9012 set up help

BlueReefer73 · Feb 2, 2021

IM SR-80 AIO. Cycled and have added some fish, 2 clowns and 3 bangai cardinals. Turned on the 9012 and the foam blew the top off. I will have to empty the cup every 5-8 minutes at this rate. Micro bubbles coming out the front and bottom. Filling the pump chamber.

Skimmer grill is 1/3 submerged as other threads suggest. Foams with screw loose or tightened. What am I missing?

rvitko · Feb 3, 2021

I am only getting sound and no video. I believe we spoke by phone yesterday? I am the only US support person. I do believe this is the result of the stress coat/biological additives and a new set up and will just take time.

BlueReefer73 · Feb 3, 2021

rvitko said:
I am only getting sound and no video. I believe we spoke by phone yesterday? I am the only US support person. I do believe this is the result of the stress coat/biological additives and a new set up and will just take time.

Yes. That was me. So I should dump the cup every 5 minutes as it fills? That seems ridiculous and like I will have to add sea water every other day to maintain salinity.

BlueReefer73 · Feb 3, 2021

BlueReefer73 said:
Yes. That was me. So I should d the cup every 5 minutes as it fills? That seems ridiculous and like I will have to add sea water every

These pictures were taken from the video and are 3-4 seconds apart. The foam got to the top of the cup in 4 or 5 seconds. Foam at the screen and foam out the bottom.

rvitko said:
I am only getting sound and no video. I believe we spoke by phone yesterday? I am the only US support person. I do believe this is the result of the stress coat/biological additives and a new set up and will just take time.

rvitko · Feb 3, 2021

The foam is unusually dense. There is definitely something in the water causing this. My preference would be that the skimmer continue to run for aeration, and emptying the cup will help remove the substance and get things back to normal faster, but if it is just impossible, you could wait for the substance to break down/decay and carbon will help. It may well take at least a week though to see any improvement. I might try raising the skimmer slightly and closing the air as much as possible and maybe just running it a short time each day and emptying the cup.

BlueReefer73 · Feb 4, 2021

rvitko said:
The foam is unusually dense. There is definitely something in the water causing this. My preference would be that the skimmer continue to run for aeration, and emptying the cup will help remove the substance and get things back to normal faster, but if it is just impossible, you could wait for the substance to break down/decay and carbon will help. It may well take at least a week though to see any improvement. I might try raising the skimmer slightly and closing the air as much as possible and maybe just running it a short time each day and emptying the cup.

Thank you

BlueReefer73 · Feb 7, 2021

rvitko said:
The foam is unusually dense. There is definitely something in the water causing this. My preference would be that the skimmer continue to run for aeration, and emptying the cup will help remove the substance and get things back to normal faster, but if it is just impossible, you could wait for the substance to break down/decay and carbon will help. It may well take at least a week though to see any improvement. I might try raising the skimmer slightly and closing the air as much as possible and maybe just running it a short time each day and emptying the cup.

The air choked down is making just enough bubbles to occasionally push some into the cup. But it has a lot of microbubbles going into the tank. Will that subside or do I need to make adjustments?

rvitko · Feb 8, 2021

This is a side effect of closing down the air flow. Imagine the pump is basically doing a fixed 400 gph, as you decrease the air, the water flow increases so the bubbles you have will be travelling further and faster from the higher water flow. The bubbles will do no harm, I have found that largely to be a myth and the extensive growth of tubeworms and pineapple sponges inside skimmers I think bare this out. There are very few circumstances where the bubbles will cause issues outside of aesthetics, mainly sea horses and building up under rocks and corals and causing some localized death from drying out. Once you are able to open the air more, the bubbles will decrease and go away.