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by Debbie & Stan Hauter
09/10/01 - On recommendation by another saltwater aquarists on Moloka'i where we live, we purchased the medium sized Lee's Counter Current Protein Skimmer (Cat. No. 17105) from the Petland store located at Ala Moana Center in Waikiki, Hawai'i while we were visiting on Oahu for a few days. It is constructed of hard acrylic and comes with everything to install it; suction cups, on tank hanger, air hoses, one 2" limewood air diffuser (air stone), and adjustable air valves. We needed an air pump to run it, so we purchased an Otto Model SA-3500. Because this particular skimmer model is designed to function at optimal operation with the Lee's 2" Limewood Air Diffuser, and it is recommended to change it every 3-6 weeks or as needed when air bubble size exceeds 1.0 mm, we also purchased a two pack of these (Cat. No. 12550) for later use. We had plenty of air hose at home, so we did not need to purchase any. However, you may have to get some extra air hose material, depending on where you place the air pump for hooking it up to the skimmer. Here is our total cost layout for the purchase of this skimmer:
If you add in the expense of traveling to another island to purchase these products ($120.00 for airline tickets, and $300.00 for two days accommodations/food), the math does change. Just kidding, LOL. This shopping trip was on our agenda for our planned stay at the Pacific Beach Hotel, to revisit their 280,000 indoor oceanarium since the review we did in 1998. Anyway, we installed this simple, straightforward little skimmer in our 55g semi-reef tank (one 15 inch Snowflake Eel, some Left-Handed Hermits and assorted Snails, two colonies of Zoanthid, a mated pair of Coral Banded Shrimps, some non-living corals and live rock), and it seems to be working pretty good. It was easy to install, taking all of about 5 minutes. However, the tricky part of getting this skimmer to work properly is:
This skimmer is not very expensive or fancy, and far from being one that is state-of-the-art. However, for all intents and purposes it does seem to be doing the job, and we are happy with it. As time progresses we will keep you updated as to its use, functionality and operation.  Product Update: 10/15/01 - All was running fine, but then the collection cup began filling with too much liquid (water), and we had to empty it every few hours. No matter what adjustments we made to the air hose valves, this did not correct the problem. We determined that the limewood air stone needed to be replaced. When the air stone gets worn out it begins to produce larger bubbles, rather than the very fine ones that make the skimmer skim properly. We saved the old removed air stone, boiled it in water, thoroughly dried it out, and have it stored for reuse. We know that with the blue type air stones if you dry them out you can reuse them, so we are going to try this out with the limewood air stone when it's time for a change again, to see if this works. Upon changing the air stone we moved the unit to the back corner of the aquarium and cleaned the contact chamber, as it was coated with a film of brown diatom and some green algae. After restarting the skimmer we found that while readjusting the two air valves, the return tube bubbles we being blocked, flowing spuractically when adjusted as to fast, too slow, or not at all. We disconnected the downward flow air hose and found that the tiny pin sized hole of the plastic connector that allows air to flow down into the return tube were being obstructed by a build up of salt crystal residue. We cleaned it out with a metal wire and toothpick and restarted the unit again. Much better, but the bubbles in the return tube still were rising spuratically. We then removed the return tube, which has a very small diameter, so needed to find something that would fit inside to clean the green algae film off the inside of the tube. Using the handle of a wooden kitchen spoon, which fit into the tube perfectly, we scraped and cleaned the tube out and put it back together. This did the trick, and after a few days of getting the air valves adjusted just right, the skimmer began to collect very dark green to black gunk in the cup again and has been working fine ever since. The Bottom Line: Change the air stone and clean ALL parts of the unit regularly when needed. Product Update: 02/21/02 - Following the manufacturer's recommended frequency for changing the limewood air stone, and cleaning the unit regularly when needed, our Lee's Skimmer is working just fine and still doing a good job. Product Update: 03/21/03 -  With regular monthly maintenance cleaning of this unit, particularly having to unclog the pin-sized hole of the downward air supply hose's plastic nipple connection at the bottom of the unit when it becomes obstructed by a salt crystal residue build up, changing the limewood air stone, and dealing with tweeking the set up for a few days once its been restarted after cleaning, our Lee's Counter-Current Skimmer as well as the Otto Model SA-3500 air pump we bought at the same time to run it is still going strong and working as it should.
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