The Puffer Forum

I got a protein skimmer yesterday, it's a hang on back style that uses a powerhead and an airstone. This morning I woke up and checked my aquarium and the stuff the skimmer pulled out of the water into the collection cup was clear? I always thought it would have been a yellow or grown color. Is this normal? My tank is 33 gallons and use to be a freshwater but over time I converted it and it is now a SG 1.022 with 5 balloon mollies and a piece of live rock that is 4lbs (got it yesterday) with sand. I will be getting more live rock to match the 1lb to 1 gallon of water.... it's just it's expensive and I would be forking out like $200 all at once for all of it. Anyway, is it normal for the skimmer to be pulling out clear looking gunk or is it not working properly? or is my tank not full of a lot of crap?

Also, I heard that it is possible for my skimmer to be turned up too high. The powerhead that pulled the water into the skimmer is for a 295 gallon and my tank is a 33 gallon... would that matter?

The skimmage WILL be clear at first - this is normal, as skimmers take a while to break in. Once it starts to settle in, it'll start making green tea. Your skimmer is fully operating as designed when it starts making coffee.
The bioload on the tank will determine the exact setting on your skimmer. As your bioload changes, you will have to adjust your skimmer so the skimmage is not too wet.

I'm not overly sure about the powerhead; it does seem excessive, but excessive doesn't neccessarily mean problematic. What kind of skimmer do you have?

Took my skimmer 5-6 days to "bed in" & start pulling out the yucky stuff.

Oh, it's actually a second hand skimmer. She was selling it online for like $50 and all it says on it is "Aquarium Systems- manufacturer of Instant Ocean" on the lid... it's a hang on back style. I changes the air stone so it makes smaller bubbles. The power head is a 295 GPH... so it seems a little too strong for my 33 gallon. Should I change the power head to the less powerful one that I have?

Seems like it's a Instant Ocean SeaClone Protein Skimmer... that's the only one I found that looks almost identical to it... up to 100gal I think.

Seaclones are garbage. In addition, you may not have is skimming "dry" enough or you may not have enough bioload to produce good, dark skimmate.