Prizm Skimmer going bazerk!.....

It's spewing micro bubbles all over my tank! AAACK!! Is this normal for a brad new skimmer? How long will it take to settle? Will the bubble harm any of my mushrooms or polyps or my tube anenome's? PLease help!

well you can settle down abit. The microbubles are normal for most skimmers. The microbubble can annoy corals but not enough to harm them. you might have to modify the skimmer some how.

What is the proper way to adjust my prizm?

On the top of the intake tube, there's a knob. Turn it until it's almost closed.... until the column of bubbles in the throat of the skimmer is about even with the O-ring, and there are no microbubbles returning to the tank. Let it run like this. You probably won't get much (if any) skimmate at first. It'll take a few days to break in. Once it's broken in, you have to fiddle with the setting to get it to skim propperly. Prizms are a pain in the ass to adjust. Even a 1/8" drop in your tank's water level will require you to readjust the flow to the skimmer. They require more TLC and tinkering than most skimmers. So long as you don't mind this daily fine-tuning, they can work just fine. hth.

kinda off the prizm subject... but..

ive been debating on whether or not to run a skimmer on a 30 gallon FOWLR im setting up. my parents have a prizm on their 38 gallon, but i hate it. therefore, i decided to go against the system and buy a lee's skimmer. i tested it out last night in the 'rents tank since im here and much to my surprise it produced more skimmate last night than the prizm did. now im sure the prizm works great for the inventor sice he or she knows exactly how to tweak it, but it looks like my little ole' lee's, which isnt even "broken in" yet, is gonna kick the prizms butt. and by the way, im not getting any bubble leakage either. i can get some pics if anyone is interested. air driven CC's rock!

People snub their noses at the air-driven skimmers, but they can work great (sometimes better than the pricey ones). The biggest issue with them is having to change the wooden air stone almost constantly.

Give the prizm time, the bubbles go away. They tend to do that for awhile when you first get them. Mine doesn't produce any bubbles anymore. Also, when I spoke to Red Sea, they said you should actually attach the air intake tube to the 'no air' barb for the first 48 hours while breaking in the skimmer. Then you can switch over to actual skimming on the air barb.

-my little ole' lee's, which isnt even "broken in" yet, is gonna kick the prizms butt-

If you like the in-the-tank style of skimmer taking up space Lee skimmers may not be a bad way to go. They are inexpensive too. You have to remember though, on this site most people are not running a 30 gallon tank with the room to take up and that much waste. With the small real estate of a nano and the smaller amounts of total waste a prizm isn't such a bad choice. Also, a lot of nano tanks don't even have fish waste in them because people tend to lean toward coral reefing in nano's. So you have less food/poop waste without the fish. Don't get me wrong, I initially looked at lee's too, but for a 10 gallon nano a HOB just makes sense and less production isn't so much of a concern.

Originally posted by appstateguy

kinda off the prizm subject... but..

 

ive been debating on whether or not to run a skimmer on a 30 gallon FOWLR im setting up. my parents have a prizm on their 38 gallon, but i hate it. therefore, i decided to go against the system and buy a lee's skimmer. i tested it out last night in the 'rents tank since im here and much to my surprise it produced more skimmate last night than the prizm did. now im sure the prizm works great for the inventor sice he or she knows exactly how to tweak it, but it looks like my  little ole' lee's, which isnt even "broken in" yet, is gonna kick the prizms butt. and by the way, im not getting any bubble leakage either. i can get some pics if anyone is interested. air driven CC's rock!

Is this Lee's an in tank or hang on?

in tank, and not recommended for a nano unless shortened IMO.

i was just proud of the little fella and wanted to share...

i dont run a skimmer on my 10 gallon or 5 hex nanos.