Reef octo 150 sss

[Ab129]

So it's taken exactly 2 months but I think my tank may finally be cycled. Nitrites finally down to 0, nitrates at 10. I have not run my skimmer during the cycle and decided to plug it in today and let it run from now on.
I built anskimmer stand out of egg crate and I am definitely within the manufacturers height requirement.
As soon as I plugged it in it immediately foamed up and overflowed.
Tried adjusting the adjusting pipe and that stopped the over flowing but something is still obviously not right. Seems as though it is running too fast and noisy but I really don't know what to expect as normal.
It came with basically no instructions. I had to find a video on YouTube just to make sure I assembled it correctly.
Any ideas?

[billdogg]

I have the same skimmer and may be getting another just like it (see my post in the lighting/equipment forum)

It may very well take a few weeks to break in. I would run it without the collection cup for a few days and then try again. For mine, the water level is up about 1/2 - 1" into the neck of the cup to produce good funky skimmate. It sits in 8" of water. Skimmers can be very finicky about the depth they sit in - just a small change there can make a big difference in how it performs.


hth

[Ab129]

So I took your advice and ran without the collection cup for 4 days. Yesterday I put the cup back on and it seems as though it is just a little better because it didn't just immediately fill up and overflow but the water level is staying about an inch below the top of the collection cup ( so the cup is almost full of water) and the foam is bubbling through the cap.
I removed the cup and have it running now without the cup.
Should I give it a few more days like this and try again or maybe alter the depth and if so, would I need to increase or decrease the depth?

[ethuman]

I have the same skimmer as well. Just let it overflow while it “breaks in”. Took mine a little over a week to stop overflowing but all tanks are different. Set the air adjustment to 5 which is the highest and check it daily. Once it stops overflowing slowly start turning it down a little day by day until you get it dialed in. Hope this helps

[Ab129]

Thanks for the reply!
I have had it on 5 and will leave it there and see where I'm at in a week.

[Ab129]

Well I have let it run and raised the height so it is now at the minimum recommended depth of 7.5 " and i am now able to put the collection cup and cover on without the cup overflowing. However, the water level inside the collection cup is staying steady at about 1-2 " below the top of the cup.
I've taken the cup off and emptied it out but when I put it back on it fills up again pretty quickly.
Not really sure what to do.
I was hoping to add my first fish two weeks ago but now I think I should probably wait to get the skimmer working properly right?

[ethuman]

Pics?

[James404]

I would raise it up some more if you're still getting a lot of water in the cup. Many times these recommendations are not accurate at all. After the break in, and you have more bioload in the tank, you can fine tune it more.

[Ab129]

I raised the skimmer by adding one more piece of egg crate to the base so now the depth is 7" (recommended depth is 7.5- 8 ").
The air pipe setting is still on 5 or max.
The water is now steady at about 3" below the top of the collection cup so by raising the skimmer 3/8" the water level in the cup dropped about 1.5- 2" so things are moving in the right direction but still too much water in the cup.
Should I try raising it more or lowering the setting on the air inlet pipe?

[ethuman]

Your below the recommended height? Raise it and set it within the recommended guidelines