Skimmer Help

[reeferNbeer]

Bubble Magus Curve 5 Elite Skimmer
Red Sea Reefer 170
Finished cycle a week ago
2 clowns, small CUC, and 4 small frags added 2 days ago

I've searched high and low and have come to the conclusion that protein skimmers are just finnicky.

That being said, for the first 2 weeks of running my skimmer all it produced was low "boiling water" bubbles that never made it half way to the top. All part of the break-in, fine. About 5 days ago that changed and bubbles began overflowing the top; so I removed the lid and let it do its thing. Fast-forward to 3 days ago- I do a 50% water change and when I turn the skimmer back on, it began functioning properly. All was good until 2 days ago when I briefly turned it off and moved it about 5 inches within the chamber so that I could reach the back of the sump. Once I was done (5 minutes later), I put it back in it's place and turned it on, but now for some reason it has digressed all the way back to only producing the low "boiling" bubbles. I have since cleaned it out in hopes of progression, but to no avail.

Are skimmers really this sensitive? Any feedback/suggestions are appreciated.

 

[PeterC99]

Yes skimmers are finicky!

Make sure you have your skimmer at the recommended water level - usually in 7 to 9 inches of water. Tune your skimmer to produce bubbles to the Bottom of the skimmer cup. Then leave it alone! No tuning, cleaning or other adjustments. Sometimes it will produce skimmate and sometimes it won’t. Most skimmers don’t produce skimmate 24/7.

 

[Kershaw]

To me it sounds like two things going on.
1 it’s still breaking in.
2 your bio load is still so low that it will create skimate intermittently

 

[reeferNbeer]

Yes skimmers are finicky!

Make sure you have your skimmer at the recommended water level - usually in 7 to 9 inches of water. Tune your skimmer to produce bubbles to the Bottom of the skimmer cup. Then leave it alone! No tuning, cleaning or other adjustments. Sometimes it will produce skimmate and sometimes it won’t. Most skimmers don’t produce skimmate 24/7.

Will do. Had it running and tuned well, but now I'll just wait. Thanks!

 

[reeferNbeer]

To me it sounds like two things going on.
1 it’s still breaking in.
2 your bio load is still so low that it will create skimate intermittently

I was thinking the light bio load could be part, if not all of the problem. It's just comical how it happened so suddenly. Thanks!

 

[Wyvern]

It took a few weeks after cycle for mine to do anything but overflow, and my skimmer was bought used.

I did upgrade to a Aquamaxx RC2 and I got super lucky it was skimming perfect after initial adjustment.

Also note! Mysis and some foods/suppliments and chemicals can cause full shutdown (mysis) or hyper skiming, so make sure when you adjust, you haven't fed or dosed anything in hours.

 

[reeferNbeer]

It took a few weeks after cycle for mine to do anything but overflow, and my skimmer was bought used.

I did upgrade to a Aquamaxx RC2 and I got super lucky it was skimming perfect after initial adjustment.

Also note! Mysis and some foods/suppliments and chemicals can cause full shutdown (mysis) or hyper skiming, so make sure when you adjust, you haven't fed or dosed anything in hours.

Solid advice. Thank you!