Beginner office nano tank - Page 4

zonkkie · 18-09-2012, 04:12 PM

wah bro elimmel... very nice tank! You have the full works - chiller, MH lights, etc.

Looking forward for illumnae's one to setup complete and mature!

illumnae · 19-09-2012, 11:03 AM

Ugly la my tank...now just rocks and sand. Excuse the dirty glass please...

illumnae · 19-09-2012, 12:45 PM

I need some advice on how to tune a skimmer.

I installed the Dymax IQ skimmer today in the first compartment of the filter (2nd compartment will be the floss + chemical filtration, 3rd compartment is return pump) using a Gex e-AIR 2000SB air pump. The air pump allows me to control the airflow with a knob (in addition to the valve for fine tuning provided with the skimmer).

As recommended over on the SRC forum, I replaced the airstone with a Sander 2 airstone. According to SRC, the Dymax IQ skimmer works very well with the new airstone.

However, now I'm a little befuddled. I switch on the air pump to full blast and I get a nice thick white foam building up. However, it seems to be building up too fast! Within seconds I see my collection cup fill up with clear water. If I turn it too low, the foam disappears. What kind of rate of foam build up should I be seeing in my skimmer? I know it takes time to "break in" and start producing brown skimmate, but I need to know the rate of production. It can't be that I have to clear the cup every 5 minutes?

Cruzer · 19-09-2012, 01:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by illumnae

I need some advice on how to tune a skimmer.

I installed the Dymax IQ skimmer today in the first compartment of the filter (2nd compartment will be the floss + chemical filtration, 3rd compartment is return pump) using a Gex e-AIR 2000SB air pump. The air pump allows me to control the airflow with a knob (in addition to the valve for fine tuning provided with the skimmer).

As recommended over on the SRC forum, I replaced the airstone with a Sander 2 airstone. According to SRC, the Dymax IQ skimmer works very well with the new airstone.

However, now I'm a little befuddled. I switch on the air pump to full blast and I get a nice thick white foam building up. However, it seems to be building up too fast! Within seconds I see my collection cup fill up with clear water. If I turn it too low, the foam disappears. What kind of rate of foam build up should I be seeing in my skimmer? I know it takes time to "break in" and start producing brown skimmate, but I need to know the rate of production. It can't be that I have to clear the cup every 5 minutes?

I ever use the IQ5 skimmer b4 and the collection rate of the skimmer cup every few mins is because your air flow is too strong. u need to adjust the air flow to certain level. try and error case. anyway, based on past experience, this skimmer is not really useful. gave up and bought skimmer from skimz instead

illumnae · 19-09-2012, 03:56 PM

Thanks bro, but I think the IQ skimmer may be the only one that can fit in my nano tank. Space constraints. Over at SRC forum there are some bros that feedback that the skimmer is good after they replaced the airstone, so that's why I'm trying now.

I currently have the skimmer set to create the foam column just below the cone, so it doesn't overflow into the collection cup. Should I run it like this for a few days to "run in" the skimmer? What kind of collection rate should I be aiming for?

illumnae · 19-09-2012, 11:08 PM

My skimmer in action. Is it supposed to be like this?

YouTube Video

**KaLiB** · 20-09-2012, 09:30 AM

The action looks ok from the video. You can leave it for a few days running at the present level to see if it can produce any skimmate. If it doesn't produce anything in the cup, slowly raise the level until you start getting skimmate.

The idea is to tune the skimmer to get the thickest skimmate possible. For air-stone driven skimmers, you could be looking at something like brown coloured, watery skimmate in the collection cup.

illumnae · 20-09-2012, 09:54 AM

Thanks Kalib! Unfortunately, I came into work this morning and the cup was filled with clear water, almost full. Think if I had come to work a little later it may have overflowed. However, the bubbles level this morning was still low. I emptied the cup and will keep observing.

In the meantime, on average, am I right to say that the bubbles should remain at a level just below the cone, at the top of the middle pipe? Then once in awhile it will rise in level and overflow some skimmate into the cup?

illumnae · 20-09-2012, 10:45 AM

Sian...just noticed a bunch of what looks like aiptasia all over the live rock. Need to find peppermint shrimp

Aces · 20-09-2012, 01:29 PM

make sure the back don't dry out.. keep a look out for the shrimp and make sure it don't die in the tank.. once anything die in such a small space the whole tank will crush.. i think my previous tank the first to up the lorry is my fire shrimp.. nan follow by my angel and clownfish is the last..

nan small white worms start crawling all over the place.. o_o Don't itchy backside like me keep angel in such a small tank.. they are kind of aggressive in such a small setup.. buy same species of clownfish or damsel is the best bet liao.. i've make alot of mistakes of introducing soft coral also.. =s it doesn't do well unless the temperature is kept below 28 degree celsius.. I should have introduced mushroom..

