Hey all,

I have a frankenstiened together 12G nano. It's not biocube brand, in fact I'm not even sure what it is but I think a JBJ. Anyway money is a super tight issue right now but a local reefer gave me a biocube branded bubblestone skimmer.

Can someone tell me where I should have this dialed in with the valve please. Where/how do I know the bubbles are set right. I have a TON of inverts, 2 small fish, some target fed corals so a decent bioload. My first chamber in the back has the plastic/paint removed and works as a fuge with cheato and calupera. Skimmer is in the second chamber (stays same water level as tank), then heater/carbon in the third, then maxijet 900 pump in the last to send water back to the display.

I searched a lot on both google, here, and reefcentral and can't seem to find basic set up info and help.

Thanks a lot!

There are a lot of threads on these skimmers. Here is one that might be what you are looking for.

Airstone skimmer aren't my favorite, but can still be beneficial. Often they need a more powerful air pump, and the airstones need to be replaced regularly.

Yeah. I went through a ton of those threads. Part I'm specifically not clear on is when its mentioned to have the bubbles just above the base outlet (without the cup on) is that the height of the bubbles just barely over, or the bubbles just bubbling over the edges of the top. The bubbles dont pop right away so they sort of mound up a bit before they start to actually flow down, and there seems to be a pretty big skimming difference between those slight differences in air pressure pushed.

Sounds right. Experiment a bit, anything is better than nothing; and you can always save up for a better skimmer down the road.

Alright. What should the skim in the cup look like if its right? Being my first skimmer I dont know what the end result is supposed to look like to tell if I do have it right either.

Dirty water or actual solid waste?

I don't have one (so I'm just assuming based on past experience with similar skimmers), but I would guess that a weak tea color is about all that you can expect. Someone that runs one...please jump in here to correct me if I'm wrong.

I have this skimmer on my nc 12 gallon. You should dial it in so that you get a large amount of small bubbles. It's not the greatest skimmer but I get a yellowish brown color skimate and some small particles.