could I need to raise my skimmer up a bit?

[DreamReefer]

I tried to start up my skimmer today and no matter how I adjust the gate valve, even if it's all the way open it continues to fill the cup with water and clean bubbles. I have been doing some internet searching and found some suggestions on raising the skimmer so that it is in shallower water. Could this be my problem? The water line is in between the min/max lines on the side of the skimmer but when I hold it up higher it seems to stop overflowing. Why would this be?

The skimmer is a CoralVue Reef Octopus 4. Link here: http://www.marinedepot.com/Reef_Oct...ariums_Reefs-Reef_Octopus-CV5111-FIPS-vi.html

 

[willray]

Typical....give it a few hrs.....or put your arm in the tank.

 

[vp6799]

If the skimmer is new, it needs to break in before it works normal. In the meantime, it will foam up allot and suck up some water. Just run it and keep an eye on the waste cup, empty as needed. The manual should say about how long it will take.

Sent from my EVO using Tapatalk

 

[DreamReefer]

manual was useless really... it was only one sheet with instructions on how to set it up. Thanks for the info, when I get home I will plug her in and watch it for a few hours, see if it gets any better.

 

[tran]

lose the gate val all the way to keep the water lever low.
make sure the skimmer is just about 6-7 inches under the water.

 

[DreamReefer]

so the skimmer has been on since I posted this thread and there is a thin film on the collection cup of a light brown waste but it is still overflowing with white foam even with gate valve all the way open. Could this be due to the lack of waste in my tank because it is still cycling and was just set up a week or two ago??

 

[jimrawr]

How much water is the skimmer sitting in?

 

[jayinh]

is the neck of the skimmer overflowing into the collection cup with water? by your last post it sounds like there is nothing to skim. i have a SRP2000XP and had the cup overflowing with tank water , even with the gate valve wide open. i had to lift the skimmer a bit and it solved it. make sure the water exiting the valve is free flowing not even close to being submeged. if you can post a pic of the skimmer in the sump setup it may be usefull.

 

[mordibv]

is the neck of the skimmer overflowing into the collection cup with water? by your last post it sounds like there is nothing to skim. i have a SRP2000XP and had the cup overflowing with tank water , even with the gate valve wide open. i had to lift the skimmer a bit and it solved it. make sure the water exiting the valve is free flowing not even close to being submeged. if you can post a pic of the skimmer in the sump setup it may be usefull.

Nice nog shot .

 

[DreamReefer]

Ill take a pic later on today, the water is not overflowing into the cup and i already have it raised just a bit to the low water level line on the skimmer. It is filling with foam just a ton of it and its clean white foam not dirty green gunk like i see in everybody else's. Tank is still cycling not fully established yet.

It may just be that four damsels do not produce enough bio load to skim that much? but why does it overflow with so much clean white foam. Should i just shut it off until the tank is cycled and i have a bigger bioload?

 

[Ford625]

People have different ways of cycling a tank ie. With or without a skimmer. IMO, when cycling with a skimmer, it will prevent an ammonia spike from happening and killing your fish. How much LR do you have? Is it fully cured? Four damsels isn't a big bioload.

 

[DreamReefer]

I have a good amount of live rock, maybe 80 pounds. Not fully cured.

 

[Ford625]

I would skim for sure. I'm sure others will chime in

 

[sizzle]

Octo skimmers max sump water height i think was 6-6.5 in. The water lines on the skimmer are for the water in the skimmer.

 

[sparkyee]

It took 3-4 weeks before my Octo XP2000i started to really skim.

 

[Bobbofin]

I have my XP-1000SSS cone skimmer in 8" of water. It works perfect!