20-09-2012, 09:30 AM	#37
KaLiB Moderator Join Date: Jun 2002 Posts: 3,635	The action looks ok from the video. You can leave it for a few days running at the present level to see if it can produce any skimmate. If it doesn't produce anything in the cup, slowly raise the level until you start getting skimmate. The idea is to tune the skimmer to get the thickest skimmate possible. For air-stone driven skimmers, you could be looking at something like brown coloured, watery skimmate in the collection cup. __________________ A fishtank is just like your computer. When your tank crash(OS crash), its time to cleanup(reformat hard drive) and setup(install OS) again and add new livestock(re-install software).

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18-09-2012, 04:12 PM	#31
zonkkie Dragon Join Date: Mar 2011 Posts: 1,148	wah bro elimmel... very nice tank! You have the full works - chiller, MH lights, etc. Looking forward for illumnae's one to setup complete and mature!

19-09-2012, 11:03 AM	#32
illumnae Dragon Join Date: Jun 2007 Posts: 2,433	Ugly la my tank...now just rocks and sand. Excuse the dirty glass please...

19-09-2012, 12:45 PM	#33
illumnae Dragon Join Date: Jun 2007 Posts: 2,433	I need some advice on how to tune a skimmer. I installed the Dymax IQ skimmer today in the first compartment of the filter (2nd compartment will be the floss + chemical filtration, 3rd compartment is return pump) using a Gex e-AIR 2000SB air pump. The air pump allows me to control the airflow with a knob (in addition to the valve for fine tuning provided with the skimmer). As recommended over on the SRC forum, I replaced the airstone with a Sander 2 airstone. According to SRC, the Dymax IQ skimmer works very well with the new airstone. However, now I'm a little befuddled. I switch on the air pump to full blast and I get a nice thick white foam building up. However, it seems to be building up too fast! Within seconds I see my collection cup fill up with clear water. If I turn it too low, the foam disappears. What kind of rate of foam build up should I be seeing in my skimmer? I know it takes time to "break in" and start producing brown skimmate, but I need to know the rate of production. It can't be that I have to clear the cup every 5 minutes?

19-09-2012, 03:56 PM	#35
illumnae Dragon Join Date: Jun 2007 Posts: 2,433	Thanks bro, but I think the IQ skimmer may be the only one that can fit in my nano tank. Space constraints. Over at SRC forum there are some bros that feedback that the skimmer is good after they replaced the airstone, so that's why I'm trying now. I currently have the skimmer set to create the foam column just below the cone, so it doesn't overflow into the collection cup. Should I run it like this for a few days to "run in" the skimmer? What kind of collection rate should I be aiming for?

20-09-2012, 09:54 AM	#38
illumnae Dragon Join Date: Jun 2007 Posts: 2,433	Thanks Kalib! Unfortunately, I came into work this morning and the cup was filled with clear water, almost full. Think if I had come to work a little later it may have overflowed. However, the bubbles level this morning was still low. I emptied the cup and will keep observing. In the meantime, on average, am I right to say that the bubbles should remain at a level just below the cone, at the top of the middle pipe? Then once in awhile it will rise in level and overflow some skimmate into the cup?

20-09-2012, 10:45 AM	#39
illumnae Dragon Join Date: Jun 2007 Posts: 2,433	Sian...just noticed a bunch of what looks like aiptasia all over the live rock. Need to find peppermint shrimp

20-09-2012, 01:29 PM	#40
Aces Arofanatic Join Date: Apr 2004 Posts: 486	make sure the back don't dry out.. keep a look out for the shrimp and make sure it don't die in the tank.. once anything die in such a small space the whole tank will crush.. i think my previous tank the first to up the lorry is my fire shrimp.. nan follow by my angel and clownfish is the last.. nan small white worms start crawling all over the place.. o_o Don't itchy backside like me keep angel in such a small tank.. they are kind of aggressive in such a small setup.. buy same species of clownfish or damsel is the best bet liao.. i've make alot of mistakes of introducing soft coral also.. =s it doesn't do well unless the temperature is kept below 28 degree celsius.. I should have introduced mushroom..

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