• Folks, if you've recently upgraded or renewed your annual club membership but it's still not active, please reach out to the BOD or a moderator. The PayPal system has a slight bug which it doesn't allow it to activate the account on it's own.

Protein skimmer set and forget

Hallowhead

NJRC Member
Does anyone have a skimmer they set and forget ? My quantum nyos is everything but that.. I have to tune practically daily
 

Boehmtown

NJRC Member
Does anyone have a skimmer they set and forget ? My quantum nyos is everything but that.. I have to tune practically daily
I hated them all. Stopped running them all together. My new tank I will probably get one to wet skim water change once a week only
 

MadReefer

Vice President
Staff member
NJRC Member
Moderator
I use a GSM and no issues, set and forget. even my Elos skimmer was the same. Only time I had issues when i did not auto top off but I do now.
 

redfishbluefish

Officer Emeritus
Officer Emeritus
I have a set-iit-and-forget-it skimmer (SWC), but would never recommend it, for one, it's no longer made, but the main reason is the pump is a POS.....Atmann. That said, every skimmer I have had were set-it-blah, blah, blah, and the thing that I think made it so was that I'd always open the "air" all the way open and adjust the height of the foam with the restrictor valve. The only time I need to set it is after I've pulled the whole skimmer out to clean everything and set it back up.
 

Hallowhead

NJRC Member
I have a set-iit-and-forget-it skimmer (SWC), but would never recommend it, for one, it's no longer made, but the main reason is the pump is a POS.....Atmann. That said, every skimmer I have had were set-it-blah, blah, blah, and the thing that I think made it so was that I'd always open the "air" all the way open and adjust the height of the foam with the restrictor valve. The only time I need to set it is after I've pulled the whole skimmer out to clean everything and set it back up.
I can't for my life set the nyos and forget it. Everyday the bubble level is different and its never consistent
 

redfishbluefish

Officer Emeritus
Officer Emeritus
Does the chamber that holds the skimmer have constant water level....no fluxuations?

The only other thing I can think of is how deep does it sit in the water. If it's too deep, it's more likely to run wild....harder to control Try raising it up. When first setting up I set the foam at the bottom of the cup and now allow time and bubble formation to eventually creep up the collection cup and start to collect.

What Nyos do you actually have?
 

Hallowhead

NJRC Member
Does the chamber that holds the skimmer have constant water level....no fluxuations?

The only other thing I can think of is how deep does it sit in the water. If it's too deep, it's more likely to run wild....harder to control Try raising it up. When first setting up I set the foam at the bottom of the cup and now allow time and bubble formation to eventually creep up the collection cup and start to collect.

What Nyos do you actually have?
It's a reefer sump, the chamber that is designed for a skimmer. It has same level regardless if the tank needs to be topped off or not.

I am debating it's too high in the water, I just can't get the bubbles to be the size at the neck that the directions want. It's in depth water it calls for too. I just don't know
 

ecam

Administrator
Staff member
Officer Emeritus
NJRC Member
Moderator
I had the same issue with the nyos. Switched back to Reef octopus. Did as Paul said. Leave air alone and restrict with gate valve. Truly set it and forget it until you need dump the skim mate or something gets into the tank
 

Hallowhead

NJRC Member
I had the same issue with the nyos. Switched back to Reef octopus. Did as Paul said. Leave air alone and restrict with gate valve. Truly set it and forget it until you need dump the skim mate or something gets into the tank
Love this feedback as makes my decision easier
 

redfishbluefish

Officer Emeritus
Officer Emeritus
You're not getting off that easy....:eek:....I'm going to harp on water depth, regardless of what the manual says. I actually marked my skimmer so that I could easily adjust up or down when I first set it up:

1747072379137.png


Try less depth and see what you get!
 

Hallowhead

NJRC Member
You're not getting off that easy....:eek:....I'm going to harp on water depth, regardless of what the manual says. I actually marked my skimmer so that I could easily adjust up or down when I first set it up:

View attachment 58089


Try less depth and see what you get!
Send some photos of where you have the bubble line at the cup level. I'll measure depth. Those dimensions are from bottom of skimmer or ?
 

ecam

Administrator
Staff member
Officer Emeritus
NJRC Member
Moderator
Exactly what Paul said. Thankful the RO guide is pretty accurate with the required water. But the nyos was all over the place. Overflowing then no bubble etc. it’s sitting in my bsmt dry as a bone. Couldn’t even bring myself to sell it. Since I considered it cursed (couldn’t torture another reefer)

I too have mine marked but once u find the sweet spot no changes needed. I usually have it .5 +- what RO recommends.
 

ecam

Administrator
Staff member
Officer Emeritus
NJRC Member
Moderator
If you have the skimmer on the floor of sump yes. If not from the base of the stand to the top of the water is what your looking for
 

DEL

President
Staff member
Board of Directors
NJRC Member
Moderator
My red sea rsk 900 .. haven't done anything except clean the cup.
 

redfishbluefish

Officer Emeritus
Officer Emeritus
Send some photos of where you have the bubble line at the cup level. I'll measure depth. Those dimensions are from bottom of skimmer or ?

When I first turn the skimmer on (with the air valve fully open), I turn the knob to the valve so that this newly created foam is at the bottom of the collection cup. In this picture, that's between the level of the lower (smaller) white ring and the bottom of the cup.

1747096312837.png

I'll then let it run for a number of hours and then start making micro adjustments. With my skimmer, when I say micro adjustments, it's putting my hand on the red knob and oh so slightly move my fingers where you darn near can't see them move. I might have to do this two or three times to get the right dryness/wetness to the skimmate.

And yes, the lines on the skimmer are from the bottom of the skimmer to show the depth of the water it's sitting in.
 

Hallowhead

NJRC Member
When I first turn the skimmer on (with the air valve fully open), I turn the knob to the valve so that this newly created foam is at the bottom of the collection cup. In this picture, that's between the level of the lower (smaller) white ring and the bottom of the cup.

View attachment 58091

I'll then let it run for a number of hours and then start making micro adjustments. With my skimmer, when I say micro adjustments, it's putting my hand on the red knob and oh so slightly move my fingers where you darn near can't see them move. I might have to do this two or three times to get the right dryness/wetness to the skimmate.

And yes, the lines on the skimmer are from the bottom of the skimmer to show the depth of the water it's sitting in.
Trust me, I've tried this. The only thing I've not tried is water level as I thought that was the one thing I had right. I'm at 8"
 

Trio91

Administrator
Officer Emeritus
NJRC Member
Moderator
I'm running this one: TMC Reef Skim 500 for my 66g and it's been a beast. It's very finicky with the settings but once I dialed it in, no issues whatsoever. Pulled tea colored skim on the 1st day.

 

Attachments

  • reefskim-1__12482.jpg
    reefskim-1__12482.jpg
    69.5 KB · Views: 2
Top