Cali Kid Corals

Speed up skimmer break in period

I have no idea how well this would work/how good of an idea it'd be, but I'd imagine you might be able to take some skimmate from an existing tank and pour that into the chamber. The 'coat' represents a biofilm, biofilms are made from microorganisms, so I'd imagine seeding the skimmer with a high concentration of biofilm-producing microorganisms could work.

Note that I have never tried this and have no idea if it actually would work, or if the skimmate would just foam out through the top and be collected.
 
@IOnceWasLegend unfortunately my old 55 gallons tank doesn’t have a skimmer to do this with because it’s sumpless.

THis however sparked an idea! I am
Not sure if it will fit through the eurobacre, however I could rig it so it was partially in the tank.
 
10:1 water to vinegar bath. Just toss the skimmer into the solution, into a bucket, and plug it in. Run this overnight and you should be good to go.
 
With what Eric said, cleaning off any manufacturing "debris" (oils, etc) probably will help speed up the process.

Also holy hell that's a big sig picture, may want to reduce that beat a bit, love the message but 2560 x 2560 pixels is a bit much.
 
@sfsuphysics and @Ibn

thanks guys I have the skimmer sitting in a 5 gallon bucket with a 10:1 vinegar mix.

how long do I need to leave it in the bucket and running ? Run it on the highest speed and as close to the top water level ?

thanks,
Randy
 
Just run it overnight for 24 hours if you're not in a rush (which you shouldn't be since most tanks can do w/out a skimmer for that length of time, especially a new one). That should remove any sort of residual oils or residues. You can run it for less, but I prefer to run it in the solution for 24 hours. You also don't have to run it at the highest speed since with vinegar, your skimmer will go nuts and overflow. Just pull the cap off of it and let it do its own thing.
 
Ibn said:
Just run it overnight for 24 hours if you're not in a rush (which you shouldn't be since most tanks can do w/out a skimmer for that length of time, especially a new one). That should remove any sort of residual oils or residues. You can run it for less, but I prefer to run it in the solution for 24 hours. You also don't have to run it at the highest speed since with vinegar, your skimmer will go nuts and overflow. Just pull the cap off of it and let it do its own thing.
Click to expand...

24 hours is totally fine. I just didn't want to wait a month or so like some people I have been reading took to break in a skimmer. I am just testing my 135 plumbing and making modifications as needed before I do the actual salt water fill so I have a bit of time.
 
Yeah you should be fine then, after the bath to remove any manufacturing residue plop it in some salt water to allow it to "film up" while you're setting up your tank.
 
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