Seaclone 150

jesterns2

I purchased a used saltwater tank that was operational @ the time. When I went home and set it up I ended up hith a high nitrate problem and realized I needed to replace the top rim so the tank was drained. Now when the tank was up the skimmer was bubbling but the bubbles were not coming to the top of the cup they were staying below the cup thus obviously not getting any overflow into the cup. Does this just mean there wasnt enough in the water to gather anything in the cup or is the skimmer not funcyioning properly?

Thankyou

Kellsindell

First issue i see is the Seaclone skimmer as a whole. they have a really bad reputation and you may want to get a replacement skimmer when you get the chance. AquaC and Euroreef are great skimmers that'll get the job done.

You if it's possible, you can raise the tower. Or it could also be the skimmer is new and hasn't been broken in

jesterns2

its definetly not a new skimmer thats for sure. I believe I will need a new one. Question, being that I had a nitrate problem and it came from half of the old water and the unclean filters which have been cleaned there is a lot of junk (whatever builds in protein skimmers) could that cause me a nitrate problem and should i just toss it before i set the tank up again? How soon would i need a skimmer?

Kellsindell

You don't have any fish in the tank? If so it'll be better to run the tank with no fish and no skimmer, but before you start adding fish you'll want to get a better skimmer. I'd recommend an AquaC or a EuroReef and never a CoralLife Superskimmer... they aren't super.

Pasfur

If organic waste was accumulated inside the neck of the skimmer, and then reintroduced into the aquarium where it was biologically processed....
Then without an established DSB, yes the junk in the skimmer could have caused a Nitrate spike.