Protein Skimmer Air Pump Question

[bumper55]

So I got my protein skimmer today... turns out it is an Oceanic Biocube Skimmer.  Wasn't labeled as that though, but it was like 30 bucks so I took it.  Sadly no returns, and I'm not interested in buying another one.  I checked the air pump and it said CAP 21 gph, so basically I'm gonna get nothing probably.  However, I have a Tetra Whisper 20 Air Pump that is 95 gph according to my calculations(or the internets calculations).  Would it be better if I switched the two?  I'm still new to Skimmers, so I don't know if gph matters, but usually the higher it is, the better off you are. 
 
Note: I don't have a Biocube

 

[Donya]

It is possible to have too much air pumped through air-driven skimmers, as can foam out the top. I have one of these and the pump mine came with works fine, but I don't recall the specs. 
 
Anyway, you won't get much impact on nutrient levels with this type of skimmer unless it's on a really tiny tank. I have found mine useful as a backup for dye removal with sea hares and to get rid of debris and other fine gunk from the water column due to digging animals that would pass right through filter floss. 

 

[Jan Cavalieri]

I'll send you $15 by PayPal for the lid to the cup (we'd have to make sure it's the same one as I have); So, buying the entire cup might be better actually. I bought skimmer off of Amazon in June of last year but couldn't figure out how to put it together. My highly engineering inclined daughter had it put together in about 10 minutes. But she didn't have instructions at the time, so she put it together like you would for a regular tank rather than a biocube, but luckily, I found instructions for how to set it up for a biocube. But what I lost some time since I opened the box is the cup lid and I can't find any replacement parts. Got in touch with company to see if I could purchase replacement parts, they responded back asking me what the number was inscribed on the back of the skimmer, and I said there were no numbers on the back of the tank. and sent some of my unit as well as sent pictures of the box (The best place to find the numbers since the pictures are so much clearer) I got another fast response initial response regarding the number on the back, and they immediately replied that their response might be slower over the next 2 weeks or so - he was right - there has been no response since. My instructions from various people have been the let the biocube run without a skimmer for a couple of months and the add the skimmer. I'm not even surer I can get tubing on it - somewhere I read that this skimmer has been modified a few times to improve it's action - I assume that means capacity but I can't find any thing where it meansures capacity

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07WT6QWP1/?tag=ff0d01-20

If you look at the picture that shows the top of the unit you should be able to see if it's the same one as you have. You can also read the reviews here about issues with the skimmers that others have had.

 

[Colin_T]

Don't respond to this thread, it's from 2013

 

[Jan Cavalieri]

Oh, one more thing. One of the youtube videos I watched mentioned not to put a bigger skimmer in the Biocube because the gunk will run all over the place. Someone replied that they had fixed that problem (I wonder if that's why they started stamping their items with numbers so they could see what version the unit is. )

 

[Jan Cavalieri]

But maybe he still has the cap? (Forever hopeful) The way the youtube videos complained about it was that everthing to do with thing was bad, but there are no others thing will work but you could just by a 30 gallon tank and there are quite a few other brands would work better. While some people said it was the best skimmer they'd ever used. How to make a decision especially when the modify it every year.

 

[Essjay]

The OP hasn't been on-line since 2013 so s/he's unlikely to read the post.