Protein skimming and new tank

[cobra617]

Hi all,
I am 2 weeks into cycling my 50 gallon (36") tank. I have 3 damsels in there and about 10 lbs of cured live rock. (It was at an LFS....it had been there for months and they had fish in the same tank) I also have 20lbs of sand that claims to be sealed and contain bacteria. (Similar to arag-alive). I also had used Seachem Stability which claims to have beneficial bacteria.

Anyways I have an AquaC Remora. 2 weeks in and it isn't pulling any dark skim out. The only thing that foams out is clear liquid.
I am guessing that my bio-load is pretty light.
Should I be seeing dark skim yet?

Watching my test levels, it seems that my ammonia peaked at .50 and it is now 0. My nitrites are .125 (not really 0 but not really .25). My nitrates are 10-15.

Thanks.

[Hal]

It saddens me to hear that you used fish to cycle your tank. An ammonia level of .50 is not pleasant for the fish, and there are so many other good ways to cycle a tank, including just throwing in a piece of raw shrimp. Please don't do it again. :sad2:

[cobra617]

Thanks for the help.

[crvz]

if you have ammonia in the tank, then it's credible that your skimmer should be producing some junk. I'd check it out a little and make certain it is performing properly.

[cobra617]

if you have ammonia in the tank, then it's credible that your skimmer should be producing some junk. I'd check it out a little and make certain it is performing properly.

Thanks. My ammonia is currently 0. It was at .25 one day, barely touched .50 for half a day (the following day) and then back to 0.

[cobra617]

Hi all,
Checking back in. I am still not pulling anything out. I am wondering if this skimmer is working properly (BTW...I purchased it used from craigslist).

My Ammonia and nitrites are 0. My nitrates are 7.5.

Sometimes I will get foaming up to the top of the collection cup. It is still clear though. Mostly the bubble level is at the bottom or about midway between the bottom and top of the collection cup.(The collection cup is at the lowest setting). I know that the there is a little set screw on the intake pipe. I pulled that out and didn't see any blockage. I don't have the brush that is used to clean it out so I only visually inspected (with a flashlight)

Since the Remora doesn't have any moving parts (or does it?), I am going to guess that it is ok. Could there be something wrong with the pump? (If so, no big deal. That pump is under $30) Or am I over analyzing since I have very little bio-load I shouldn't expect much skimming?


I might end up moving this skimmer to my 20G quarantine tank. I found a Remora Pro that I may pickup. It has the mag drive 3. Hopefully that isn't too loud. (This tank is in my bedroom) At the moment I can't even hear the 1200 from my bed.

Thanks

[Chris Atkinson]

You may want to check the intake of your pump to make sure it's not obstructed. I have a reef octopus in-sump skimmer. I've learned that when I change my filter sock, if I accidentally bump my skimmer and get the intake of the pump touching the side of my sump, it will obstruct flow and really goof up the performance of the skimmer. If I nudge it just a hair out, to allow for adequate flow, it runs well.

Good luck!

[Slim_jim989]

Well if you only have those two fish( if there still alive) and depending on how much you feed you have a way to light bioload to even pull anything out yet thats why its all clear. At least its not overflowing in the collection cup. tell us some more about your tank and what your stock list is.

[baondayko]

+1 for slim jim. If you have good bubbles halfway up the neck of the remora and are not overflowing, then give it time.

[cobra617]

Well if you only have those two fish( if there still alive) and depending on how much you feed you have a way to light bioload to even pull anything out yet thats why its all clear. At least its not overflowing in the collection cup. tell us some more about your tank and what your stock list is.

Thanks so far for the advice.
I have a 50 gallon tank. It appears to have completed its cycle for the current bio-load. I have 3 damsels (actually now 2....I had to remove the 3 stripe damsel over the weekend because it was getting really beat up by the blue devil) which have been in the tank for 3 weeks.
I added 2 peppermint shrimp over the weekend. I also have 13 pounds of cured live rock. (plan on eventually getting to 50-75lbs)