Protein Skimmer questions

When I had my tank I did the Coralife HOB version. Depends on if you have a sump or not, with a sump I'd check the footprint and find one that you could stick in there (to keep the equipment all hidden).

As for suggestions on selections...theirs a good bit. Depends on what you want to spend and where your putting it and how much room you have for it. Watch the sizes!!

 

Ok, so i have the seclone 100 protein skimmer by insant ocean for almost a week now, crap is finally starting to build up in the top, and i just checked with my hydrometer, and the water is finally above brackish (i forget the reading that it showed but it's now officially sw). So my queastion is, what do i do now, do i just let it sit unitl the crap builds up to the top then clean the skimmer?

 

Were you not aware that your water was at a saltwater level ?

Yes, clean the cup when it's filled.

 

lol i knew it was almost at sw level, it had been at high end brackish, but i've had trouble getting it to full sw, especially with water evaporating so quickly, i loose like 1 or 2 gallons every couple of days. So i was just excited to see that it was finally sw, makes me want to get him a bigger tank right now, but i know that wouldnt be possible so he'll have to wait till next summer but at least he's in sw now

 

clean the cup on a regular basis because the seaclone ones will overflow.
Had that same one when I had saltwater...took forever to get it adjusted to the "sweet" spot.

 

ok, as of yesterday it was only 1/4 full i'll probably have to change it either today or tomorrow then. And thanks for the heads up, i already spilt a gallon of water on the carpert on my last water changes and i don't need the p.s. to overflow on me and cause even more wet floor

 

if the protein skimmer overflows it will stink to high heaven. lol.
reason for the warning.

 

hahaha lol during the time i spilt the water my room smelt like rotten egges for a week. But i found out it was my toads, and even with weekly cleaning it smelt like the rotten eggs. So i don't need my room smelling again. Although i do have an odor coming from my puffer's tank still, even though the horrific smell is cleared up. But i'm thinking this smaller smell is from the protein skimmer or the sw tank.

 

so i think i'm havIing some trouble on my p.s. It seems like the water is filling up way to fast in the cup. I did the first change yesterday after having it on for about a week and the water was really gross. This morning i cleaned it again while cleaning the tank, and tonight i just looked at it again and it was already half way full. But this time the majority of the water was clear, and it was just discolord at the very bottom of the cup. I'm not sure why this is going on, or if it's supposed to be doing this, but for tonight i have it turned off.

 

from what I remember of mine, I had to empty it daily.

 

ok, this will really suck, i'll probably have to do it twice a day, which means if i go anywhere i'll have to leave it off, good thing he's a hardy fish and can tolerate changes to his tank

 

you could always contact the manufacture to make sure?
I belive it's Aquarium Systems Inc that manufactures the Seaclone Protein skimmers
8141 Tyler Blvd Ste B11
Mentor, OH,
44060-4855
Phone: 440-255-1997
Toll Free: 800-822-1100

Fax: 440-255-1997

 

ok

 

Running a smaller pump or raising the skimmer slightly has helped us with slowing the skimmate produced with HOBs.

Make sure you run it at least a month before throwing in the towel. I'm not sure if this is true for all skimmers, but every one we've run has been weird/fluky for the first month before settling predictably. They seem to need to run for a "break in period" so to speak...

Regarding the original question - I've had probs with coralife (lost livestock due to the pump failing and dumping electricity in tank, and it was EXTREMELY flaky... sometimes producing a cup/week, sometimes producing a cup/day despite being in an ATO controlled constant water level)... As far as bang for the buck is concerned, I personally love the octopus skimmers, but have seen great things with the remora, euroreef, and cpr skimmers too. I've never personally used one, but I've only known 4 people that have owned deltecs, and they all sold 'em due to reliability issues.