Protien Skimmer Death!

[woody88]

My stock protein skimmer cup has smashed [Dropped it on floor when cleaning it] so now I have no skimmer in my 28G.

I have just bought a brand new replacement off ebay for £20 which will arrive by next TUESDAY.

Will my tank be ok without it for the next week.
I have just done a 25% water change and a good clean inside, needless to say my tank is cloudy at the mo. But with no skimmer I cant see any other way of it clearing.

I do have a small internal power filter which I could add some sponge to, to provide a bit of mechanical filtration or a large piece of sponge to wedge down one of my weirs.

Is this worth it or will I be ok for a few days.

I'm gonna cut down on feeding either way.

Advice anyone please!....

 

[woody88]

Just had a thought! [stand back! lol]....I could try and repair or replace the skimmer cup and then hopefully have 2 skimmers running simultaneously!

Or better yet, remove the cup assembly completely and I'll basically end up with [in theory] an empty reactor. Ready to add phosphate etc.

Any thoughts on this?

Answering the first post is more important than this tho! lol!

 

[Donya]

If you can glue the bits back together to get a seamless fit, why not. Only thing I would worry about is it dribbling back into the tank if the fit isn't good. If you have something that can make a good fit at least around the important bits, you can always set up a bit of tubing to drain it into a larger container on the floor. Anyway, the tank should also be ok skimmerless for a bit. Test the water after a day or so and, as you said, cut back on feeding if it looks to be building up waste quickly. The sponge probably isn't worth it for only a few days. No thoughts to offer on the reactor idea unfortunately.

 

[woody88]

Thanks donya, I'm afraid the skimmer cup is beyond repair so I can try and source another one off the web or somehow convert the skimmer into some sort of reactor.
Ive currently got it running in a bucket of water so I can get an idea of how it's filtering and to see if I can add a media bag of rowaphos or add it without.

I've found some new sponge witch I took out of a brand new fluval 205 canister and that is currently sitting comfy in one of my wiers.

It's better than nothing I suppose. I'm gonna check it daily to see if it's collecting crap at all and if so rinse it out in RO.

Will test for nitrates in 48 hrs!

 

[HappyGeorge]

Mate, in my 20G I don't run a skimmer at all, been 5 months and was over stocked for a while with 2 clowns and the Chalk Goby. I just have a lump of foam wedged in the rear chamber with a piece of tight fitting filter floss sheet on top and the really fine filter floss on top of that over the inlet to the rear chambers and Rowaphos dropped in the bottom, I wash the Floss out once a week when I change the water and replace it every 3 weeks. Nitrates <5 Phosphates 0. I wouldn't worry for a week mate it will be fine.

 

[woody88]

Mate, in my 20G I don't run a skimmer at all, been 5 months and was over stocked for a while with 2 clowns and the Chalk Goby. I just have a lump of foam wedged in the rear chamber with a piece of tight fitting filter floss sheet on top and the really fine filter floss on top of that over the inlet to the rear chambers and Rowaphos dropped in the bottom, I wash the Floss out once a week when I change the water and replace it every 3 weeks. Nitrates <5 Phosphates 0. I wouldn't worry for a week mate it will be fine.

Ahhhhh!..........I love reasurance! lol!.....Cheers bud!

Has your tank cleared yet?..

 

[HappyGeorge]

It's getting a bit clearer but I do need to train the chalk Goby not to sift sand right under the Vortech, and I need to buy some tweezers and scissors to get rid of some of my pulsing Xenia.

 

[woody88]

It's getting a bit clearer but I do need to train the chalk Goby not to sift sand right under the Vortech, and I need to buy some tweezers and scissors to get rid of some of my pulsing Xenia.

See!........And you was getting worried!..

It's my turn now!..........No skimmer and I think my green hairy algae is trying to make a comeback!

You gettin rid of some xenia!

 

[HappyGeorge]

Well with you in mind mate I have a couple of little bits of live rock that I am going to stick in the tank and see if some will creep onto it. At the moment it is all spreading I think, going to look back at my first tank photos in a bit to see if I am going mad. I didn't even manage to kill the stuff that I squashed on the dead coral plate, some of it is crowding the mushroom and others are starting to creep towards the zoas, so they need stopping. There seem to be 4 or 5 different types in the tank, if I can get a nice collection on a little bit of rock I will post some off to you mate.

 

[woody88]

Well with you in mind mate I have a couple of little bits of live rock that I am going to stick in the tank and see if some will creep onto it. At the moment it is all spreading I think, going to look back at my first tank photos in a bit to see if I am going mad. I didn't even manage to kill the stuff that I squashed on the dead coral plate, some of it is crowding the mushroom and others are starting to creep towards the zoas, so they need stopping. There seem to be 4 or 5 different types in the tank, if I can get a nice collection on a little bit of rock I will post some off to you mate.

Let me know mate and i'll send some cash your way!

 

[spadge]

were are you woody? i have some pulsing xenia fragged waiting to go lol, it grows so quickly i put it next to some LR rubble to divide it and donate it to a freind but he doesnt want it as his damsels pick at his atm. Your welcome to it if it saves MY lfs having it for free and making £15 off it lol

 

[woody88]

were are you woody? i have some pulsing xenia fragged waiting to go lol, it grows so quickly i put it next to some LR rubble to divide it and donate it to a freind but he doesnt want it as his damsels pick at his atm. Your welcome to it if it saves MY lfs having it for free and making £15 off it lol

Hi mate. I'm after a load of xenia pulse, but I need to get rid of my yellow streaked damsel as he decimated my last one.

Let me know how much you want inc p+p.

I'm also waiting for Happy George to get back to me has he has tons aswell so will have some off both of you as I love the stuff.

 

[spadge]

your welcome to the stuff for nothing pal, its growing like wild fire in my tank mate. must like where its at, so i plan on moving the blighter to slow it down haha I cant see the P+p being a great deal, let me know when you want it and i shall check P+P for ya.

 

[HappyGeorge]

I looked at Royal Mail next before 9 delivery and it was £5 if you wanted to limit its time in transit, not sure how long it would last but some of mine was in the dark out of flow for more than a week and still picked up. I have the same think spadge it grows incredibly quickly every couple of days there seems to be a new little clump somewhere.

 

[woody88]

To HG and spadge- let me know when you both ready guys and and I'll sort out the p+p and give you both a drink.

I guess my paypal account is gonna be busy! Lol