ASM 4 should my skimmer be pulling out more?

[pumpdogs]

I have had my tank set up since april.I have a small bioload,100 hermit crabs,1 damsel,some zoo frags,xenia,mushrooms.My question my ASM 4 with a 5000 sedra does seem to pulling out that much junk.The collectin cup is not even 1/2 full after 3 weeks.I have hair alage and only been keeping the lights on for about 4-5 hours a day so It does not get out of control.Do I need to up grade to the sedra 9000?

[Blown 346]

I am not sure how many gallons your skimmer can handle, but your boiload is small and there might not be enough to pull out.

A good rule of thumb when purchasing a skimmer is to get one rated for double of what your tank size is. If you have a 100 gallon I would suggest getting a skimmer rated for a 200 gallon tank.

[melev]

What sized tank are you skimming? How much LR do you have? How long has it been set up?

[1package]

Also - how deep is the water the ASM is sitting in and how aggressively are you trying to skim - more wet or dry?

[mattls]

What size tank do you have?. I have a G3 on a 120g with a 50g sump and heavy bio load and the G3 I have to clean the collection cup every 4-5 days. I skim dry though. The G4 is very large skimmer but you have a very small bioload . One damsel in what I am assuming is a very large tank if your running a G4 is nothing. which could be why your not getting a lot of junk. But we don;t know what size tank you are using that g4 on. Also if you have such a small bio load and are also doing regular water changes that is also going to effect skimmer production. There is not much crap to take out. I keep my ASM in around 11" of water which is around the max ASM recommends.

[RichConley]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7763689#post7763689 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by pumpdogs
I have had my tank set up since april.I have a small bioload,100 hermit crabs,1 damsel,some zoo frags,xenia,mushrooms.My question my ASM 4 with a 5000 sedra does seem to pulling out that much junk.The collectin cup is not even 1/2 full after 3 weeks.I have hair alage and only been keeping the lights on for about 4-5 hours a day so It does not get out of control.Do I need to up grade to the sedra 9000?

you need to
1) raise the water level in the skimmer
2) Clean out your collection cup, and neck.

I can't go more than 3 or 4 days on any of my skimmers without cleaning the neck or I see a big decrease in efficiency. If its been 3 weeks, you're just depositing stuff in the neck.

[pumpdogs]

My tank is a 180 gal.

[mattls]

Well the G4 has an ASM rating of 400G but most retailers list for a 250G. So the G4 is perfect for that size tank. That one Damsel in a 180 is practically like having no bioload at all. There is probably nothin in the tank to really skim out. THe corals are not adding to the bioload and the crabs are nothing either. If anything your crabs are eating what ever junk is in the tank.

I would try raising the riser tube. Maybe the water level isn;t high enough in the skimmer.

Also they were a few questions asked above from replies and you didn;t answer all the questions. It makes it difficult for others to help you troubleshoot when your not giving enough info. You just answered the size tank ? only.

[pumpdogs]

I have 200 lbs of live rock,the tank has been running since april.The water level is about 8 inches,and I am trying to skim dry.My main concern is the hair alage.If the skimmer is not pulling out much how am I going to get rid of the hair alage?I am using ro/di.

[Project Reef]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7764464#post7764464 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by RichConley
you need to
1) raise the water level in the skimmer
2) Clean out your collection cup, and neck.

I can't go more than 3 or 4 days on any of my skimmers without cleaning the neck or I see a big decrease in efficiency. If its been 3 weeks, you're just depositing stuff in the neck.


Ditto.

[RichConley]

If you're trying to get rid of algae, skim wet.

[reefNetWork]

what do you guys mean when you say to skim wet or skim dry?

[pumpdogs]

Does skim wet mean raising the water level in the skimmer?

[mraafat]

When you say you clean the neck, is that the inside part of the cup? Do you scrape it dry? If i try to clean it all the built up protien just breaks off causing me to have to break in from scratch. How do you go about cleaning it?

[Project Reef]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7768033#post7768033 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by pumpdogs
Does skim wet mean raising the water level in the skimmer?

Yes, I like to bring the bubbles inside the skimmer all the way up to the top of the neck. About 1 to 1 1/2" below where it will overflow into the collection cup. Raise it up high!

[andycook]

Upgrade the pump too.

[King-Kong]

yes; skim wet. As Project Reef said, about 1.5" from the top of the cup. I skim wet and get 1/2 a cup of tea colored skimmate every day.

[aztbs]

I have a G4x on a 180. If you have 200lbs of live rock w/aglae, you should be getting some nasty stuff. The G4 has a pretty huge collection cup, so don't expect it to fill too fast. This is a week for me:
http://projectbat.com/Aquarium/skimmer.jpg

I only have about 120lbs of rock and at the time of this picture, I had 2 osc. clowns, 3 small chromis, and a royal gramma. I have the gate valve mod and am thinking about doing the recirc mod. (http://www.asmskimmer.com/modifications.htm)

My bubbles break a litte more than halfway up in the neck of the cup. The skimmer is in about 10in of water. Hope that helps.

[jay24k]

Your hair algae probably isn't caused by your nutrients/bioload, but instead by phosphates. I've seen big honkin skimmers do nothing for hair algae. You need to find out where your phosphates are coming from. Do you use RO/DI? Are you on well or city water? What type of rock do you have? Do you know if previous owners had issues? I've seen some people have rock soaked in phosphates. Then when someone else gets it and has very clean water, the phosphates leech out.

Could you possibly get a couple tangs to help on the algae control while you work on other methods? My wife's tank had a hair algae issue bad and I would dump the rocks in my 180 and my tangs would pick it clean in minutes. And I'm talking dread like hair algae.

[pumpdogs]

I have not tested but I should not have phosphates I have a 4 month old rodi unit.

[mbbuna]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7774017#post7774017 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by pumpdogs
I have not tested but I should not have phosphates I have a 4 month old rodi unit.

phosphates can be introduced in many ways. food is high on the list, also this is a new tank, you could have some still leaching out from die off in your live rock. i have a good PO4 test kit, if you want i can come by and test if for you

[pumpdogs]

Now to think of it,I have been using my pond pump to mix up my salt when I do water changes.I rinse it out but I bet this might be my problem introducing phosphates.Thanks for the offer to use your phosphate test kit dude.If I get a chance I will swing on by.