Waste collector New out of the Box

This is waste collector which will hold the skimmate which exits the skimmer. The skimmate will enter via a compression insert fitting on the top left side (often called a John Guest fitting). The white tall fittings on top also extend downward into the collection cup.

The bottom half is the auto-shutoff device, which is more or less a trapped ping-pong ball. Should enough skimmate be produced to reach the top the ping-pong ball floats upward in the device until it hits the top and with both restrict skimmate from exiting the device and restrict air from exiting. The back pressure of air will collapse the foam column inside the skimmer and reduce the amount of skimmate being produced until you can empty & clean it.

The top half of the device hold activated carbon media which helps to remove the foul smell from the air exiting the collection cup and help prevent the entire room from stinking.

Skimmate buildup in the waste collector

This is several hours of skimmate production stored in the waste collector while curing live rock.

The liquid is dark green/brown and the foam still has not collapsed even after dropping nearly 60 inches from the skimmer collection cup.

Waste Collector Container

This is the waste collector container the skimmer dumps into. I probably should have cleaned it a little before taking a picture as it is still dusty from the tank room construction.

This is an auto-shutoff waste collector... at least in theory. The white fitting has a float on the bottom to prevent an overflow. The top part holds carbon to clean the air exiting. The room quickly starts to stink without it.