Does a protein skimmer use up more water?

[jassz]

Originally Posted by BlueAbyss

it seems like you have enough rock and flow (I'm sure I saw a Koralia in there somewhere) to do the job.

Is that the thing that looks like a thermos? Blue and black?

I do have some green plant looking thing in the sump that is supposed to remove nitrates. Would that be the macro algae? I can get a picture.

Yes and no on the skimmer. I can have the height set just right, but if I turn it off then on, or add another gallon because the level in the sump has dropped, the level is not right any more and needs to be adjusted. But, since the lid on the sump was modified, that is a bit easier to do. It works great when it's set right! It's like emptying a potty toilet- boy does it stink! It has to be a good thing that all that 'crap' is out of the water.

[BlueAbyss]

Koralia is a brand of powerhead. From what I can figure, when you said you had 3 sources of flow, you meant the powerhead, the return pump (from the sump), and the canister filter.

It would be great if you could get a picture of the algae in sump! It's likely a macroalgae called Chaetomorpha that likes a lot of flow (why a lot of people grow it in the sump), and grows free floating, very good for nutrient export... BUT, in my opinion a fuge needs to be rather larger than many people have made them to be efficient. Would it be possible to get sort of a full tank shot of your sump area?

I suspect that by moving your skimmer to another area in the sump you could get it into an area that has a constant level, so that you could dial in the skimmer and not have to worry about it too much... it sounds like to have to fiddle with it regularly to get it to skim properly?

It almost sounds like you need an automatic top off device to keep your water level constant.

[jassz]

So I just finished my maintenance on the tank and cannister... oy, it didn't go well.

I vaccumed the gravel first and removed about 10 gallons or so in the process. Then I got thinking about that cowrie snail that hasn't moved in a week. Someone suggested he was eaten, but I started to wonder if he might just be rotting in the shell so I had a look. Rotting is right! Before I could do anything about it, his decaying remains fell all over the tank. I think the triggers even ate some of it, I hope they don't get sick. Perhaps that was the source of my nitrate/nitrite? It can't be healthy for the water.

Anyway, on with the Fluval. I figured out how to get it disconnected with only minor flooding. I cleaned the bioballs in the water I had just removed from the tank, replaced the foam filter with the phosphate removing kind I had, scrubbed the whole thing and attempted to put it all back together. The prev. owners had an inline heater attached to the out line. Actually, there were 2 heaters but they weren't able to install the second one because the line was too short. So, I went to all this work to get both heater aligned, and fastened up against the wall so they weren't hanging down and unsightly, only to find out that I couldn't get the replacement tubing I had bought attached to the Fluval again. The old tubing was the same diameter, but it wasn't reinforced (like my new stuff) so I guess they were able to stretch it enough. But I didn't want to use it again as it was quite disgusting looking (and too short for both heaters). In the end I just reattached the Fluval lines as they were meant to be installed, sans heaters. There is a heater in the sump, but there's probably a reason why they had more than one. But, it's quite warm now (ambient temp), maybe it will be enough. I hope so, at least until I can get a coupler or something. It's certainly not maintenance I would want to do weekly!

My biggest grief was to get the damn thing to stop seeping! It's STILL seeping in fact. I finally wrapped a towel around it and gave up. It has taken me hours to do all this. One of my biggest impediments is that we are renovating, and don't have a sink downstairs, so I am up and down the stairs a million times, scrubbing parts, hauling water one gallon at a time. I need a nap.

I guess I have four sources of flow. The powerhead, the sump, the cannister filter, and this other thermos looking thing that shoots out water. Does the overflow count?

I will have to move that algae in to where the overflow return is then, if it likes flow. I thought it was getting beat up in there and moved it to a different part of the sump.

I don't think I could move the skimmer to another area. And honestly I can't figure out why the water level isn't constant, as it looks like it should be. But I will get a picture for you. Right after my nap.