protein skimmer

[mindistortionx]

where should the bubbles be in the protein skimmer? someone told me in the middle of the neck.....is that the neck in the collection cup? my coralife 220 is producing too many micro bubbles in the tank I think.

[trinitower]

I dont have the Coralife skimmer but usually it takes a couple of days sometimes a week or two for the skimmer to break in. After a break in period you should see the bubbles diminish and the skimmate begin to turn dark and creamy (YUM!).

Eric.

[mindistortionx]

what happens durring the break in period? how high should the bubbles be in the collection cup (neck part)?

[Aquarist007]

that's a matter of preference--if you have a lot of bubbles entering the cup then you get a wet skimmate and you will have to make sure you can drain it safely into an overflow container.
less bubbles will result in a thicker skimmate.
Alot of the tanks gas exchange comes through the skimmer so if you for eg have a low pH due to high carbon dioxide levels then cranking up the bubbles has the potential to help raise the pH--just one example

[jbarone]

I assume that you have your CSS 220 in the tank? If that's the case you will never get rid of the micro bubbles. I had mine in the tank for 4 months before setting up a sump. I had bubbles the whole time. I can only suggest you remove the filter material from the basket and hang a felt filter sock inside it. This will rid the bubbles but the sock will need to be changed every day or every other depending on the tanks load. It will begin to overflow the sock when it's time to be changed.

Also, if you set the basket height above the waterline like the directions say to, and set the pump height correctly below the waterline the skimmer will work very well.

[jbarone]

Oh... I set my skimmer at about 2" up the neck. I get wet thick skimmate.

[owenb01]

I've got a CSS 220, here's what I do. Yes it will take some time to break in; while it is breaking in set the bubbles to about an inch into the riser inside the collection cup. Once you start to see foam in the collection cup, it is broken in and you can decide if you want to skim wet or dry. Leave it at about one inch for pretty dry skimmate, about five for wet. I like mine at somewhere around three, but I adjust my skimmer a lot (that seems to be necessary for CSS's to work effectively. If you have fluctations in water level, it will require a lot of adjustment. Some foods make it go nuts, as well. As for the bubbles, get some blue filter floss and replace whatever you have in the bottom of the return box, also check the air bleed on the return tube (I've found that if you pull the fluffy off of a q-tip, the stick fits perfectly down in that hole, this is also true for the air silencer). Other than that, it just took time for mine to quit spitting bubbles; about four months, I think.