new skimmer question

[mr_X]

i just bought this skimmer and fired it up and i have emptied the cup 2 times in about an hour. is this normal? this is the first skimmer this young tank has seen.
and ..is the color and consistancy of the fluid in the cup normal?
it's very thin, and smells like a rotting halibut 8O
i assumed it would be thick like a milkshake and darker.....

 

[trido]

What kind of skimmer is it? It is normal for a skimmer to do this if not adjusted right. Especially when they are new, or freshly cleaned. You need to adjust the water lower in the throat somehow.

 

[dnorton1978]

Agreed. You need to play with it a little. Adjust the air flow as well. It will take some adjustments, and you will know when you have it right.

 

[mr_X]

it's a berlin turbo HO (hang outside) but i put it in-sump because i didn't want to come home someday and find that it overflowed stinky dead fish juice on the carpet.
it's not new, and it didn't look freshly cleaned either. salt all over it....
i didn't see any adjustments....i'll take another look.

 

[shavo]

awesome you got a skimmer!!! there should be adjustments for the air flow and bubble stuff.
usually it is greenish in color, if there is anything in the tank chemically it will pull it out immediately, when i get a new fish i put stress coat in the water and if my skimmer is running it pulls it out immediately and the color isn't green, but on normal operation the skimmer overflow is greenish.

you haven't ran one before and when i turned mine on for the first time it worked overtime also, it will take a little bit but it will slow down after it catches up with the tank. you will get on a schedule with it after it settles down. run it untill it is not pulling anything out anymore if you can then you should be good. crazy how much it pulls out at first huh?

dude your surpassing me at a rapid pace, i don't like this I can't afford to keep up.

 

[shavo]

yo one more thing, your tank looks like a crazy science project,
I give you props for doing things the way you do
your a trailblazer

 

[mr_X]

i can't afford it either!
believe me. :roll:

 

[shavo]

hey did it settle down yet or is it still pulling 2 cups an hour?

 

[mr_X]

i am running it for about an hour a day or so. this is after an hour.....

 

[dnorton1978]

It looks like fresh pee.

Did you ever find a way to make adjustments to it?

 

[mr_X]

i don't see any adjustments.
this stuff smells like a tuna that's been in my trunk for 3 days in 100 degree weather. :?

 

[mr_X]

lol..i found adjustments. ALSO...the owners manual, which i looked up online (shoulda did that first) says:
During approximately the first three daysafter installation, the skimmer will remove alot of relatively light colored waste. as the skimmer cleans up your tank, less, but more concentrated material will be skimmed off. the daily amount will generally stabilize, unless more fish are added or a water change is made.

 

[shavo]

Hey doni, you going to sample it to make sure it is fresh? it doesn't look so fresh to me!

 

[dnorton1978]

Hey doni, you going to sample it to make sure it is fresh? it doesn't look so fresh to me!

Ha ha Chris. I'll leave that to you :wink:

 

[shavo]

Well I do live a little closer to doug than you! But he says it smells like rotten tuna!!! What the hell is in his water?

 

[tazdevil]

What the hell is in his water

Sounds like skimmate to me. Just wait a little, this being a new skimmer, you don't want to adjust it until it has had a good chance to settle on its own. I had an aquac-ev120 do the same thing for 2 weeks after it broke in, then it settled down and produced the rather nicely brown tinged drier skimmate, that only smelled worse (good thing the waste chamber had a carbon air filter on it!).