only confuse me.

over feeding the fish will create poop and uneaten food. feed without a fish would create only uneaten food. and feeding only what the fish needs will create only poop.

as you stated in your later post only feeding what the fish needs will only create poop. more fish, more food, more poop. = bio load.

now if you over feed with alot of fish or just one. then your problem would increase. more fish, more food, more poop, more uneaten food = bio load that is higher than what is required.

if you didnt feed the fish you could still have a bio load problem.
more fish, in this case no food so fish burn fat stores, more waste.

so having uneaten food in the tank is bad hubandry and bad for the tank and increases the bio load.

you increase the bio load with each additional fish regardless of feeding. that is until they have died and decayed. then you are back to zero. well sort of, in simplified world you would be back to zero.

[TandN]

100% correct ;) im in this hobby a llong time and bio-load always meant fish not feeding

[daytonians]

I think in essence we are saying the same thing. Just in different ways.

[SeaView]

daytonians,

I get where your coming from and both fish and feeding need to be measured. If you had no fish, you would not be feeding and your bioload would be zero. I guess no one has built the scale yet to measure bioload. But I would have to say that it is a factor of the size of you tank divided by the length in inches of total fish in the tank when compared to the amount of natural biologic filtration from rock/sandbed available.

A small tank with many fish will have a higher biolaod than a large tank with an equal number of the same fish.

Some eat more than others or need to be fed more frquently. Plus some eat mostly algae/nori and others need lots of fresh meaty stuff. The more often you feed the higher the oportunity for uneaten food that may add to nutrient levels.

If you have enough pods or algae naturally growing you may not have to feed. Even so, While the bioload would be lower in such a tank, the fish would still be concidered in the equation. They still excrete.

[daytonians]

All I'm trying to say is that, the more you feed, the more you need to remove from the water by filtration. Whether it be from a skimmer or other means.

Everything that goes into the water must come out somehow.

[douggiestyle]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9308118#post9308118 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by daytonians
All I'm trying to say is that, the more you feed, the more you need to remove from the water by filtration. Whether it be from a skimmer or other means.

Everything that goes into the water must come out somehow.

all right now, im just being silly.

everything does not necessarily need to come out. you could reach a point of ecological homeostasis. i do have a small pond that has basicaly reach this point. i remove leaves that blow in it and prune the plants but only for astetic reasons. and i do not feed the fish. so ecological homeostasis.

[daytonians]

The pond is like a tank. Nutrients have to come out of the water or it will turn toxic. ( Granted, with a pond the inhabitants are used to living in a very dirty environment). With a pond most nutrients are removed through algae growth, and the very deep mud bed at the bottom. The same way a macro-algae refugium, DSB and live rock works for a reef tank.

Biological filtration is still filtration. Turning pollutants into harmless nitrogen gas.

[douggiestyle]

anyways back to joshs problem. with a 150g and only two fish, assuming that you are not over feeding, there may not be enough nutrients for the skimmer to export.

not something that ive tested but been told by the guys at aquac and from my observations appears to be correct.

[daytonians]

Yeah, there should not be much to export if feeding properly. I would suggest reading Calfo's article of skimming. It's really good info. You should be able to find it by searching.

[douggiestyle]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9308479#post9308479 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by daytonians
The pond is like a tank. Nutrients have to come out of the water or it will turn toxic. ( Granted, with a pond the inhabitants are used to living in a very dirty environment). With a pond most nutrients are removed through algae growth, and the very deep mud bed at the bottom. The same way a macro-algae refugium, DSB and live rock works for a reef tank.

Biological filtration is still filtration. Turning pollutants into harmless nitrogen gas.

they are removed, by the plants that live in it. also i do not feed. so nothing is really being added either. just water and air. also keep in mind its only about 70-80 gallons and i only have 3 fish in it. yes its small, and yes i have pond envy. it was where it was placed that dictated size.

seeing that i am adding nothing and removing nothing it has reached a point close to homeostasis. ill call it the bio pond.
the first year was tough. i was always changing the water running a uv filter. but after the first winter, the plants came in real strong. and the thing just took off running. the fish are always fat, but grow slow. grew maybe 1/2" in 3 years. the water is always clear. i have a mag 7 that circulates the water into a bog
that is chock full of bog plants and grasses. thinking of adding in a pitcher plant. i hope the bog is not too rich.

this could be reached in a reef tank. 2 or 3 small fish (an herbivore and a carnivore) a large enough tank. some coral. a few inverts. add in enough nutients to get it going. dont filter, dont feed. the circle of life.

[Joshsmit56001]

I only feed every other day and just a small pinch. Also the water level is at he top of the cone part about 5" below the top of the neck

[tgunn]

I'm running a beastly three pump recirculating skimmer on my 140:
http://www.egunn.com/gallery2/d/6567-2/DSCN4515.JPG

I bought it used of a reefer who was running it on a 300g tank HEAVILY stocked. He was getting about 5g of skimmate a week.

I have a comparatively low bioload; 3 tangs, 2 clowns and a couple chromis. I get NOWHERE near the skimmate he did. Around feeding time it pulls out the gunk like mad, but the rest of the time there's not much left in the water to pull out.

Tyler