I dont quite get skimmers....

Hey guys,

I have a hydor performer 450 skimmer on my 55g. I have set it up and its been going for 2 days.

I would just like to know where the skimming "level" should be located. At the start I had it regularly flowing into the skimmer cup and then it would just go down to a bucket and it would just be like taking water from the tank for no reason. Now I have it below the skimmer cup so it doesnt over flow, but now how is the "skimmate" stuff going get into the cup?

hahah Im really confused lol. The instructions dont give much help either. Should it be flowing into the cup? Or maybe really slowly? I have zero idea haha.

ANY help would be much appreciated

Cheers
Ryan

 

Get an image up Ryan, as that will help us with positional comments

basically
air bubbles build up, and a foam is created , as more bubbles build up behind them, this foam gets pushed up to the top of the skimmer, and overflow into the cup

the more air surface you have between top of water and top edge of overflow, the drier the skimmate will be, it will take a bit longer for the foam to build up, and be forced up and over the edge

the closer you have the top of the overflow to the water surface the wetter the skimmate will be, taking less effort to reach the top of the overflow before falling into the cup

you do not want clear water being collected in your skimmer cup, so raising it was a good idea

with a skimmer set high, it may take longer for the foam to build up enough and carry on over into the cup, but it will also mean you have a high ratio of waste to water

Steve

 

Thanks steve, I will put a picture up in the morning when my lights come back on

 

I put arrows where the top and the bottom is because its abit hard to see with the condensation.

Is that where abouts it would be? Is this wet or dry skimming?

 

Looks like the arrows are pointing to areas of the riser tube inside the skimmer cup

that level seems a bit high to me , and you will wet skim, and probably end up with very lightly colored water

you may need to either
raise your skimmer body, so that the water level sits lower
or , increase the air to water mix, so that there is more air, less water and the level will drop

Steve

 

i normally run my skimmer so the top of the foam is even with the bottom of the collection cup

 

Same here or just slightly above. You don't want to generate a liquid flow into the cup. Let the foam do it's job.

 

Thanks guys, im really happy with my skimmer level at the moment. Its actually started skimming really well. . Probably abit more on the wetter side though.

 

One thing to remember the drier the skimmate the more sludge you will get in the neck and the more often you need to clean the collection cup and neck.

I have to clean mine 3-4x a week but my skimmer is undersized for my bioload

 

if it is a new skimmer, you are going to have fluctuations for a week or so.........just normal process of the oils etc in the skimmer. As said above, i try to keep my bubbles right at the bottom of the skimmate cup. Just keep an eye on it and make slow adjustments