Help with protein skimmer please

[SaltEpidemic]

So I got a protein skimmer going, it's brand new, been running a few days trying to see if it'll get past this ' break in ' stage everyone talks about. It's leaking micro bubbles from the bottom?? I'm not sure if this is supposed to be leaking here excessively?? I've tried raising water level and lowering it based on different responses others have said they ran it at, but ultimately it never worked at the exact manufacturer level correct either, but when I say correct, I mean the bubbles out the bottom.

It's a Nyos Quantum 160
150 gallon tank
Trigger 44 sapphire sump
1500 gph return or 10x display
Tank is 3 weeks old, lightly stalked, heavy fed(to keep tang aggression at bay currently/momentarily), Nitrates <10

Anyone have some solid tips and information on how to stop this excessive bubble leak out the bottom/side, I'd greatly appreciate it!

Edited to add: Ohh! It seems to lesson bubbles leaking out the bottom when I open the air valve further, but then it over flows. So I dial the air back to tune it in up high, but when I get back to the level I'm wanting it's leeching the bottoms then, like, because it's not escaping out the top it starts to escape out the bottom. Not sure if that's exactly what I'm seeing, just seems something of that nature...

 

[vanguard]

I've never seen one leak bubbles from the bottom. I appreciate the helpful video.

Request for info: Does it behave better if you remove the lid? It's kind of behaving like the air can't escape out the top like it's supposed to. Is there a plastic film you need to remove?

 

[SaltEpidemic]

I've never seen one leak bubbles from the bottom. I appreciate the helpful video.

Request for info: Does it behave better if you remove the lid? It's kind of behaving like the air can't escape out the top like it's supposed to. Is there a plastic film you need to remove?

Nothing changes with the lid removed, I think I've tried that before while tampering with things to figure out this issue, but I just now removed the entire lid and it didn't change a thing. :/

Okay, so I close the valve on that, I think it's the water adjustment valve?, and it'll seal the part it leaks, but then the skimmer itself fills completely to the top with water, even with air opened all the way, but more excessively filling and spilling the water as it floods. Lol I'm so confused!

 

[F4u-SuperCorsair]

Try taking the skimmer apart and look for cracks and or missing parts.

 

[cilyjr]

Are we sure the deflector plate that sits on top of the pump is on properly? There should be a picture in the manual

 

[SaltEpidemic]

Try taking the skimmer apart and look for cracks and or missing parts.

Yeah everything is assembled correctly and no damage, I actually had to wait on a piece that was damaged upon arriving to be replaced, so I've double checked/ built it twice and nothing appears out of order

 

[SaltEpidemic]

Are we sure the deflector plate that sits on top of the pump is on properly? There should be a picture in the manual

Yes it is, just checked it again to verify, looks correct

 

[SaltEpidemic]

Closing that valve completely stopped the leaking, but now it's just steady over flowing

 

[cilyjr]

Yes it is, just checked it again to verify, looks correct

Wish I could be of more help but that's all I thought of.

 

[SaltEpidemic]

Wish I could be of more help but that's all I thought of.

Hey a appreciate it, further investigation shows many others have ran into this issue too.

At this point I'm just running everything wide open, both valves. The setup instructions call for it, but it's just slightly over flowing, not much. I'm going to do this for awhile, letting the skimmate over flow into a five gallon bucket. I saw somewhere else that it worked, that the skimmer was trying to get rid of whatever it needed to before settling. I suppose I'll let it go a few days longer also to see if the break in period is all I'm dealing with.

I'll post an update as things evolve, thank you again, and the others trying to help.

First time using a skimmer, ever, so still learning all this fun stuff

 

[Idech]

Closing that valve completely stopped the leaking, but now it's just steady over flowing

I’m not an expert but overflowing in the first weeks of using a new skimmer on a new tank is normal. Can you turn down the air intake ?

 

[SaltEpidemic]

Update: Okay, so it appears reading and following the guidance in the owners manual helped allot. Perhaps I tried it before and saw the skimmer was over flowing a slight bit so decided to adjust things myself, and while I could stop it from over flowing it produced excessive amounts of those micro bubbles in my sump and tank.

With that said, I opened the level adjustment valve and air valve fully. It over flowed slightly, and using the drain hose and a five gallon bucket I let it run for a hour. It drained about a gallon worth of water before eventually settling down, and I continued letting it run a couple more hours before noticing the thick foam it had began to collect, the water level had lowered quite a bit in this time also. So from there, I left the air valve fully open and slowly lowered/'Closed' the water level valve(( Which is the larger nob)) until the micro bubbles slowly worked their way up and now are bursting near the top of the collection cup. I plan to adjust this as I watch it, expecting to get this thicker foam for awhile, and as it continues to break in, but there was no leaking of bubbles in my sump during this process, so I am stoked.

What worked for me, recap:

Nyos Quantum 160
8" Sump water height
Fully open water and air valve
Let it skim and over flow an hour or so
Slowly 'Close' water level valve to adjust as desired


Thanks again for the input everyone, got me thinking a bit more, come to find out all I had to do was read and trust what I had read a little more lol