Seaclone100 Skimmer Collection cup (liquid or no liquid)

[Saltwater Taffy]

Hello Again,

I have a Seaclone100 protein skimmer on my tank that is cycling now. I've read more negative than positive on this skimmer (after i bought it go figure). Mine seems to be working now...my question is in the collection cup, the bottom is a green to brown liquid but it doesn't come out as a liquid. It comes out as a foam and it looks like the foam comes out pretty wet and thats why I have the liquid at the bottom. The skimmer has to be working because there in that nasty smelly mess in the collection cup. I had asked two guys at my LFS and one told me that it should be a nice sludge and reccomened a CPR BackPak...the other guy told me it didn't matter as long as there is foam. He said that the foam is why I have the liquid and it is no problem. I have read about modifications to the Seaclone but i'm not sure if i need to make any yet. Thanks for the input.

[RazerCorals]

The sludge just means your running your skimmer more efficiently. It basically is doing the same thing, only you need to empty the cup more often.

[Saltwater Taffy]

Thanks for the input!!

[BigFish]

how big of a tank do you have the seaclone on?

BTW the sludge stuff is a sign it is working. I talked to john walsh yesterday and he said that protien skimmers now days are just overkill. He said he took ro/di water and added salt to it and hooked up a protien skimmer and he still got brown sludge in the skimmer so basically they clean out trace elements too not just bad things. I use one about 5-10 hours a week.

[Saltwater Taffy]

BF,

55 Gallons

[surgeon67]

In my closed tank the skimmer also is a good addition to aeration. I turned it off for a few days when I had the overflow covered and the fish rose to the top gasping... the dropped right back down after I turned it back on. Thankfully not a problem anymore since the overflow is open (and quieter!)

[sinasster]

Although the seaclone is not the best skimmer to get, it does do a decent job on smaller tanks like your 55. I would'nt recommend buying one, but since you did i would'nt recommend wasting more money by replacing it. as it will do what you need it to do.

[Saltwater Taffy]

Thanks for the input everyone. Question...I have my seaclone running 24/7 and have read where some people don't (just a few hours a day or week). My question is what determines whether you run your skimmer 24/7 or several hours a day or week? Personal preference? Bioload? I don't have anything in my tank except "typical" hitchhikers: 22 baby feather dusters (dime size and smaller), atleast 2 different species of anemone (trying to take clear pictures of these for identification), spaghetti worms, and I think that's pretty much it. I'm sure that doesn't really warrant running my skimmer all day but it does take out the bad, and some good, so that's why I run it....what do you think? :?

[cara]

My seaclone 100 is doing the same thing this thread is talking about but only when I have the air intake valve open wide! It than throws fine air bubbles into the tank. It is so full of air bubbles you can hardly see through it! HELP! :x

[cnrcool]

I had the 150 up until a few weeks ago. They are difficult to adjust. Run the venturi closed until all air is out of the J tube, this could take a few minutes. Open it until you start to get a decent mix of air in the J tube but not so much as the tube looks like the water is not contacting all sides of the tube. For mine it was one whole turn open. If there is a little bit of bubbles getting back into the tank then believe it or not turn it open another 1/4 turn. Wait a few minutes and see if that is not clearing up in your display. IF not open anther 1/4 and so and so on. Keep on eye on the J tube as it should have water contacting it all the way around. With mine it would all of sudden one have a large amount of air in the tube and the water flow was really slow. These skimmers need constant adjusting. This is why I dumped it on Ebay and got a turboflotor 1000. My seaclone would get a decent amount of foam as it was in only a 55. Probably about a cup a week or more. They have very small cups. The turboflotor averages about 4-5 days. The collection cup is large and the collection is getting darker evertime. If your seaclone is still not working well I did remove my foam screen. This doubled the capacity of the skimmer right away!