High Tide Aquatics

Help tuning skimmer

Solitaryensis

Solitaryensis

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I can’t for the life of me tune this skimmer (Skimz SM201). I get a tea like skimmate with tons of gunk stuck at the neck. Any thoughts?

It’s an old skimmer on a year old tank so no break in issues. I am battling very high nitrates and plan to run biopellets but wanted to get the skimmer tuned before doing so. Excuse the algae - that side of the skimmer once faces the fuge which gets a ton of light. Thanks!

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Solitaryensis said:
I can’t for the life of me tune this skimmer (Skimz SM201). I get a tea like skimmate with tons of gunk stuck at the neck. Any thoughts?

It’s an old skimmer on a year old tank so no break in issues. I am battling very high nitrates and plan to run biopellets but wanted to get the skimmer tuned before doing so. Excuse the algae - that side of the skimmer once faces the fuge which gets a ton of light. Thanks!

16e975745c022c454724f7a9a9073946.jpg



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the algae could be one of the problems. It could be assisting in the bubbles popping before they can “climb” up the neck to the collection cup. That’s why you have to skim wet to get anything into the cup. Might want to work to block that light out.

does the same thing happen after you clean the neck and body?
 
Last edited:
RandyC said:
the algae could be one of the problems. It could be assisting in the bubbles popping before the can “climb” up the neck to the collection cup. That’s why you ahem to skim wet to get anything into the cup. Might want to work to block that light out.

does the same thing happen after you clean the neck and body?
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Thanks, Randy. I’ll give it a good clean this weekend just to be safe, but it’s always skimmed that way even when the body was clean. I seem to be getting pretty fine bubbles at the top still but you’re right, the algae could be causing some of the bubbles to pop prematurely.


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Coral reefer said:
Could be mismatched for your system/bipolar maybe? No clue with that skimmer or your system really tho. Any way to adjust the air intake?
Click to expand...


Yeah, I’ve been playing with both the air intake and outlet for weeks and can’t seem to find a good combo.


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Solitaryensis said:
Thanks, Randy. I’ll give it a good clean this weekend just to be safe, but it’s always skimmed that way even when the body was clean. I seem to be getting pretty fine bubbles at the top still but you’re right, the algae could be causing some of the bubbles to pop prematurely.


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You try different water level heights in the sump?
 
RandyC said:
You try different water level heights in the sump?
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I haven’t. The size of the skimmer really only allows me to run it at one height - 7.5” which is within the recommended height.

I guess at the end of the day I am not quite sure what to look for. I see fairly fine bubbles all the way up to the edge of the collection cup. Should I be seeing something different? How far up should the bubbles be?


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Typically you want the fine bubbles to be right about the narrowest point of the neck in my experience. Don’t wanna actively see foam going into the cup or it will It'll always be too Light. Unless that’s what you’re going for.
 
How quickly does the skimate get to that level? If it were theoretically too low in the water, it would fill quicker, and the skimate would be lighter. When something similar happened to me I raised the skimmer a bit, and that darkened the results.


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Rostato said:
How big is the tank and what model of skimmer?
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80 gallon tank and the skimmer is the Skimz SM201. I know the skimmer is rated for a much larger tank but I purchased it as part of a full tank set up and I have a pretty big bio load. I previously had a much smaller skimmer but had similar skimmate issues. Perhaps user error?

Based on other videos and pics I’ve seen,my bubbles are right where they should be but for some reason the skimmate tends to accumulate right at the top of the neck and not the collection cup. You can see the dark skimmate starting to build up in the attached pic.
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Totally normal for neck to get dirty and should Be cleaned evey week or two. Does nothing go in the cup after a couple days if you set the level lower?
 
Coral reefer said:
Totally normal for neck to get dirty and should Be cleaned evey week or two. Does nothing go in the cup after a couple days if you set the level lower?
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Nothing thick. I usually end up with the tea-like skimmate (water) in the cup and very thick skimmate on the neck. Honestly, this is how I’ve always ran my skimmers but after watching a recent BRS video, I learned that skimmate isn’t really supposed to collect at the neck and is supposed to flow into the cop. That could explain why I can’t seem to ever get my nitrates down.


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Rostato said:
That skimmer is very large for your tank. Honestly I would experience results your getting as normal.
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Yeah, I know it’s oversized but even when I was running an undersized skimmer I was getting similar results. Perhaps I should get a skimmer that’s perfectly sized lol


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Neck size needs to be right. Sounds like you could either get a skimmer that’s the right size or try an auto neck cleaner.
Doesn’t make sense to me that you would get dark thick skimmate stuck to the neck but only tea in the cup.
This should still be exporting wastes as long as you clean the neck often.
 
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