HOB skimmer overflowing

[brclark82]

I own an Aquamaxx HOB 1.5 and until yesterday have had nothing but good experience with it.

Yesterday I was doing my normal tank maintenance and part of it is cleaning my skimmer cup. All I used to clean it was a paper towel and some tap water.

Now it immediately starts to bubble over the top and overflow the cup with clear water. The only adjustments it has is cup height and I have it set to the highest setting.

In the past after cleaning I have ran into the opposite issue where it wouldn’t produce any skimmate for a few hours after cleaning until it built some film up in the neck.

Nothing is different from anything in the past.

I have tried just letting it overflow for a few hours (it overflows back into the body of the skimmer). I have tried turning it off and just waiting a few hours. Nothing works.

I assume I can get an airflow valve and restrict the airflow but I just can’t figure out what would have happened that made it start acting like this after routine maintenance I have done a dozen times.

Any thoughts would be helpful

 

[FUNGI]

when was last time you cleaned air inlet for the venturi?

 

[brclark82]

Never but it’s only 2 months old

 

[FUNGI]

anything restricting the water outlet?...

 

[Uncle99]

Never but it’s only 2 months old

Check that carefully. Sometimes, when cleaning, a small piece of substrate or other, blocks the tube and that would result in the overflow.

I can actually still blow air though mine when blocked.
I use a tiny drill bit to remove any calcification.

 

[FUNGI]

BTW OP...how you like that thing? I owned one for about 10 minutes....then ugraded.

 

[brclark82]

BTW OP...how you like that thing? I owned one for about 10 minutes....then ugraded.

Until yesterday I’ve loved it…no microbubbles issue, removes a ton of skimmate and keeps my nutrients right where I want…but I cannot figure this out

 

[brclark82]

Check that carefully. Sometimes, when cleaning, a small piece of substrate or other, blocks the tube and that would result in the overflow.

I can actually still blow air though mine when blocked.
I use a tiny drill bit to remove any calcification.

I just check d it and there’s was a bit of salt residue so I cleaned it but same result

 

[FUNGI]

Until yesterday I’ve loved it…no microbubbles issue, removes a ton of skimmate and keeps my nutrients right where I want…but I cannot figure this out

Cleaning the air inlet (and tube) and making sure nothing is plugging the outlet are pretty much the only things you can do....I would just let it run now....

 

[brclark82]

I just read somewhere that new filter socks can make your skimmer go crazy sometimes…I added a new filter floss over the sponge in my other hob filter at the exact time this happened so I’m guessing maybe that’s what caused the issue and I just need to give it some time

Any idea why filter floss would cause a skimmer to overflow like crazy?

 

[Millsaps2378]

OP did you ever resolve this issue? I’ve had the same exact skimmer for about a year with no issues but now having the same issue you were… I unplugged for normal maintenance then primed it when I started back up but when I plugged the hose into the silencer it is just continuously filling the cup with clear water in a couple of mins and pumping out tons of micro bubbles… I’ve tried priming for longer and just letting it overflow for about an hour but I’m afraid the micro bubbles are going to stress things out… any help would be greatly appreciated!