ASM Skimmer question?

E

elinder

I have the g4x skimmer and its been running on my new tank for about 2 weeks now. I have 200lbs of rock curing in the tank. The first week I pulled out about half the cup in dark green junk. This week I've been pulling nothing but light colored foam. Does this sound right or is something going on. All my rock is covered with the brown stuff (forgot what its called)
 
I don't have that skimmer line, but it sounds like it is just running "dry" and you can raise the water level in the reaction chamber some to make it "wetter".

The "brown stuff" I am assuming is from a diatom bloom that will happen when you first set up a new tank like you did. That should eventually go away on its own as the tank cycles.
 
Well I'll just tell you what I've seen with my G4. Since the top of the cup doesn't have a vent I just set the lid on the cup so it can get some air. I even thought about drilling a small hole in the lid to the cup. It seems to help. I also run mine about 3/4 up the neck and clean the cup everyday because it gets junk around the top and doesnt seem to do as well as when it's just been cleaned. Mine doesn't seem to do well skimming dry. I don't know how helpful that is but can't hurt to try I guess.

Angela
 
thanks for the reply. I'm alittle scared because this is looking like something got into my tank. I had soap put in my last tank and I keep some of the rock. I washed it, i think pretty good and keep it outside in the heat for about a month. Then I washed it again soaked it for 2 days and dried it in the sun for about 2 more days. I'm just hoping that soap didn't stay in the rock. I have a picture of the foam if I can find my usb cable I'll post it soon.
 
Mine actually started foaming really crazy the other day and I thought the same thing about getting soap in it. I had just started running carbon and the skimmer started foaming really bad. I don't know though. I think if it were soap in the water it would be going nuts. Like filling the cup over and over. I could be wrong though. I still haven't really found the sweet spot on mine. It seemed to slow down about week 2.

Angela
 
yes, i emptied this cup when I left for work at 12:00pm today. And this is what its like now. So I don't know. That would suck if I still have soap in my system.
 
OOPS! You already answered that. I don't think it's soap. Looks like funk off the LR to me but I wish one of the experts would chime in. I bet the skimmer is just now breaking in well. I'd just run it pretty wet and see what happens.

Angela
 
It is very hard to tell based on that picture. What did the rock smell like? What does your skimmate smell light? April fresh? LOL
 
What does your skimmate smell like? April fresh? said:
:lol:

Marc what do you think about drilling a hole in the cup lid? Does your ER have one? Seems nuts to me that the ASM's don't.

Also I just looked and mine is running like an inch from the top of the neck. I just keep moving it up further and further.

Angela
Click to expand...
 
everyone in the house is sick now, so we can't really tell. The rock when I purchased it had a pretty funky smell to it. The rock from the old tank that I put back in this one I didn't even smell. I can see alittle green hair algea growning on one of the curing rocks so I guess its not that bad. Just in case I think I'll start by changing 50 gals of water this weekend. Maybe 100 gal.

What gets me is that this did produce a very dark green gunk for the first week and now this is what I'm getting. I would think if it was from the old rock I put in the tank it would have started right from the start.
 
Honestly Evan I think it looks fine. If the rock is all cured and you have not added anything to get any waste from that may be all you get for right now. I really doubt it would be soap, you would have seen a lot of big bubbles right away.
 
Yes, my ER has about 12 or 16 holes in the lid.
 
Thanks, I'll just kept it running like it is and when I'm off work this weekend I plan on fixing everything. I'll go ahead and do a water change. I've heard they take awhile to dial in really good.
 
@orchidsnfish wrote:
[quote="What does your skimmate smell like? April fresh? said:
:lol:

Marc what do you think about drilling a hole in the cup lid? Does your ER have one? Seems nuts to me that the ASM's don't.

Also I just looked and mine is running like an inch from the top of the neck. I just keep moving it up further and further.

Angela"]


ASM's holes are the slots that hold the lid on.
Click to expand...
 
My G3 seems to produce a very DARK but pretty wet skimmate no matter how I adjust it.

I would HIGHLY recommend looking into the gate valve mod, I am very happy with the results, and I no longer have the stupid sponge trapping nutrients.
 
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