coralife protein skimmer question

[sahmad43]

Iam just starting a 90 gallon saltwater tank with wet-dry filter and with only semi-cured live rocks and nothing else.
I have a coralife 65 Gallon protein skimmer running but I dont see any brown material
accumulating in the cup above.. is it because :
1- the aquarium doesnt have any livestock
or
2- the skimmer is not 'TUNED' ?
How do I tune the skimmer ?i see there are two places to control air flow .one at the exit pipe
and one at the intake pump . whats the criteria for optimal function ?

thanks
Sami

[Reefland]

Hi Sami,

I am not familiar with this skimmer so I can't help with the tuning. However, the tank may be too young to have anything to remove. As long as the skimmer is producing bubbles in the chamber then it is working. This is however probably an undersized skimmer for that size tank.

[enrico]

with that skimmer for the break in period (48-72 hours) you should have the needle wheel adjustment (the one close to the pump) open about half way, then adjust the top one so that the bubbles are just under the collection cup. You may have to adjust it slightly so there is lots of bubbles occuring. Then after the break in, open the needle wheel adjustment all the way then adjust the top one so the bublles are about .25" into the collection cup tube. That skimmer works well once you have it set.

[sahmad43]

ok upon close inspection, there are actually three knobs, two on the pump ..one small and one large and one on the exit pipe.
one knob on pump is very small n round n can turn in either direction with no stops . the other knob on pump is big open close valve for water .
now which knob are you talking about for adjusting the needle wheel ?

[enrico]

big open close valve for water

[johnny gray]

you may want to jet a larger skimmer and get rid of the dye part of filter it will cause problems later

[enrico]

what dye part do you mean?