New protein skimmer

saltynewbie · 03-17-2007, 08:14 PM

I returned my little skimmer and exchanged it for one that should be able to handle my tank. I just finished getting it on and noticed that it is quite loud. I don't think there is much i can do to muffle the sound. Therefore, there is only one alternative- turn it off. This leads to my question- are protein skimmers supposed to run 24 hours a day? I was hoping that I could turn it off for half the day and turn it back on at night. Also, the air valve had a stopper at the end of it. I took it completely off so that I could get some good bubbling. Is that okay? The instruction manual didn't mention anything about it.

gm333 · 03-17-2007, 08:56 PM

Is the sound coming from the air intake? If so you can make a muffler for the intake, or you might be able to buy one, but I heard skimmers work better without the muffler.

saltynewbie · 03-17-2007, 09:29 PM

There are three different sounds. One of them is the water splashing back into the tank. That I should be able to fix. The second sound is the air. This is not too loud and I can live with it. The third most annoying and loud sound is a buzzing hum that I'm guessing is coming from the whole process itself- a bit from the pump and a bit from the cycloning.

Chitown1 · 03-17-2007, 09:30 PM

I run mine 24/7 on all my tanks. Some are def. louder than others, what kind do you have? You can add a muffler like GM suggested but you will need to re-adjust the flow to accomidate less air being brought in to the unit.

gm333 · 03-17-2007, 10:13 PM

The buzzing sound might be your pump vibrating, try picking up the pump a little to see if it helps.

Radom · 03-18-2007, 08:51 PM

My skimmer sits in my sump but once in a while it would just move a bit and generate irritating sounds. I have placed thin rubber pad under the whole unit and its quite quiet now. I run it 24/7 also.