help with reef octopus nw-110 2010 model with gate valve

I have my skimmer set to a medium of wet/dry skim.

The bubble column or "head" comes up to about 1.5-2 inches below the top of the neck inside the collection cup.

You do not want it such that the bubbles are constantly at the top of the collection neck - this will give you overly wet skimmate.

 

One dumb question I had on this skimmer was that when I empty the collection cup I usually dial the valve back so the foam doesn't overflow out of the neck. But then I lose my sweet spot. Should I be unplugging the unit altogether when I empty the cup?

 

MoJoe - I wrestled with the same issue. But found that unplugging is really quite easy and when you plug back in it will typically require little to no tweaking to get it back to the "sweet spot". Now if you are cleaning less frequently (every other week or less) then you might have to adjust inbetween to get a new sweetspot. This is why I clean mine out at least once a week - sometimes twice. It only takes a few minutes and the skimmer seems to pull more, and more consistenlty with less tinkering on my part - I have no problem with that!

I also take the entire pump out and clean the whole skimmer every two or three months. I find it so much easier to do more frequent small cleanings than to recoup for 6 months worth of deposition and use or more.

Hope this makes sense to you - and I am sure these principals can be applied to just about any skimmer on just about any tank . . .

 

Yeah i too unplug the skimmer cause now that it is on the stand it would leak water out when i clean the cup. I do have a pic of the sump but it is older when the skimmer sat on the bottom and the output was below the water. The pic is in the say hello section

 

thanks for the advice guys, sorry to steer the thread on another direction.

I normally would unplug the skimmer every week when I do my water changes and clean the cup out, but as the skimmer got more broken in, I want to clean it bi-weekly. I'll def unplug it now instead of fiddling with the valve.

 

You will likely find yourself with more skimmate and happier reef!!!!

 

I will update on skimate later to see what the little turns do. I like ti keep the neck and lid clean too seems like the bubbles rise up better. I also have noticed some slime down in the skimmer nor even a month old yet i guess too soo for a vinegar bath.

 

Came over to feed and just a little more skimate from earler. I did another tiny turn and am starting off with a clean neck and lid. So i think i almost have it

 

Well not sure if i have it or not. While feeding i noticed a area obviously with no flow so i rearranged the powerheads and created a deitrus storm so the skimmer might act a little un normal for awhile it did let it try to work out on its own while the skimmer was unplugged and cleaning. Most of it settled or got filtered out so will just have to check on it tommorow. Still house sitting so much easier to check every few hours then to wait till the next day. Oh well my fault if i wouldnt have tinkered with thongs it might have been set perfect.

 

Well after cleang the lid and cup real good went over to feed and had aboutoa 1/4 inch of skimate so i think i am close. Will check later though