Changing protein skimmers

Thatmeganchickk · Apr 6, 2020

I want to start by saying if this is a dumb question, sorry! I overthink things and would feel more comfortable having someone give me a definitive answer vs finding mixed answers on google.
I got an established tank and all the equipment about 6-7 months ago. I was told the protein skimmer was no good but when I got it all set up it worked fine.Up until a few weeks ago at least. I only have 3 fish and 12 CUC hermits so I figured going without a protein skimmer wouldn’t be too bad. Then I got a really good deal on a second tank (to be set up in the future) and he threw in a protein skimmer. I currently have a reef octopus that has a little motor of sorts attached. The new-to-me one is a tunze brand (I’ll attach a photo). My question: do I need to somehow attach the old motor to the new skimmer or is it all built in? The internet is making me think it’s all built in and I can just pull out the entire reef octopus one and replace it.
can anyone confirm? Thanks!

Silent · Apr 6, 2020

That skimmer should have a pump inside the black box.

Thatmeganchickk · Apr 6, 2020

Silent said:
That skimmer should have a pump inside the black box.

Found it. I just traded them out. Thanks for the quick reply!

Silent · Apr 6, 2020

The water level should be right under the tunze name. see the water mark on the left side.

Thatmeganchickk · Apr 6, 2020

Silent said:
The water level should be right under the tunze name. see the water mark on the left side.

How my sump is set up, it falls about half an inch under the line.. will that prevent it from working correctly? I know that’s where it should be for optimal performance

45ZoaGarden · Apr 6, 2020

Thatmeganchickk said:
How my sump is set up, it falls about half an inch under the line.. will that prevent it from working correctly? I know that’s where it should be for optimal performance

Yes. With a low water level skim mate will stay in the body of the skimmer instead of going into the cup.