Currently On the tail end of cycling an aquarium Red Sea 650 Peninsula using CaribSea Liferock shapes. I started running my skimmer yesterday and it is going crazy with foam, have never had this issue in the past. Has anyone had any similar issues with the LifeRock? Also using Stability and 180 pounds of Agra Alive Pink Fiji never had an issue like this in the past.
CaribbSea Liferock
- Thread starter Rob.B.
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Doran
Community Member
I suspect It will settle down in a day or so....run it super low so it doesn’t overflow. I’d speculate it’s not the rock, rather the startup bacteria’s and skimmers first run on the near cycled tank......
UM Aquarium Club
Active Member
Used about 1/3 Caribsea rock and a quite a few bags of fiji pink that they were generous enough to donate when we were were setting up our main tank and don't recall having any problems with skimming. So either we didn't run into that, or we did but it was resolved quickly enough not to remember a couple years later.
UM Aquarium Club
Active Member
Wow that sure is quite a bit of overskimming. I'd still give it a few days to break in and update. But hopefully if there's anyone else with similar experience they can share what they did to help out.
Doran
Community Member
I have 3 tanks runnin today.......context......I treated one this weekend with lights n skimmer off. After time n water change skimmer did same thing. I literally had to pile rocks and plates until Venturi was an inch below nearly sucking air. After a day in my case it dropped back.........
I’d say wait but you may be better skimming whatever is causing the reaction with some gymnastics to allow the skimmer level to work.....
I’d say wait but you may be better skimming whatever is causing the reaction with some gymnastics to allow the skimmer level to work.....
Naturalreef
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Skimmer will go crazy for a few weeks with the liferock, at least mine did. It will eventually settle down. I kept my skimmer off during that time because even at the lowest inlet setting, the foam was intense.
That’s insane, I should have just went with normal dry rock and cured it. I’ll probably go another day with the skimmer on if it doesn’t settle down I’ll shut her down for. Few weeks then hook it back up after I do a water change.
when I did my original 60 gallon I had about 80lbs of life rock, skimmer was insane, after week or so it showed no sign of stopping, so I just drained the outcome into a 5gallon pail with a longer hose from overflow( was eshoppes HOB Skimmer ) lost about 10 gallons of original water but meh water change to right? and about 10 hours of watching it ,it had settled right down and was acting normal..
Scottybgood
Community Member
Had the same thing happen as well. As was mentioned before, I left the skimmer off for a while and several water changes after cycling before the foam settled down (if I recall it was a couple weeks before it settled down)
I’ve heard the bonding agent that Caribsea uses for the bacteria to adhere to the rock causes skimmers to foam like mad. My skimmer is doing the exact same thing. I’m going to leave it off for at least another week and try again. Fingers crossed.
DesertReefT4r
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You need to skim all that out, whatever is if it just overflows back into the sump the skimmer will take a long time to settle down. Put the cup back on if it has a drain line let it drain into a 5g bucket if not just dump it when the cup fills up. Just treat it like a water change, be sure to have new saltwater mixed and ready to top off the sump.
Currently on the lowest setting. [emoji12]
Don’t know what’s up with this liferock after several unanswered emails over 2 months! I connected with a fellow reefer with a similar problem with the product. We finally we able to make contact with Caribsea after he also got frustrated from them not returning emails, he went the Social Media route and posted to their Facebook page. Now I have new problems because my rock lost its color and turned a beautiful shade of green.. I also have something leaching and collecting at the far end of the aquarium. Even thought I am in Touch with them I feel as if I’m getting the run around. It’s frustrating as I went with the name brand Caribsea to avoid any issues, as I have spent thousands of dollars on their products over the years it’s like there stance is well take your money, but the product problem is yours an not ours. [emoji2959][emoji2959][emoji2959][emoji2959]
My tank has been running for over three months now and I’m not having any problems with the liferock anymore. My skimmer went nuts at the beginning and it’s because of the bonding agent they use to adhere the bacteria to the rock. I heard it directly from from Caribsea via emails. I have had a couple of bacteria blooms but they went away in a few days. They were probably caused by me adding livestock too quickly. I haven’t had ANY algae grow anywhere except for a little bit of diatoms which the crabs and snails took care of in short order. I’ve heard that one of those little UV sterilizers can clear up bacterial blooms whether it’s cloudy water or the white “slime” but I have never tried one. I’m really surprised that you haven’t heard back from Caribsea. I got a reply the same day. Good luck and keep pushing forward!
