Nitrates and protein skimmer

[tj w]

Hey guys, I've got a question. I just set up a new curve 9 skimmer. My nitrates have been really high as of late hence the new skimmer and biopellet reactor. I set the skimmer up Sunday and it seems to be overflowing on the lowest setting today. I know it takes time for a skimmer to "break in" but would the nitrates being so high continually make it foam like that? My nitrates have been reading 160[emoji33]. Also, I have the sicce biopellet reactor plus. It's fed directly to the skimmer. Just wanted to get some input. Thanks

 

[skim]

Since skimmer is new you should take Biopellet off line or just direct it away from skimmer for now. Let the Skimmer break in and then return the output to the skimmer. Just wondering as to the Tank size, I have a Curve 9 and it is a beast it would over skim my 110, skim for like a day then stop for almost a week the poof skim like nut's for a day and stop. I since moved to a different skimmer, that unit would skim 200 to 300 gal no problem.

 

[Salty1962]

Your BPs are going to be your major No3 exporter. With it fed into your skimmer it will remove the bacteria that breaks down the No3. As @skim mentioned, just run you skimmer for a while as it breaks in at the lowest setting. After it breaks in you'll have to adjust again accordingly.

 

[tj w]

Since skimmer is new you should take Biopellet off line or just direct it away from skimmer for now. Let the Skimmer break in and then return the output to the skimmer. Just wondering as to the Tank size, I have a Curve 9 and it is a beast it would over skim my 110, skim for like a day then stop for almost a week the poof skim like nut's for a day and stop. I since moved to a different skimmer, that unit would skim 200 to 300 gal no problem.

Yes, it is on my 300g dd. I'll go ahead and re direct it coming in from the reactor. Thank you

 

[tj w]

One more thing, since it takes a lil while for a bacteria population to develop in the reactor would it still be an issue connected to the skimmer. They were both put online on the same day and I'm only at 40 percent on my biopellet load.

 

[Brew12]

Hey guys, I've got a question. I just set up a new curve 9 skimmer. My nitrates have been really high as of late hence the new skimmer and biopellet reactor. I set the skimmer up Sunday and it seems to be overflowing on the lowest setting today. I know it takes time for a skimmer to "break in" but would the nitrates being so high continually make it foam like that? My nitrates have been reading 160[emoji33]. Also, I have the sicce biopellet reactor plus. It's fed directly to the skimmer. Just wanted to get some input. Thanks

I just purchased a curve 7 very recently and I had to run it in vinegar for 2 days to get it to stop overflowing. Just let it run in a 5 gallon bucket with a 50/50 ammonia mix. It still comes close to overflowing on the minimum setting but it is running great.