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jasimek
12/07/2011, 04:31 PM
I've had my skimmer running for over a week now. It is in the middle section of my sump where the drain line goes into a filter sock. I can't seem to keep a consistent skim. I will have the bubbles up to the top of the collection cup where it starts to spill over and then when I come back to it later the water level is way low with no skim going on at all. Anyone have pictures of their setup, how the skim looks as it goes into the collection cup to compare against mine and where they have it placed in their sumps. It's a reef octopus classic skimmer 150. I have roughly a 30 gallon sump. Water level is just shy of 8 inches

reeftivo
12/07/2011, 05:02 PM
many variables!

do you have an ato (auto to off)?

are you using new filters ocks?

is the intake of the skimmer in a turbulent area near the drain?

1 week is not long at all.

The skimmer will need to get slimmed up (coated) before it can generate consistant foam and if it is constantly tweaked it will set back the break in each time an adjustment is made.

I would suggest to open the wedge pipe all the way (even if the water line is low in the body) and let it run like that with no tweaks for a couple days. You should get a foam head after a while and after it settles in you can slowly close the wedge pipe a little each day and monitor after each adjustment. Also as you may know, fresh filter socks that have been placed will many times create overfoaming and/or surges in bubble production as well as an inconsistant water level if you don't run an ato.

Tivo

jasimek
12/07/2011, 07:28 PM
I do have an ATO. Filter socks are fairly new but have started to accumulate some sediment on them. I will try again to let it run itself wide open.