Some skimmer questions

[wildeone]

I have the followijng skimmer installed in my sump



It is a TurboFloter 1000. At the time I purchased it, you could buy a Ocean Runner Pump with needlewheel or use a Rio2500 and replace the impeller with a needlewheel. I could not get the Oceanrunner, they were on backorder everywhere, so I got the Rio. The problem is that the "newer" Rio units would not accept the needlewheel, as the impellar would not come apart, so I just ran it with a standard impeller.
The skimmer has been producing, but I am not sure how much is normal. I can go about 2 weeks and I will have about a cup of "juice" in it. Somedays there is foam, others there is none. What is normal?
Additionally, I was reading that people sometimes put a valve to regulate the input into the skimmer. What effect does this have? If I slow down the flow will that cause more skimming? And finally I read somwhere that people sometimes inject air into the air line via an air pump. Will this help?

Or, should I spend another $80 and get the ocean runner since it is now available?

[JustDavidP]

Personally, I've heard that these turbo's run well with the ocean runner.

Now...to your questions...

What is "normal" for skimmate production?

There is no clear answer. When I first set up my Euroreef in my system, I was dumping 1/2 of the cup full of thick, baby diaper, muck every two to three days. Now, after the sump cycled and is running pristine, I empty my cup just once a week, no matter what the level, as I maintain the system.

The real check is the water quality. If your nitrates are low to undetectable, and your water doesn't have the tell tale yellow tinge to it, your skimmer is working properly. Otherwise, you need to adjust something.

Sometimes put a valve to regulate the input into the skimmer. What effect does this have? If I slow down the flow will that cause more skimming?

Great question! The answer is simple; skimmers are more productive when the dirty water and air have more contact time. Rob has a LOT of this covered in a previous podcast (forget which episode but will fill in here via edit once I locate it). The idea is that the more time that the dirty water has to come into contact with the microbubbles from the skimmer, the more likely the chance that the "waste" will adhere to the surface of said bubbles and be eliminated.

So, if dirty water passes quickly through the skimmer, only a fraction of the wastes will make contact with the bubbles and adhere, via surface tension of the bubble, and float to the top to burst in the collection chamber. The other waste products will flow back out of the skimmer into the greater body of water.

Dave

[wildeone]

So I guess valving it down may benefit me a bit. My production has been high in the past, and today I see that I have bubbles in the collection cup again, which I haven't for two days. My water looks clear, nitrates are at 5, so maybe, like you, I have hit the point where I am just "maintaining" quality water. I think I will go back and re-listen to that podcast as it has been 6 months since I last heard it, maybe I need a refresher lesson. Thanks David...

[Rob]

dave it looks like you got this one covered (Man, its good to have ya back.. ), so i will just throw in the link you were referring to
Protien Skimmers - Podcast Episode 35

(dave edit) and I'll fix your "spell check" typos too ~ Dave

[V]

the reason why somedays u get some liquid in the cup is because of gravitational forces. yep u heard me right, when the moon swings between us and sun its compounded 10fold! its enough to pull or tug at the fabric of the bubble distorting just enough to create a unstable vortex in the chamber, backed up accumulation in the bottle neck and bingo, u get a spill over!
it sounded good anyways