Skimmer bubble level

I have a Weirpro 2011 venturi skimmer. This is a new set-up, about 3 weeks old, so noting as yet to skim. However, I am unsure of how high the bubbles should be, does this look about right, or should it be higher?

http://flic.kr/p/aeSWnK

 

It does not look like it need to be higher IMO mabbus

the quality of your skimmate once it starts producing will define what adjustments you need to make
if you get what looks like almost clear saltwater in the cup, then the water level is to high and your skimming to wet

 

Thanks for reply Steve,

I left it like that for most of the day and overnight, when I came down this morning, the cup was full of clear water and overflowing. It seems there is no happy medium. As I said I watched it for the entire day, and it sat around the same level as the picture, then for some reason it just overflows.

I have no idea if temperature would effect it. But I am currently living in Borneo. It is very humid here and I have the aircon on throughout the day, then switch it off at night when I go to bed.

I have switched the aircon off today to settle it down, and the chiller seems to kick in every hour or so. Like I said, not sure if temp would have an effect.

The GPH for the skimmer is 300GPH and the pump I am using is 385GPH. It does seem to create a lot of bubbles, but instead of the large bubbles, they seem condensed and obviously carry a lot of water.

I have the valve on the skimmer shut off to about 50%, and I tried adding an air pump to the venture, but that made it worse dropping the bubble level.

Do you think I need a stronger pump maybe?

Thanks again

 

Hi mabbus

I do not believe temp will have had any effect on it

is it a internal sump skimmer? as in its sat in water in your sump
most skimmers are designed to be placed in water 8 - 10 inches deep
so if your skimmer is in deeper water than that , then it may result in easy overflow of clear water into cup
to cure this issue , many people make a stand of egg crate for their sumps and then place the skimmer on top of that so its at correct level

if the skimmer is to shallow , what happens then is you need to increase the water to air ratio in order to fill the body up, which again can result in overflows of more or less salt water into the cup

often new skimmers do have oils and residue on them that does create excessive foaming, so it could be set in correct depth, with a workable air to water ratio, but still overflow for 2 or 3 days until these oils are gone

 

Thanks again Steve. The skimmer is a Weirpro 2011 (Brunei is a very small country and I have very little choice, I only have one LPS in the country that sells marine fish)

It is a hang on the back skimmer, it also has a waterline marker to indicate max depth should you put it in a sump. So I'm guessing it is both internal and external. I did originally have it sat in the sump at a depth of about 9" (about 2" below the max depth line) I then read somewhere about somebody with a similar problem, that the cup should be raised, so I sat it on the edge of the sump, so the bottom 4-5" was submerged.

I have had it running for 2-3 weeks now, so I would have thought it would have had it's breaking in point.

Do you think I should try it in the water again then?

Thanks
Peter

 

If it where me, Peter
I would leave it as a HOB for now, as I seen a few of the Weipro skimmers in action here and they seem to function OK as HOB units IME

I would adjust the water/ air valve so that the water level, finishes just under the start of the cup and then leave it for a couple of days like that
looking at the image on Flickr again I feel your water level inside the skimmer was to high

 

I have set the bubbles to the start of the cup as you suggested.

Can I ask how it works, does the DOC collect at the surface of the bubbles and eventually get pushed up into the cup? In other words does it mean the gunk has to be there to form the bubbles that get pushed up. It's just as it is at the moment it looks like it will never reach the top.

That might be my misconception. If it takes the DOC to form the larger bubbles, it might be I'm being to impatient. I thought the bubble had to be halfway to the top of the cup to work.

If what I am saying makes sense

Thanks again

 

what happens is
the protein based waste adheres to the tiny bubbles created in the body via surface tensions
these bubbles become a bit thicker due to the added materials and do not collapse so easily
so bubbles form underneath bubbles, pushing them up the tube, into the cone section and then to the top of the cup
pressure builds up, due to the bubbles underneath pushing on the ones at the top, and the ones at the top burst, carrying the protein laden water down into the cup

if you have the water level to high, then you get more water to waste and as such very wet skimmate or in some case mainly water

to low, and the bubbles may collapse before they reach the top of the riser

Steve

 

OK update. Came down this morning and bubble level still low and nothing in the cup.

Where the overflow pipe comes into the sump there is quite a release of bubbles, so I added a PVC 90 deg and a short piece of straight, then positioned the pipe to the front of the pump into the skimmer.

I did this for two reasons, one to make sure the water that was coming from the display tank was taken stright into the skimmer and secondly, I was hoping that some of the bubbles would be drawn into the pump and increase the air intake of the skimmer.

Well it certainly seems to have made a difference, the bubbles now go up to the top of the cup, but they are actual bubbles (like the sort on the surface of a bubble bath) not the micro bubbles that seemed to contain water. When it touches the top very little goes into the cup, but then these are pure white bubbles, not the skimate I would expect. But the I have only two fish and they have only been in for 3 days.

It certainly seems more promising then before. As I said I have no idea what I am doing as this is the first time I have used a skimmer, but from research it seems that the venturi need more air to improve the bubble consistency. And by placing the overflow bubbles in front of the pump, seems to have done that.

Time will tell, just need some gunk now