albertthiel Posted June 19, 2012 Share Posted June 19, 2012 The skimmmate from mine is a pretty light tea color. I skim pretty wet. I'm using a 1 gallon jug, so I only have to empty it every couple weeks. I'm interested in comparing notes on our airstone skimmers as there's not a ton of information about the ideal adjustments and whatnot. I don't think there's a ton to worry about though. One thing... If you're skimming really wet, keep an eye on your salinity. You'll be pulling out salt water and your ATO will be replacing it with RO/DI. Bubble size is a matter of the wood used and its porosity but if that is too tight then the air pump will not be able to push the air through as there will be too much resistance. I tried oak and that did not work, pine and was not happy with that either as the bubbles were IMO too large .. still looking for the best wood but when I was running skimmers I changed to venturi driven ones and found those to be better and easier to regulate the air flow on. As I was looking for something on www. athiel.com I came across an article written a long time ago by Ian McDonald on various types of skimmers ... it's of course not the most recent analysis but still a pretty good one that you may wish to read http://netclub.athiel.com/ian/SKIMMERS.HTM And here is a link to venturi valves of all kinds http://www.google.com/search?client=safari...-8&oe=UTF-8 Albert Link to comment
ccapasso Posted June 19, 2012 Author Share Posted June 19, 2012 The skimmmate from mine is a pretty light tea color. I skim pretty wet. I'm using a 1 gallon jug, so I only have to empty it every couple weeks. I'm interested in comparing notes on our airstone skimmers as there's not a ton of information about the ideal adjustments and whatnot. I don't think there's a ton to worry about though. One thing... If you're skimming really wet, keep an eye on your salinity. You'll be pulling out salt water and your ATO will be replacing it with RO/DI. We can certainly compare notes. I run a protein skimmer on my 55g and it is pretty straight forward. Works well. I am not familiar though with what you mean by skimming wet. Link to comment
Islandoftiki Posted June 19, 2012 Share Posted June 19, 2012 I am not familiar though with what you mean by skimming wet. Basically, if you're running more air through the airstone, the skimmate will be more wattery and lighter in color as opposed to dry skimmate which would be very dark, almost black and sludgy. I'm pretty sure we can't get dry skimmate like venturi skimmers can produce. Link to comment
jedimasterben Posted June 19, 2012 Share Posted June 19, 2012 We can certainly compare notes. I run a protein skimmer on my 55g and it is pretty straight forward. Works well. I am not familiar though with what you mean by skimming wet. The skimmate is thinner and less dark when skimming "wet". Basically you're just pulling more water out. EDIT: Got ninja'd! D'oh! Link to comment
ccapasso Posted June 19, 2012 Author Share Posted June 19, 2012 Thanks for the clarification guys. So, lets talk names here. I'm leaning towards the name Kraken. What do you all think ? Link to comment
ccapasso Posted June 19, 2012 Author Share Posted June 19, 2012 Couple of new videos: Mantis Shrimp Exploring Part 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ymToHp24ofE Mantis Shrimp Exploring Part 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hbzL8oH8t9A Lastly, I noticed he was going to town on this one snail shell today. After he got done beating it to death, he decided to carry it around in what I believe to be his mouth: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ktkk8FriDAI Link to comment
albertthiel Posted June 19, 2012 Share Posted June 19, 2012 Couple of new videos: Mantis Shrimp Exploring Part 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ymToHp24ofE Mantis Shrimp Exploring Part 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hbzL8oH8t9A Lastly, I noticed he was going to town on this one snail shell today. After he got done beating it to death, he decided to carry it around in what I believe to be his mouth: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ktkk8FriDAI Thanks very interesting to watch ... seems to leave the fish alone .... Albert Link to comment
ccapasso Posted June 19, 2012 Author Share Posted June 19, 2012 Saw the majano! Yup, that was right after I had put it in too! Thanks very interesting to watch ... seems to leave the fish alone .... Albert So far he has left it alone. He's made a few attempts but nothing with any effort. From the way I've seen him go after snails and food that I put on a stick, I'm pretty confident that if he wanted the fish bad enough, it'd be dead by now. Link to comment
