2nd post ! HELP WITH SKIMMER PLEASE!!!!!! PLEASEEEE!!!

Hi I posted this morning and havent gotten feedback (sorry for being so persistent I just want to be sure I am on track!)
Heres the post again!

HI AGAIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! SOOOO, thanks to EVERYONE on 3reef.com I am an expert lololol.. I went to another LFS... (tried to sell me a horseshoe crab for my 30 gallon) THANK TO YOU GUYS! I only got more CUC! THANK YOU!
I finally invested in a skimmer!!!!! However being COMPLETELY NEW to skimmers... I took some pics and have some questions about how I set it up!
I got a 65 gallon Corallife hang on skimmer.







If you notice in the picture.. there is TWO submerged units... one has foam and a box around it. Should that be COMPLETELY submerged OR out of the water... I notice its kind of flimsy and it DOES get water in it ( in the pic I am holding it up out of the water....) How should this be hanging? It is ok if it gets water in it? Whats its purpose?

Also, There is a picture of the bubbles in the skimmer cone... This is another question I have.. theres a knob that will create MORE bubbles and overflow or MUCH LESS... if you notice in the pic the bubbles are about half way through the cone? SOMETIMES they reach the top at this setting but most of the time.. they stay there... I have a drip tube incase they do... I just dont know what setting it needs to be at? I put it HALF WAY?
How do you clean this unit and how often.. it seems to take water out of my tank and into the base (see photo) Which part do I clean? (sorry for all the newbie questions...

I also got some "reef bugs" for my corals... (any opinions) (I have never seen my Brain Puff up EVER and I fed them last night and this morning he was puffy! (water parameters are perfect said LFS... still did 5 gallon water change! (do one once a weeek) My MUSHROOM IS GROWING (so happy)
ANOTHER mushroom question.... I bought one frag with three mushroom pieces.. now that they are expanding.. is there anyway to move them off the rock they are on? At all? here is there photo.

The LFS also gave me some Calcium and alk supplements for 3x a week? (thoughts)

Bonus picture of my brain coral, I had never seen it so PUFFY!

 

Looks to me like you have ti setup properly. that submerged part on the discharge side is to help eliminate microbubbles coming from the skimmer I do believe. I havent used a SS in a long time, so my mempry may be fuzzy.

one tip I do remember is to keep the air intake clean. this is the little plastic tip on the suction of the pump. if will get salt creep and you will notice a decrease in skimmer performance as it gets constricted.

 

and the question about the bubble level? (thanks for responding)

 

if you just set it up today the bubble level is going to flucuate for the next several days. Right now it looks perfect. However the skimmer is still breaking in and getting rid of all the oils...this can take up to a week sometimes. You will not see much if any waste in the cup and you will notice a wide range of flow in the cup.....sometimes it will flood the cup with pretty much clear liquid. So until you start getting nasty stuff just keep an eye on it to make sure it doesnt flood out. Once you start to get nasty stuff then try to get the bubbles to right there. You can increase the bubble height if you want more watery waste, or decrease it if you want a dryer skimmate. I try to keep mine right in the middle though!

 

for mushrooms, you can take a scalple and just go underneath the mushroom and "pop" it off. Attaching is something more complicated....you will not be able to glue it to the rock as it will just slime up...but what you can do is loosely attach a rubberband around the mushroom going over the mouth to attach it. I dont have much luck with that so I get bridal mesh and cover the mushroom and the rock and rubberband the mesh to the rock. Leave it there for a couple weeks. Mushrooms will grow and multiply in your tank IMO pretty fast.

 

i have the same type skimmere but a 125just watch the place just under the cup where you see the water level. turn knob until you see about a 1/4 of an inch on water ;ever. even wetter if you can with out losing good water. it is a good skimmer I got mine used here about a year and a half ago from bogie and it still workin great
good luck

 

Thank you! What about cleaning? Which part needs to be cleaned? does the box need to be fully submerged?

Does anyone know about the reef bugs?

What about the Calcium supplements? They 3x a week for calcium and alk... Is this right?

 

You test for calcium. when it is below 420ppm put in additives. After you learn how much calcium your sps lps and so on uses then you can properly adjust a constant drip two part solution preferebly. I some times clean the whole skimmer but ussually just the cup part of the skimmer and as important clean the pump. I only clean the upper and pump monthly.the box does not have to be fully submerged. If you start to notice micro bubbles in th etank then you cAN adjust the box to begin with. good luck

 

I used your photos.

Keep this clean from salt creep. if you notice a decrease in skimmer output, check here first. I bent a prong on one of those cheap restraunt forks that worked perfectly for cleaning this out.



Clean this regularly. I just rinse mine (different skimmer but same general part) and rub it down with my fingers then replace it back on the skimmer. dont clean it every time it gets dirty, just regularly per the owners manual. I do mine every 2-3 weeks cause I am dosing vodka and it gets really funky... clean the entire pump every 6 months or so and it will last forever.




Dont supplement anything unless you can test for it to tell how much your system uses. Invest in a good CA test kit and monitor your levels regularly. I like my CA close to 450. once y ou know what your system uses, then you can develop a dosing regimen for it so you dont over do things and end up with a disaster (snowstorm as CA can do) also, keeping your KH (carbonate Hardness) high will aid in Calcium absorbtion and overall PH stability.

 

Thank you SOOO MUCH!