Skimmer Question, little skimate

[pledosophy]

So my PCI RPS 1000 recirculating skimmer is pulling next to nothing. I haven't emptied the thing in a month and there is less the 3/4" of skimate in the cup.

 

I feed an O.K. amount (mysis, carnivore cusine, cycopleeze, nori, brine). My nitrates are zero, no nuisance algae to complain of so really I have no problem I would just like to see some skimate for the investment.

 

I'm kinda new to the skimmer scene, ran tanks for the first 7 years without one. Decided to get one when I had a nitrate problem (10ish). It skimmed some stuff for a bit and then stopped. Nitrates are gone now, have been for awhile. I do 30% water changes weekly.

 

I have done all the stuff to help I know how to do, which is little. I did some research and found out that cleaning the neck to often could be bad so I stopped cleaning it weekly. I adjusted the water flow through it, both more flow and less flow, still no skimate.

 

I'm growing a good amount of algae in the refugium. My two sump monsters (brittle stars) have gotten huge so there is some food in there they are finding. The tank runs through the refugium and then into the return pump which is split to feed the skimmer.

 

The thing is plugged in, I can hear it, there are tons of bubbles.

 

Any other advice. If I can't get this thing to work soon you'll find it in the classified section for sale or for trade for acans or a nice gorg. So posting advice or pics to trade would be cool. Everything I have researched about this skimmer says it's a great skimmer and everyone is so happy with it, so . . . it's gotta be something stupid i'm doing, very likely.

 

Thanks to you all. I know if there is an answer I'll find it here.

[kriswaters]

I did a brief search, just to get a look at what we are dealing with. For id purposes only:

 

http://amekaaquatics.com/search.html?productcategory_id=24

 

Where is the bubble column? Is it in the neck of the collection cup (wet skimming vs. dry skimming)? Have you tried adjusting this? My skimmer pulled out tons of yuk in the first 24 hours it was plugged in. It could also be that yours needs some "break in" time. Keep fiddling with it and hopefully you can get it to start pulling skimmate. I adjust mine frequently during the week...lower after water changes...higher towards the end of the WC cycle.

 

Kris

[andy]

30% weekly water changes are going to put a dent in the amount of skimmate you produce; in a lot of ways, a skimmer is just a replacement for regular water changes. How large is your tank? What's the bio-load like?

[chewie]

Clean the cup, and set the bubble breakpoint about 2-3" from the top of the neck.

 

CLean the cup every 7-10 days for best performance.

[Nyles]

Also keep in mind where the air is mixed with the water (venturi) salt creep will start to creep into the airline section. you need to clean this routinely or you will no long pull thick skinmate, I just jam a toothpick in there and clean it well, you should notice the skimmer swelling with foam if you have not cleaned lately.

[CCR]

There is a huge misconception about skimmers. They don’t always skim, and that’s ok. If there is nothing there, then there’s nothing there. Don’t blame the skimmer. Be happy your system is in good shape. Next time you’re at the Pharmacy get a medicine squirter that they have for kid’s liquid meds. Suck up some hot water in it and inject it in the air hose on the skimmer, This will clean out any dust, lint in the air hose that get’s sucked in and also clean out the salt. I like to have the bubble break in the middle of the cup neck. That way if something does wrong it can take it out right away. You should keep the neck clean. I have the 1000, 2000, and 3000. Great skimmers.

[vanz]

Must be the water changes.

 

I rarely feed my tank (once a week or two), and only have 1 fish, but pull really thick stinky skimmate. Not sure how my system is producing that much crap. I also only do 1 10% water change per month.

[pledosophy]

Also keep in mind where the air is mixed with the water (venturi) salt creep will start to creep into the airline section. you need to clean this routinely or you will no long pull thick skinmate' date=' I just jam a toothpick in there and clean it well, you should notice the skimmer swelling with foam if you have not cleaned lately.[/quote']

 

Seems this was my problem. As soon as I cleaned it the bubble column of the skimmer tured to a much thicker white. I guess I wasn't getting any air through there. Thanks a ton to everyone for the time and help.

[Nyles]

Awesome, as posted previously you can clean it to by squirting RO water into inlet now and then, it don't work well for me lately but when I did it once a week it worked great. Seems to stay clean longer if you shut down your skimmer during feeding as the water goes in there, however I dont shut of skimmer to feed since skimmer is in another room from fishtank.

[pledosophy]

Funny I always shut off the skimmer during feeding. I trun ff my return pump so the food stays in the tank and the skimmer is fed via return pump so it's automatic.

 

I did the cleaning with water thing by using a syringe from my Ca test kit. %t's working great now but if the problem persists I'll just take it off and clean it.

 

Thanks again for the help. I knew it was some stupid mistake on my part.

[kriswaters]

Mistakes are only stupid if the same one occurs more than once! Otherwise it is a learning process!~ I take the air tube off and run it through water about once a month...good catch Nyles! I recently had to replace the "O" ring as well. It had already "degraded" (amazing what saltwater tends to degrade) a bit and was causing a leak. This limited the skimming capabilies extremly! I know now to keep it lubed (non-petrol based lubed suited for this application).

 

Kris