I hate my protein skimmer

ThunderGoose · Mar 13, 2017

I've had my first reef tank up and running for three months now and I'm still having problems with my protein skimmer. I turn it off to do water changes and it seems like every time I turn it on again I have to readjust the flow. This last time I spent hours trying to adjust the flow and I can't get it to NOT fill the skimmer cup with water within about an hour. Argh!

Of course once I turned it off in frustration I was surprised at how much quieter my tank runs without it. Which is great because it's in my living room. If I could get the skimmer running reliably could I just run it at night?

How essential is the protein skimmer? Can I get away with using algae to absorb nutrients and provide oxygen (lit when the tank is dark)? Can I do that with a lighted refugium instead of an ATS? Are there other alternatives that won't drive me batty trying to adjust?

Thanks for any suggestions.

tangerine3486 · Mar 13, 2017

You can get away without a skimmer, I think you have to be extra careful on your feeding and stocking.

What size is your tank?

aabjones888 · Mar 13, 2017

On a smaller tank u can get by without one just doing water changes. You shouldn't be adjusting your skimmer that much, have you tried a different one? I've set up a few and hardly ever mess with them.

klesel · Mar 13, 2017

Depends on you load of corals fish .what size is the tank ? What kinda skimmer ?

tangerine3486 · Mar 13, 2017

I also agree with that. I hated my last skimmer as much as i could hate anything. I threw money at a nice new one and I am very happy.

Kershaw · Mar 13, 2017

You can use a refugium. Instead of protein skimmer. But as others said depends on your bio load of tank. I would also consider a different protein skimmer. Some are finicky and some are set it and forget it. Some are louder some are quieter.
If your using a corallife skimmer which allot of people start with, they tend to overflow just by looking at them. I used one for a year and half and while it did work good once I dialed it in each time. It was a pain to deal with.

ahiggins · Mar 13, 2017

I have the eshopps nano skimmer and I have the same issue. I have to adjust daily. I however run it hooked into a bio pellet reactor to keep my nitrates low. Have to because I stocked a bit heavy for the 25 gal

Fishgeek88 · Mar 13, 2017

What skimmer?

Kershaw · Mar 13, 2017

ahiggins said:
I have the eshopps nano skimmer and I have the same issue. I have to adjust daily. I however run it hooked into a bio pellet reactor to keep my nitrates low. Have to because I stocked a bit heavy for the 25 gal

I have also had eshopps do that also, not as bad as corallife but still did it
Currently on my vertex it overflows when I change my filter socks if I don't rinse them after cleaning good enough

ahiggins · Mar 13, 2017

I've never used coralife before.
I thought about going refugium but I would need a whole lotta macro for what I produce lol

Lionfish Lair · Mar 13, 2017

I've hated all my skimmers. All of them.... for 20 years... every.... single.... one.

I gave up using them O.O

reefwiser · Mar 13, 2017

What Skimmer? Where is it mounted? A skimmer removes organics that will cling to air bubbles while ATS remove organics that can be removed by algae not always the same type. When ai skimmer overflows and is hard to adjust there is an issue with the water level inside the skimmer not staying at the same water height all the time. This can be due to the pump supplying the water to the skimmer not being the right height.

ThunderGoose · Mar 13, 2017

Wow. Lots of good thoughts. My tank is a RedSea Reefer 250 (~55 gallons in display), I'm running a Reef Octopus 150 in the sump. I took it out this morning. cleaned inside and out (even in the pump) set it to the lowest setting (most outflow) and the cup filled with almost clear WATER within 10 minutes. Dumped, tried again. Ditto.

I did check the height again. Even watched the company video on how to set it up. The tank is relatively new - two clownfish and a watchmen. I'm planning on invertebrate heavy and fish light (maximum of 3 more fish - blenny, neon goby and assessor is what I have planned).

Ammonia, nitrate, nitrites and phosphate are all 0.

I feed frozen food, I thaw a cube and toss it away after 3 days in the fridge. I don't finish it.

Unless anyone has a great idea I think I'll be trying to set up an ATS and do water changes. I've been in freshwater for a few years (cough*decades*cough) so that's not a big deal for me. I like the idea of a gallon a day to help keep parameters steady.

Reef man 89 · Mar 13, 2017

Is there somthing in the water that's making it do that? Like a chemical or freshly made saltwater? I have heard that a lot of times there somthing in the water making the skimmer over flow.

tangerine3486 · Mar 13, 2017

Hey I also have a Reef Octopus classic 150...that was my solution to the skimmer I hated and I love the 150. What number is yours set on?

To clarify, I have the Classic 150SSS 6". Is this the same?

malira · Mar 13, 2017

ThunderGoose said:
Wow. Lots of good thoughts. My tank is a RedSea Reefer 250 (~55 gallons in display), I'm running a Reef Octopus 150 in the sump. I took it out this morning. cleaned inside and out (even in the pump) set it to the lowest setting (most outflow) and the cup filled with almost clear WATER within 10 minutes. Dumped, tried again. Ditto.

I did check the height again. Even watched the company video on how to set it up. The tank is relatively new - two clownfish and a watchmen. I'm planning on invertebrate heavy and fish light (maximum of 3 more fish - blenny, neon goby and assessor is what I have planned).

Ammonia, nitrate, nitrites and phosphate are all 0.

I feed frozen food, I thaw a cube and toss it away after 3 days in the fridge. I don't finish it.

Unless anyone has a great idea I think I'll be trying to set up an ATS and do water changes. I've been in freshwater for a few years (cough*decades*cough) so that's not a big deal for me. I like the idea of a gallon a day to help keep parameters steady.

When I was breaking mine in I had to raise it up quite a bit. I built a platform with pvc and light diffuser panels. It still sits on it since I have a deep sump.

I would raise it up, so it doesn't fill the cup, until it breaks in.

Watevadog5 · Mar 13, 2017

I have the same skimmer on my 90 with a 40 fuge and love it. I 0nly had 1 issue with overflowing and that was because I was using a new epoxy for my rocks/plugs. What I normally do is hook a hose up to the collection cup output and let it flow into a bucket until it settles down. Just another idea would be to take apart the pump and make sure you have nothing in the impeller. When I had cheato I would find strands inside causing issues with bubbling and simply pumping water into the cup.

ThunderGoose · Mar 13, 2017

Ding ding ding! We have a winner. I did just epoxy a bunch of frags right before this problem started. Thanks @Watevadog5 I'll hook up the outflow to a bucket and wait till it settles.