2 problems

[ferraridude112]

Alright, today i completely finished filling my tank. I have 2 problems though...

First of all, my Protein skimmer (Reef Octopus NW110) is producing a wet skim. I don't know if this skimmer has a break in period and was wondering if there was something wrong with it. I am currently dunning everything on freshwater to see if there were any leaks. I adjusted the water level in the skimmer to about 1" under the top of the collection cup. Also if i adjust it to the top of the collection cup, the collection cup fills with water. I hope this is normal! Please get back to me soon!!!


Secondly, i added some Seachem Clarity to my tank yesterday because even though i rinsed my sand, it was extremely cloudy,and this morning i had a brown layer of junk over all my sand and the water was even worse than it was before. I was wondering if when i get my Protein Skimmer running right if all this "junk" will clear up or if I need to change all the water.

 

[ferraridude112]

I am currently dunning

I mean running not dunning

 

[weaglereefer]

You said you're running it with fresh water? A skimmer won't work properly with fresh water.

 

[ferraridude112]

Wow i feel like an idiot...what about the water not being clear?????????????

 

[jennm]

The brown junk on the sand is what the Clarity flocked out of the water. It binds to the fine particles and makes them heavier, so they sink, and can be vacuumed up later.

Even rinsing the sand will still result in a "dust bowl" for a while. If you don't already have some filter floss or a sock in place, try adding that and it will catch the stuff. Just make sure to check the filter media often, because when there's a lot of particulate, media can clog up quickly.

And yes, freshwater isn't dense enough for skimmers to fractionate. That's why we don't se them on FW systems

Jenn

 

[ferraridude112]

Well thanks for the advice everybody...I have been mixing salt into the water and it is significantly clearing up...I can almost see through the tank :lol2:. Havent tried the Protein skimmer yet, but i will once the salt is mixed up. Special thanks to Tony "Caliente" for coming over and helping us today, it prevented a big scare. Again, Thanks for the advice everybody and ill keep you posted on how it is coming

 

[smallblock]

yeah the skimmer will be fine, its wierd how the salt makes it work