Protein skimmer going crazy when you least expect it.

[REEFKEEPER10]

So every now and then I get up in the middle of the night to water in the floor from you guessed it my skimmer being possessed. I have a corallife 125 super skimmer it sits in my sump. I have the cup drain hose run to the outside of the tank into a jug. It works good most of the time but at least once every week or two it goes crazy and starts running super wet. With in 30 minutes it fills up the jug and overflows into my floor. Does anyone else have problems with there skimmers. And yes I know part of my problem is my skimmer but it is a lot better than a seaclone trust me I have one in the back yard from me throwing it out the door. It might become a planter for tomatoes. Lol

 

[_sludgefactory]

Key words, coralife super skimmer!

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[_sludgefactory]

Pmed

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[REEFKEEPER10]

Like I said better than a seaclone by a long shot. Lol

 

[ruppertb]

i have the same skimmer, soon to upgrade. i have had it 4 yrs and never had issues since someone in my club told me a few weeks after set up to ditch something it came with. Now i never used a skimmer b4 this so i followed along and it works perfect.

im not sure of your setup i use mine in the sump. i ditched the gray micro bubble box, the foam fills with crap and then puts back pressure on the skimmer making it go crazy, secondly i retrofited pvc into the exit and put a 45 elbow on it to water. but i leave it out of the water like an ich, also stops back pressure.

check these 2 things, might be the prob.

i also have a hose going from mine to a gallon jug with a handle, that i have sliced and hang on my sump wall over the return, if it goes crazy which never happens but just in case, it flows into tank water instead of floor

 

[REEFKEEPER10]

It will go crazy if I use a stress coat every time. Today I fed formula one frozen food which is in a jell. I'm going to try some mods on it and see. If not I need to plant some peppers too. Lol

 

[ReefCycle]

That is what breaks down differences in quality Skimmers vs crappy ones. I have 3 Skimmers in my storage from that. The thing that stinks is when u realize price for better skimmer is usually 30-50 bux more than skimmer u have in ur price point. I have had many floods courtesy of coralife. Best day ever is when I met coralife rep. Muahhahs I gave him a piece of my mind

 

[REEFKEEPER10]

mine works great as far as pulling crap out of the water but that flooding thing is getting on my nerves. especially since i rent and it is hardwood floors. luckily there is no damage yet. other than bugs needing to be worked out i would recommend it to someone on a low budget over a seaclone. if i bought the best of everything it would take me years to put a system together.

 

[cdness]

I have a few questions first:

1. What water level do you have your skimmer sitting in?

2. Is the water level in your sump consistent as in controlled by baffles?

3. Why are you adding stress coat to your tank? I don't think I have ever added that stuff in many years other than maybe in QT.

You have a few options:

1. Get a better skimmer - This one is debatable as even good skimmers can have issues if not done right.

2. Move your jug to a place where will overflow into the sump. If and when the issue happens, at least you aren't flooding your rental's hardwood floors.

3. Get the skimmate locker from Avast Marine. It has a system to stop the air flow to the skimmer when it gets filled up, thus causing the skimmer to shut down. This could alleviate your flooding issues altogether.

 

[btkrausen]

Yes, why are you using Stress Coat in your tank? That's probably causing your skimmer to go crazy. Also, make sure to rinse your food before feeding and some food will cause your skimmer to lose its foam head.

 

[_sludgefactory]

When mine was flooding i ran the drain line from the cup to a jug which i made air tight. That way when it backed up it did so into the collection cup. The i drilled a hole about an once up the wall of the collection cup and ran a second hose back into my sump. That way when the jug filled the cup would over flow out of the second tube into the sump. And stop using stress coat.

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[_sludgefactory]

You can also do this to increase performance.

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[REEFKEEPER10]

I have I sitting in 9 inches of water that is baffled. Before I got my RO/DI unit I used tap water and a lot of water conditioners have stress coat in them. But the jel that some frozen foods are in does the same thing. I don't add stress coat to the tank.

 

[soccerbag]

Of course, you could buy a skimmate locker (or make one) with a pressure switch that would cut your skimmer off once the bucket / jug is full. It will cost some money but its better than waking up to water on your floors all the time...

 

[REEFKEEPER10]

that had crossed my mind but my saving for my 150g build which will have a little bit better Skimmer.

 

[soccerbag]

Gotcha. I think we have all experienced what you are going through right now. And why doesn't it ever overflow when we are in front of it? lol.

The skimmate lockers are very affordable and would recemmend them with any skimmer (regardless of the price). Even top of the line skimmers can overflow on the floor.

 

[REEFKEEPER10]

yeah i thought it was just my Skimmer taunting me. im going with a aqua c ev 240 on my 150 build. i know there is better Skimmers out there but i already have a mag 18.

 

[_sludgefactory]

yeah i thought it was just my Skimmer taunting me. im going with a aqua c ev 240 on my 150 build. i know there is better Skimmers out there but i already have a mag 18.

Wow are u my twin? I was going to but the aqua-c ev 180 for my tank. Lol

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[jonbar1]

Probably not the same problem but always worth checking. Where the venturi attaches to the pump make sure the air way is completely clear. My HOB octopus kept overflowing and it turned out the airway was restricted with limescale/saltcreep. Restricted air=wet floors

 

[_sludgefactory]

^+1