gearhead364 Posted June 19, 2012 Share Posted June 19, 2012 so do you think a Mantis could co exist with dwarf lion in that size of a tank? Link to comment
albertthiel Posted June 19, 2012 Share Posted June 19, 2012 so do you think a Mantis could co exist with dwarf lion in that size of a tank? Not sure but any Lionfish in small tanks is IMHO not a good idea Albert Link to comment
gearhead364 Posted June 20, 2012 Share Posted June 20, 2012 Thanks for the input albert but dwarfs like the fuzzy and zebra only get around 5" long full grown and they do fine 30+ set up they are alot like dwarf anglers. Link to comment
albertthiel Posted June 20, 2012 Share Posted June 20, 2012 Thanks for the input albert but dwarfs like the fuzzy and zebra only get around 5" long full grown and they do fine 30+ set up they are alot like dwarf anglers. If you feel ok with it then go ahead and keep us posted. I OTOH would not do it but it's up to you Link to comment
ccapasso Posted June 20, 2012 Author Share Posted June 20, 2012 so do you think a Mantis could co exist with dwarf lion in that size of a tank? Best rule of thumb: If you don't want the other thing in the tank besides the Mantis to be eaten, don't put it in. It may survive but there is no guarantee. Link to comment
gearhead364 Posted June 20, 2012 Share Posted June 20, 2012 Ive had my lion for about a year and a half now hes my fav and I am very well aware of that rule from the lions point of view I was just curious what you would think. idk what it is about unique predators that are sooo interesting but they are.. anyways maybe ill set up a mantis pico! Link to comment
ccapasso Posted June 20, 2012 Author Share Posted June 20, 2012 Ive had my lion for about a year and a half now hes my fav and I am very well aware of that rule from the lions point of view I was just curious what you would think. idk what it is about unique predators that are sooo interesting but they are.. anyways maybe ill set up a mantis pico! Yup. My suggestion would be to keep the lion separate from the Mantis if he is your fav . Not worth risking it. I would recommend setting up a pico for a mantis though. There are several species that stay small and can be kept with corals Link to comment
ccapasso Posted June 20, 2012 Author Share Posted June 20, 2012 Came in this morning and have skimmate! In addition, I can tell it is working based on the color of the foam residue that is at the top of it. Link to comment
ccapasso Posted June 20, 2012 Author Share Posted June 20, 2012 I'm thinking of feeding some live food today.....Maybe an emerald crab.... Hmmm............... Link to comment
Islandoftiki Posted June 20, 2012 Share Posted June 20, 2012 How about some hermit crabs? They're tougher to crack. Link to comment
ccapasso Posted June 20, 2012 Author Share Posted June 20, 2012 How about some hermit crabs? They're tougher to crack. He has destroyed all the hermits that were in there, lol. Either way, not going to happen today. LFS was out of stock of the emeralds. Will have to wait til next week. Link to comment
ccapasso Posted June 20, 2012 Author Share Posted June 20, 2012 Picture of the skimmer showing the foam and ring of gunk: Skimmate: Link to comment
Islandoftiki Posted June 20, 2012 Share Posted June 20, 2012 That's about what mine looks like when I skim on the wet side. If you turn down the air just a tiny tiny bit, you may be able to get a little darker skimmate. Your airstone should be waterlogged by now and performing consistently, so you can probably do any fine tweaking now. Link to comment
albertthiel Posted June 20, 2012 Share Posted June 20, 2012 That's about what mine looks like when I skim on the wet side. If you turn down the air just a tiny tiny bit, you may be able to get a little darker skimmate. Your airstone should be waterlogged by now and performing consistently, so you can probably do any fine tweaking now. If it runs off an air pump you could either regulate its output if it has that capability or pinch the airline tubing somewhat to reduce the air flow to the wooden air stone in the skimmer FWIW Albert Link to comment
Deleted User 4 Posted June 21, 2012 Share Posted June 21, 2012 Nice tank and scape along with the Peacock mantis. Link to comment
ccapasso Posted June 25, 2012 Author Share Posted June 25, 2012 If it runs off an air pump you could either regulate its output if it has that capability or pinch the airline tubing somewhat to reduce the air flow to the wooden air stone in the skimmer FWIWAlbert It does run off of an air pump and it just so happened to come with a regulator . I've been running it on the lower setting but ran it on high over the weekend. Nice tank and scape along with the Peacock mantis. Thanks . In other news guess who is getting a special live treat today..... Link to comment
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