Quote:
Originally Posted by RDNanoGuy
If the water is shooting out its not set up right. Open the gate valve all the way and drop the skimmer so the output is 3/4 under the waters surface. Take off the cup. Open the air restrictor all the way then close the gate valve until the foam is just about to spill over the top of the skimmer body. Then put the cup back on. If you are getting micro bubbles escaping the reaction chamber, close the air restrictor a little bit and adjust the gate to keep the foam head at the same level.
Also let the skimmer run for an hour after each change. Skimmers don't like constant fiddling. A properly sized skimmer will not produce skimmate constantly. It will produce only when there is enough DOC's for the foam head to reach the top of the neck. After the levels of DOC's in the water column fall past a certain point the skimmate will stop flowing into the cup until the levels of DOC's rise again. If your skimmer is skimming constantly it is too small for you bioload.
Hope that helps.
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I checked and my gate valve is not closed, its a couple of turns open. +1 on the above, this is how I have mine set up. My water level is set to just under the gate valve. I don't get alot of microbubbles and what I do get is caught by the baffles in the sump and not an issue in the DT.