Protein skimmer newbie

[Bradsreeftank21]

Can anyone tell me why I can’t get my new bubble magus to properly function. No matter what I turn the adjustment flow rod to it over flows the cup. It’s been running for a week

 

[Johniejumbo]

I am not familiar with those but I’ll give this a bump for more eyes.

 

[Bradsreeftank21]

I am not familiar with those but I’ll give this a bump for more eyes.

Thank you!

 

[Blue Spot Octopus]

Is this a new tank? Do you have a new filter sock in the sump? Are you running new carbon or GFO?

 

[Darren in Tacoma]

New skimmers usually do that. You could take it out and clean thoroughly with a small amount of soapy water, very small amount of soap, rinse well and dry with some paper towels and reinstall. Many plastic parts come from a mold that has a mold release as well as other surface contaminants from manufacturing. These need to be removed. Then there is a little break in time. You can also, maybe, raise your skimmer out of the water a little more.

 

[PatW]

Sometimes there is something in the water that causes berserk skimmer syndrome. When I have a skimmer overflowing, I crank it up to get it over flowing faster. I have salt water at hand. I let the cup fill, empty it, add saltwater to replace and repeat. Usually after about 10 minutes of this, the skimmer settles down and I reduce the skimmers setting to normal. Any number of chemicals can cause a skimmer to over flow. My trick is just a simple way of removing most of the offending chemical. Of course, it might BE the skimmer and then this method won’t help.

 

[Bradsreeftank21]

Yes this is a 2 week old tank Red Sea reefer