Hi - first post!
I've been setting up my first marine system (I kept tropicals years ago) in a Aqua Medic Percula 36x24x24 tank, using live rock (I took out the bioballs on advice from the supplier - Calico Aquatics, near Carlisle, England) and have just added my first fish.
I've been doing the setup in slow time, and following all setup and feeding advice given by Calico - giving the live rock a few weeks, ading a cleanup crew (12 turbo snails, 12 blue-legged hermits, brittlestar, emerald crab) and giving it another few weeks, and finally, last week, introducing two wee clowns and a blue-cheeked goby. So far so good.
Now, the skimmer that came with the system sits in a compartment in a "sump" in the back of the tank. Periodically it seems to become particularly lively, and fills the cup with what looks like water in an hour or two - I've effectively done a 10% water change in the past week just keeping up with the skimmer. Doesn't seem to be linked to any in-tank events, like the adding of new stock, or whatever, just some days it's skimming like billy-o, and some days it isn't. I'd assumed the skimmed stuff would be rather more viscous, and that there'd be less of it! There doesn't seem to be any way of adjusting it - apart from adding the supplied spacer to raise the height of the thing.
Now, am I making some sort of newbie mistake here, or will it hopefully settle with time? Or should I add the spacer, and raise the height, even though that will make it stick out over the top and stop me fitting the covering plate to the back of aquarium "sump"?
Also, prob not the right forum here, but the tiny amount of frozen food (0.5cm cube of frozen brine shrimp it looks like) I'm feeding them gets swirled around the tank and looks like it's getting everywhere and being really messy. Am I making another newbie mistake with my feeding? Like should I be switching the pumps off at feeding time? Otr feeding different food, or less?
Sorry if above descriptions are a bit vague - posting from work, and haven't got precise details to hand!
I've been setting up my first marine system (I kept tropicals years ago) in a Aqua Medic Percula 36x24x24 tank, using live rock (I took out the bioballs on advice from the supplier - Calico Aquatics, near Carlisle, England) and have just added my first fish.
I've been doing the setup in slow time, and following all setup and feeding advice given by Calico - giving the live rock a few weeks, ading a cleanup crew (12 turbo snails, 12 blue-legged hermits, brittlestar, emerald crab) and giving it another few weeks, and finally, last week, introducing two wee clowns and a blue-cheeked goby. So far so good.
Now, the skimmer that came with the system sits in a compartment in a "sump" in the back of the tank. Periodically it seems to become particularly lively, and fills the cup with what looks like water in an hour or two - I've effectively done a 10% water change in the past week just keeping up with the skimmer. Doesn't seem to be linked to any in-tank events, like the adding of new stock, or whatever, just some days it's skimming like billy-o, and some days it isn't. I'd assumed the skimmed stuff would be rather more viscous, and that there'd be less of it! There doesn't seem to be any way of adjusting it - apart from adding the supplied spacer to raise the height of the thing.
Now, am I making some sort of newbie mistake here, or will it hopefully settle with time? Or should I add the spacer, and raise the height, even though that will make it stick out over the top and stop me fitting the covering plate to the back of aquarium "sump"?
Also, prob not the right forum here, but the tiny amount of frozen food (0.5cm cube of frozen brine shrimp it looks like) I'm feeding them gets swirled around the tank and looks like it's getting everywhere and being really messy. Am I making another newbie mistake with my feeding? Like should I be switching the pumps off at feeding time? Otr feeding different food, or less?
Sorry if above descriptions are a bit vague - posting from work, and haven't got precise details to hand!
/tinyurl.com/cuyeg
