my protien skimmer use to make like a cup of skimmate like wevery 4 days and now it put out like a tea spoon if that a day whats with it should i clean the sucker and see if that the problem or what

i am actually having the same issue, ever since i put my skimmer in the sump it doesnt collect like it used to. when i clean it, it gets a good amount for like the first day, then its back to slow pace skimming. im wondering if the water level in the sump has something to do with it

well this is how my sump is set up it goes inlet form top tank into the first chamber filled with live rock and some live macro algae and then through some baffles in to what could be my refrigium (just filled with a sand bed and some live rock and live macro algae then over a wall where my skimmer/carbon/return pump back to top tank thats how i have had it running for a long time. i have been thinking of setting up something where the skimmer pulls the watter from the top tank and returns it to the bottom or maybe the top kinda a closed loop system for skimming and hook up a uv up to it so it is perfect water... something like that

makavel,

With the skimmer sitting in the sump, water level around the skimmer has a big influence on the water/air ratio. The higher the water surrounding the skimmer, the higher the water level inside the skimmer and the less air that can occupy the same space inside.

Also, the longer the skimmer runs non-stop, the more slime builds up on the impellar/needlewheel. After 3-4 days of non-stop running, my skimmer's foam head drops. I turn it off then back on a couple times and the foam head comes back up to normal level.

You could make a platform from pvc to sit the skimmer on.

Recommended depths for in-sump skimmers are different for various skimmers but seems like 5-7 inch depth is about average.

I actually have the same problem with my Octopus NW200 skimmer. When I got it, I intended to modify it for recirculation and for it to sit out of sump. Instead, I got in a hurry and put it in the sump and just started using it. I neglected to consider the 12in tall bubble wall and hence the depth it would be sitting.

Needless to say, It doesn't perform nearly as well as it could if it were in 5inches of water.

I'm stuck though cause my stand won't allow me to raise it enough to make much of a difference and getting the skimmer out of the sump requires sliding my 55g sump out one end of the stand. Very poor planning on my part.

It does work well enough though to keep my nitrates below 5ppm in conjunction with a 15g Macro refugium and 29g Xenia refugium.