Watery Skimmate

[supertanker]

Hi everyone,

I just put my live rock in (Fiji from Ivan) last night, my skimmer immediately started pulling more skimmate out but it is a whiteish-watery stuff. I'd have to clean the collection cup 6 times a day at that rate hehe.

I tried restricting the output with the valve to raise the water level --- the result even more watery white foam. Now I have the valve opened all the way but it still pulls watery stuff. What am I doing wrong?

Thanks!
Eric

[aragorn69]

I may be mistaken but if your cycling the tank you may want to turn the skimmer off for now

[Pubber]

Skim away...you want to be pulling all of the nasties out of there...and you should expect a fair amount of waste coming out during the initial cycle. But you should also be able to get your skimmate a little dryer and darker by adjusting your skimmer. In most skimmers this is done by the adjusting air flow, or water flow, or both.

What type of skimmer are you using? Is it HOT, in sump, in-line, etc. Knowing this would be helpful in trying to recommend a solution to your problem. If your water exit valve is fully open, how far up the column is the water level before the bubbles start to form (low, middle, high)?

[supertanker]

Forgot to say it was uncured rock, I am curing it in the tank, it's a new setup.
E

[supertanker]

Hey pubber,

It's a DIY by Harley, like an EV-180 - in sump... the water column is low I would say, it's just where the cylinder meets the mixing box...

[Pubber]

Wow...and everything above is the bubbles and foam pushing up and into the waste chamber? Sorry, but next question...what pump are you using on it?

BTW, I have the same skimmer from Harley and have no problem adjusting it with the gate valve to get wet or dry, so we should be able to figure this out :-)

[supertanker]

Hehe, thanks Pubber,

It's being fed from my monster Sequence pump - Teed off the pump return...

Eric

[Pubber]

Do you have a valve between the pump and the intake plumbing for the skimmer?..I'm wondering if it might be to much push for the skimmer which could be causing a pretty crazy foam action. If you could throttle back on the pump a little, it might calm the action down a little so that you tweak the exit gate to get a dryer foam.

The other thing to consider is that there's so much die-off occurring in your cycle that there's plenty for the bubbles to build on and throw into your waste chamber. You could try a big water change at this point to ease up on the waste flowing the chamber. This would also be beneficial to any of the other organisms that you might want to have survive through the cycle (and is often recommended when curing LR). If it's just a lot of waste from the initial die-off your ammonia and nitrite readings should be off the scale.

[supertanker]

Hey Pub

Just checked the Ammonia, 0

I only have test kits for Ammonia and Nitrate... I wanted to check the nitrites but I only have an elcheapo Aquarium Pharm Freshwater kit... Maybe I should get some more test kits... which ones do I need at this time?

Also, I just put the LR yesterday maybe too early for Ammonia.

I am preparing a fresh batch of saltwater mix for my 1st water change, when should I do it?
Thanks again!
Eric

[Pubber]

For your cycle...you'll get an ammonia spike, following by a nitrite spike, then your nitrates will be the final step. So when your test kits show no ammonia, no nitrites, and very little nitrates your cycle has completed and then you can slowly start adding things - at this point you'll want to start your testing for salinity, calcium and alk. (This is strictly personal, but I like Salifert test kits because of their accuracy, although I use Seachem for calcium).

Ammonia should be your first spike and start showing almost immediately (one day might be too soon though)...did this rock go through any "pre-cure"...where's it from? Can you describe your rock conditions...was there a good die-off going on when you got it i.e. lots of white mucous junk or black patches, strong odor, is your tank water murky, etc...or does it look cleaner, as if it's already gone through some cleaning cycling?

I was recommending the water change, because it sound like there was a heavy bioload going on and this could be causing the skimmer to act all "wonky". Maybe it's not warranted at this time...let me know the rock and water conditions and them we can keep drilling down into this puzzle :-)

[supertanker]

I like Salifert kits myself as well. I did the Ammonia test in record time tonight hehe, first time used ! ;-)

As for the rock, it is from Fiji (through Ivan) and it is definitely uncured but it has not rotten away in a warehouse... I would rate is as very fresh with some die-off. Ivan mentionned getting this same kind of rock cured in a week or two.

As for the skimmer, I just laid a plate of acrylic flat on the top of the collection cup to simulate commercial models enclosed collection cups. It should at least keep the foam in the cup a little longer instead of creating form mountains hehe.

Thanks again for your help! :-D

[reefmania]

super, I tested my tank last night (picked up the rock from Ivan monday night, so it was in the tank for about 24 hours)
The results were:

Ammonia 2.0
Nitrates 20
Nitrites 5

It appears the cycle is under way.

Forget the name of the test kits, but not Hagen or NUtrifin?.

[supertanker]

Nice,

Mine have been in 1 day less, I had no ammonia last night. I'll get a Nitrite test kit tonight and post the results.
Eric

[reefmania]

DId a little checking on the net. I am currently using Aquarium-Pharmaceuticals test kits. Cant say how they compare to others test kits.

[supertanker]

Ok I checked my water last night,

Nitrite 1
Ammonia 0
Nitrate 25
Salinity 1.024

How does that sound?

Eric