Another saltwater question

[fishykisses]

I just got my coralife 65 skimmer and there seems to be a lot of micro bubbles in the tank. Is this ok? or should I reposition my powerhead and see if that helps?
Also how far up the inside tube should the bubbles come up in the skimmer.
Oh boy do I feel dumb...how long will it take to get the sw lingo down?!

[CisBackA]

About a month...


lol

Microbubbles never hurt anyone, they just look gross and can trap air under things (like big plated corals and this is a bad thing) but not much of a concern.
build a bubble trap - or wait it out, sometimes skimmers like to make lots of bubbles when first added to the tank (dont ask why i dont know)

the bubbles should come all the way up, sometimes they dont - my skimmer if i feed heavy it will have lots of bubbles [skimmate] going into the collection cup, other times it doesnt skim anything at all (good thing)
Sometimes people run them on timers because of this - depends on the tank.

[Raf]

sorry to tell you but Coralife skimmers are notorious for dumping bubbles back into the tank....They made that bubble trap box thing but it still doesn't help much.

Sometimes I add some floss to the box in addition to the foam to help minimize the bubbles, just make sure you don't back up the outflow doing this...

As for bubble height, initially, I would say around the base of the neck where the tightening mechanism is...

[fishykisses]

i have to say the instructions really suck...i couldn't make heads or tails of it for the longest time - it came with parts that it didn't explain in the instruction but showed on the box etc.
Plus it didn't give detailed instructions on how to use it properly. I'm gonna go to my LFS and see one in use to see physically what it's supposed to look like. It didn't even give instructions on how to empty the cup. still haven't figured that out without taking the entire skimmer off or dumping all the water on the floor. i had to empty it twice so i used a syphon...i don't think that's how you're supposed to do it.

[pinkreef]

A syphon works untill you get it going at the rate you want.
I went to see other ones at the store working so i could see
how it looks when its going right.
Each brand is a little different. Ps dont have a powerhead pointed
directly at it or you will get more bubbles around.
If you use epoxy to attach corals your skimmer will run wet and
produce microbubbles so i just do one or two corals at a time
hope this helps

[Raf]

i have to say the instructions really suck...i couldn't make heads or tails of it for the longest time - it came with parts that it didn't explain in the instruction but showed on the box etc.
Plus it didn't give detailed instructions on how to use it properly. I'm gonna go to my LFS and see one in use to see physically what it's supposed to look like. It didn't even give instructions on how to empty the cup. still haven't figured that out without taking the entire skimmer off or dumping all the water on the floor. i had to empty it twice so i used a syphon...i don't think that's how you're supposed to do it.

To take off the cup, unscrew the red ring that is around the neck of the skimmer cup. There is an o-ring in there too so make sure you don't loose that. Some models also have a drain in the bottom of the cup so you can attach a hose and drain the cup easy without removing the cup or drain it to a larger reservoir.

[CisBackA]

To take off the cup, unscrew the red ring that is around the neck of the skimmer cup. There is an o-ring in there too so make sure you don't loose that. Some models also have a drain in the bottom of the cup so you can attach a hose and drain the cup easy without removing the cup or drain it to a larger reservoir.

but should still take the time to clean it once a week

[Raf]

ah yes good point, as build up of sludge in the neck affects performance.

[babyreef]

Skimmers are sensitive to the level they sit at, buy this I mean skimmer level related to tank water level. This greatly affects performance. All skimmers take a week to break in. I own a Coral Life 65G and can tell you I wasted $130 of hard earned money. They work better IN SUMP than HOB.

Suggestion: Increase or decrease the level at which the skimmer sits in relation to the water level in your tank or sump. For the Coral Life 65g, 6-7 inches is prime. This is why it does not make a good HOB skimmer. IMO poor design.

[fishykisses]

i got mine working well now - it took some fiddling to get it at the right spot and levels and such but after about 72 hours it was working well. I have no complaints other than the instructions and i think if i had soaked the sponge ahead of time i wouldn't have had as many micro bubbles.