How high to set the riser pipe on my skimmer?

[dnyce]

I have a reef Octopus NW-150 needle wheel skimmer sitting in a rubbermaid with live rock. I had the rock (30lbs) for about two weeks sitting in 10 gals. of saltwater and a Mag 9.5 pump. The rock was cured when I bought it and I have been topping off about 1 - 2 gals of fresh water every two days. The water was getting real dirty so I broke out the skimmer, within 15 minutes I had a cup full of dirty water, not too stink. Ten minutes later I had another cup full and I 'm on my third cup full. My question is should the cup be filling up this fast? Should I adjust the pipe so that the bubbles are barely overflowing into the cup and now I am skimming at a slower rate which I assume is the meaning of dry - skimming? Or just keep skimming it wet and emptying the cups? But at this rate I will be needing to add more water soon? I have 5 gals. of clean saltwater on standby, but I maybe I should skim out the gunk first before doing a 50% water change.
I appreciate all replies. I figured let me practice with the rock first and not the fish

 

[home wrecker]

your skimming too wet ...u might want to get a valve to adjust the amount of air goin into it so it doesn't skim that wet

 

[fritz]

The bubbles in pic four are WAY too high, you want those to be halfway up the riser tube. The bubbles will collect skimmate and slowly push it the other halfway up and over the top into the cup. Keeping your bubbles (commonly referred to as "water level") at the top of the riser tube will produce the wettest skimmate possible. The inverse, keeping your water level at the bottom of the riser tube (right where the collection cup attaches) will give you a very dry skimmate. Keeping the water level mid way up the tube will give you a nice middle ground. You can then adjust it to a wetter or dryer skimmate depending on which you would prefer.

 

[jackson6745]

You're skimming very wet. Basically you're popping bubbles into your collection cup. Running the skimmer like this still removes organics and "color" from your water but you will have to watch your salinity. I like to skim wet but not that wet

 

[dnyce]

The bubbles in pic four are WAY too high, you want those to be halfway up the riser tube. The bubbles will collect skimmate and slowly push it the other halfway up and over the top into the cup. Keeping your bubbles (commonly referred to as "water level") at the top of the riser tube will produce the wettest skimmate possible. The inverse, keeping your water level at the bottom of the riser tube (right where the collection cup attaches) will give you a very dry skimmate. Keeping the water level mid way up the tube will give you a nice middle ground. You can then adjust it to a wetter or dryer skimmate depending on which you would prefer.

Okay so the riser tube you are talking about is the one inside the skimmer, not the external pipe that I use to set the bubble height. If I am understanding you correct, I adjust the external tube height to keep the internal bubble height to about midway in the tube inside the colection cup and the bubbles will push the gunk up and over the internal riser pipe and into the cup?
That is the way I've had it for the past two hours. The bubbles are not overflowing into the cup, they are about 1-1 1/2 inches from the top of the inside pipe and there is very little skimmate in the cup. So even though the water is not 100% clear, it is clearer than when I started. Am I to assume that this is correct?

 

[fritz]

YOu are 100% correct.
You're not going to see that skimmer work that fast (1.5 hours). Skimmers have a natural break in period. Assuming that your skimmer is already a few days broken in, it will take a day or two to pull skimmate from there. It's a slow process, that builds layer upon layer upon layer in order to "yurtle the turtle" it's way over the top and into the collection cup. Adjust that external pipe just like you said so that the water level is half way up the riser tube inside your collection cup and then give it a few days. You'll see gunk on the tube and in the cup.

The cloudiness of you water isn't necessarily something a skimmer will remove. It looks like sand, or the particulate that is left in the water when you wash sand. The skimmer will get some but that will settle out on its own in a few days to a week.

 

[dnyce]

Thanks a lot, you've all been a great help. The skimmer was just taken out of the box today. When I took the pictures it had been running for 15 minutes and that's how dirty the water was in the rubermaid. so I guess I'll do a 50% water change in the next day or so and just let the skimmer run. BTW my tank is not setup yet so I'm just practicing with the rock.

 

[fritz]

You're doing the right thing,
This skimmer will break in after a day or two and then start skimming. Keep us posted on the progress and happy reefing!