Please help my 7 year old get his new tank right....

Hello everyone, my son has been asking for a salt water tank for a few years now and magically this xmas he got it. We are both very new at this but we've been taking it slow and have gotten some great help from a patient salesperson at Petco. We've cycled the tank, we have live rock, and recently hooked up the Bak-Pak protein skimmer with bio filter. Only thing is I don't know how to use this skimmer correctly. It says to adjust it to the right level but it never says what the right level is... Is it supposed to fill up in bubbles in the back chamber and blow tons of tiny bubbles into the tank? Is that how this thing is supposed to work

 

It will do that until the skimmer is broken it. It can take 2 to 4 weeks to settle down.

You raise or lower the skimmer cup using the o-ring to keep it at the level you want. This controls how much skim is collected.

 

+1 once you figure out how to adjust it, you want it to skim a thicker darker skimmate, as this is more effective the wet thin skim.

 

Not really, thin skim gets more out of solution and into the cup, thick skim removes less water but the bubbles tend to break before getting to the cup more often meaning less is pulled out.

 

post a picture of your setup..love to see it...then maybe it could be determined if you do indeed have any obvious or otherwise improper setup conditions....then go from there. : )

 

thank you for your comments but we are both very new at this and barely understand what your talking about 'skimmate'... I'm going to try and download pic's right now - - I'd love some more help. My son is so anxious about getting this tank right and I don't want to give up....

 

We posted 2 pictures under photo's - they are called Bak-Pak Protein skimmers and are located under skimmers in photo's. Please help....

 

We posted 2 pictures under photo's - they are called Bak-Pak Protein skimmers and are located under skimmers in photo's. Please help....

 

I have the same skimmer. It will take about 3 or 4 days to "break in" and stop returning micro-bubbles back into the tank. I have the bottom of the collection funnel (not the collection cup part) about 1/4 to 1/2 inch below the water line, this gives me the really nasty think green skimmate. Also CPR has great customer support.

 

Skimmate is the stuff that the skimmer pulls out of the water.It smells really bad but this is a good thing as it rids your tank of excess nutrients keeping your water cleaner. If this is a new tank it may not produce right away. You will quickly figure out your skimmers sweet spot(the water level that produces the best skimmate). If the skimmate is dry and dark it means you have the water level a little lower.Wet and lighter(like tea) and the water level is higher. I like to produce dry and dark in my tank. If you notice your tank getting dirty you can always raise the water level in your skimmer a little higher. Good luck. We are here to help you and your son succeed. Also to start you both off on the right foot read the link below. It is not just about avoiding the Ich parasite but for Good aquarium husbandry in general.

http://www.3reef.com/forums/new-hobby/simple-rules-avoid-ich-126326.html?do=addmybest