Skimmer and algae question.

SaltyGQ

SaltyGQ

New member
Hello all,

About a month ago I purchased a eBay HOB skimmer. The typhoon rated for 125 gallons. Assembled it and got it going with no leaks and it started to skim. I adjusted the skimmer as the Manual stated but I really never got a lot of gunk to come out of it. It looked just a little dirty, like tea. It would and still does produce micro bubbles. I tried to put a filter in the outlet but it just raises the water level in the skimmer and it starts to pour water into the overflow jug. I think this is a piece of crap and for what I paid I shouldn't be surprised. Has anyone used this model before?

Second question is once I started using the skimmer I would notice air bubbles on my live rock and now on my sand bed. Not saying my tank was perfect before but I never had bubbles on my sand or live rock. Some of them look stringy like Dino but are clear. And on the sand bed it looks like the start of hair algae but I'm not able to identify. Could the micro bubbles from the skimmer cause this to happen or should I be looking at something else?

Ammonia 0
Nitrites 0
Nitrates 2.5-5

65gallon tank

Ill try to get a better picture as well.

Any help would be great and thanks in advance for the help.

ny5u9a9u.jpg
 
Yeah that's the crap one I have. I thought it would be fine for a couple months. Oh how funny. What about the stringy things coming from the bubbles, should I try to remove?
 
How long has your tank been set up for?

If it's fairly new, it just may be coincidental. I'd vote algae or dino's depending on phosphates.
 
algea is a whole nother issue, microbubbles arent going to hurt anything, it doesnt look like dino to me, but would need more info on the tank setup, and full params.
 
Up for 2 years, I've only had some hair algae in the past but not for a long time. I've never tested for phosphates so maybe that's my issue. Looks like web in some areas. It's only in a couple spots and I want to stop it as soon as possible. Do you think snails in the sand bed could cause it? I added some about a month ago too, but in the last week is when I started to see the web/algae crap.

Thanks for the help
 
im not sure what you mean by web/algea. I see only a little bit of turf in your tank which looks like its being managed by the clean up crew, if you have gone for 2 years without problems i'm not sure i would attribute it to your maintence routine, they way you describe it as 'web' makes me wonder if you have vermetid snails, would need a picture of what your talking about though
 
I'm home now and didn't get a chance to get a good picture. I can't see any bubbles on the rock now so it must be algae releasing O2 when the lights are on. It looked like a short string/web with a air bubble attached to the end.

I have a question going back to the skimmer. I've always heard and saw skimmers pulling gunk out of the tanks. This one isn't doing anything like that. I'm worried if I try to adjust the level too high it will start to siphon from my tank into my waste jug and overflow... Again. I didn't want to invest in a new skimmer for this tank as I will be building a huge sump in the basement this year. I have mixed reef, mostly with softies and a couple Lps/sps. Is there a good hob skimmer that I should look for used that could do the work I need?

I was thinking when I bought this one "how bad can it be?"

Thanks for the help.
 
depends what size your tank is, anything more than 40 gallons the HOB skimmers are all kinda useless, if you are getting into the higher volumes the reef octopus or deltec are the only options really.
 
fwadiver said:
depends what size your tank is, anything more than 40 gallons the HOB skimmers are all kinda useless, if you are getting into the higher volumes the reef octopus or deltec are the only options really.
Click to expand...

Mines a 65 so I hope it could help with cleaning it a little. I don't want to spend a ton on a hob as it only be used for 6 months.
 
Quick question.. Do you think if I go with a good skimmer I could stop using my fluval 406 canister filter? Or would I have to go with a sump to get rid of it? Thanks
 
ya get a skimmer and dump your canister filter, or only use it for water polishing on occasion.
find and old deltec hang on back they are good or older tunze classic that sits up on the top back rail those work pretty well.

or just get a sump and real skimmer.
 
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