Is my skimmer working?

[Derpeder]

Okay so I got my tank all set up. after the first day I didn't really expect anything to be going on with my skimmer. but by the next morning the skimmer was about 2/3rds full of the bubble/foam crap. I thought.....cool its working.

Then when I checked it that night.....nothing....all the foam had gone away and we were back to nothing.

Is this normal? What is going on?


Today is day three and I haven't seen it yet so.........

 

[dr_sudz]

I would suspect it would be working unless your water level in the skimmer is low and/or you have no bubbles being produced in the skimmer. If its a new setup then it may have gone nuts with the crap you put in the water to start up and then over time it should continue to collect the crap as it goes.

 

[sprayin70]

First what kind of skimmer is it. 2nd is it insump or external. and 3rd is the feed pump in a part of the ttank or sump where the water level stays constant?

 

[Derpeder]

First what kind of skimmer is it. 2nd is it insump or external. and 3rd is the feed pump in a part of the ttank or sump where the water level stays constant?

Number 1....I don't know

#2 it is an in sump Skimmer

#3 Its in the sump and the water level is always the same.

I just checked and now it has about 1 inch of the foam again.

The only thing I can think is maybe the water level is not high enough for the skimmer. Its only about 5 inches of water or so.

 

[sprayin70]

If you have a becket skimmer they do that from time to time. All skimmers will randomly stop skimming for a few then start again. Good luck.

 

[ewurm]

The foam will dissipate to a small amount of water, if anything. Is this an established tank?

 

[Derpeder]

The foam will dissipate to a small amount of water, if anything. Is this an established tank?

No it is not established. I just got it up and running on saturday.

 

[Derpeder]

If you have a becket skimmer they do that from time to time. All skimmers will randomly stop skimming for a few then start again. Good luck.

even though the foam doesn't rise all the way to the top is it still doing its job?

When the foam rises a few inches then drops again was the job done?

 

[Miguel]

Give it time...observe it for a week...

 

[sprayin70]

It is working fine. It sounds like it is skimming "dry" You can adjust the water level up abit to skim a bit wetter. If you are building up alot of dryish skim mate on the neck then you are skimming dry.