Bubble Magus Qq1 Skimmer Not Producing Foam

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CrownEye

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Sep 26, 2016
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m2j1l9
Hi
I recently bought Bubble magus qq1 skimmer for my 8gallon nano tank..
It is being up and running for 3days and bubble never raise or pass through neck of collection cup..
It remains very low with minute bubble column..

What I heard is new skimmer will overflow till it s breaks in.. but in my case bubbles are raising enough to reach the cup..

Tank spec:
8gallon AIO
Heavily stocked with corals and small pair of clown fish. I feed pellets twice a day..
Runs with filter floss.. purigen and chemipure blue..
Small ball of cheato..

Looking for experts valuable advice..

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Nonuser

Nonuser

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Location
Brantford
With my limited experience, Skimmers don't work well in Nano tanks. Skimmers require constant water levels and with a Nano tank its almost impossible to keep the water level consistent. That being said your tank looks amazing. My question is do you really need a skimmer or just think you do?

I only say that because I did the same exact thing as you. I had a 20 gallon all in one doing pretty good without a skimmer for over a year and then I decided I had to have a skimmer. Long story short the skimmer never really worked that great. it did finally break in after about a month and did skim. it was a constant battle of top ups and tweaking the skimmer. I removed the skimmer and it didn't seem to make a difference.

Also with 8 gallons you can do a 50% water change every week with minimal cost.
 
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CrownEye

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Sep 26, 2016
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m2j1l9
@Nonuser Thanks for your valuable comments..

I do 15%wc weekly..

I added skimmer thinking that pair of clowns ll add huge bioload to 8gallon system. For few months I ran my tank fishless and when I added pair of clowns I observed my filter floss becoming more dirty and hair algae started to pop up..

I do have tunze nano ATO which keeps water level stable..

What adjustments I have to do so it ll start skimming..
 
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CrownEye

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I did tried to move the cup up and down. No change in bubble level. I will wait for week and see how it s doing..
 
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TORX

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That skimmer is rated at 25 gallons which is more then 3 times your water volume. It will be hard to tune it. Most of the time we get skimmer rated at our tank size or slightly higher, but 3 times higher is a lot. It will take a long time to get anything going in that 8 gallon. I personally would not suggest a skimmer on that pico tank. I would actually suggest 1 cup water changes daily for the best results. Although your pico looks great with the current maintenance that you are doing. So basically I am with @Nonuser and saying ditch the skimmer. Tank looks better without it :)
 
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TORX

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SpongeAl

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Dec 10, 2016
Location
Orillia
It will work.

Couple things, to get going, if this isn't already evident, set it so the top of the bubbles are at the bottom of the thin neck area, after it has been running for 15-20 minutes. This should get you something. As the bubbles thicken up over the next few hours, they will now have the pressure to lift them up and out of the neck, but they need to be right at that threshold, especially with the thin bubbles you have now.

After it does start skimming, don't be scared to skim a little wet. Small skimmers aren't really going to make really dark skimate anyways, the key is to export nutrients, not to brag about dark snot, so if it takes a few table spoons of water from your system to be able to skim, so be it.

I have read in some cases its the water itself that needs to "break in", I don't know if there is anything to that or not as I have always been able to skim right away, but it may add credence to having to wait 4-5 days.

I used a Cadlights PLS-50 (10-50 gallon) skimmer on a 7 gallon before, it worked well.

You are going to get some days where it skims a little more or less, but I think that has more to do with the gunk in the water rather then how the skimmer is set.

Also some foods will reduce, then increase bubbles a few hours later. Some foods foam right away. Epoxy will kill your bubbles for a few days.

Some have suggested to clean a new skimmer with vinegar, seems reasonable but probably not necessary.

Keep the faith.
 
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CrownEye

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Sep 26, 2016
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m2j1l9
TORX said:
Now if you were looking for a skimmer that would knock up style on the tank, maybe try the Gnome Glass Skimmer. It would be great for the tank size and is pretty sharp looking.

https://reefbuilders.com/2012/05/31/gnome-glass-air-skimmer/
https://reefbuilders.com/2012/03/10/gnome-glass-skimmers-strainers-launched-reefstock/

Click to expand...


@TORX thanks lot for your comments and suggestions.. I bought this skimmer considering the future upgrade.. let this skimmer sit idle for while. I will go with 1cup water change daily...
 
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Canadianeh

Active Member
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Sep 20, 2016
Location
T-dot
scubasteve said:
Have an indoor garden and plop a few mangroves in old style hob filters wotk great as a chaeto and mangrove mini fuge
Click to expand...
I like that idea! Does having mangrove is the same as chaeto to help in removing phosphate and nitrate?

Is it high to maintain?
 
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CrownEye

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Sep 26, 2016
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m2j1l9
Thanks @scubasteve .. may be I will try mangrove once I upgrade the tank.. right now I don't have space to accommodate another red light.... my cheato is just growing with my main light source AI prime..
 
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