I'm having a lot of problems with my reef octopus essence 130 that I was hoping somebody could help out with. The skimmer has been running for about 3 months now and I'm still constantly dealing with it just overflowing randomly. I like to skim kind of on the drier side and so for the first 2 days after cleaning out the cup and neck the skimmer works fine. Usually on day 3-5 the skimmer will slowly start skimming wetter and wetter. To put this in perspective, day 1 skimmate production will be about 10% of the cup. By day 3-5 days, it's not exactly 'overflowing the cup' but it'll start pulling out 20-30% per day of much lighter and wetter skimmate.
The skimmer is hooked up to 75gal that I feed relatively heavily. The skimmer water level is at 7.5" and the skimmer is being controlled by my apex. I have very tight control settings over it to try to prevent overflowing - I have sensors that if the water rises above 8" the skimmer will automatically be shut off. I also have apex programming to shut the skimmer off before, during, and after preset feed modes 3-4 times a day where I shut off my return pump and the water level in my sump rises. During the feed modes, the water will rise about 0.75" below the skimmer neck (air intake). Right after a cleaning, my settings will be 7.5" water level and 12-13 on the dial. This creates a constant drier foam head. By day 3-5, I have to pretty much max the dial at 16 and even then it is skimming wetter than I would like. I've seen people dialing it in at 10 at similar water levels which seems impossible to me.
I've tried to combat this 'creeping overflow' by opening up the valve every few days but it's annoying that I have to babysit this skimmer like this and it doesn't seem normal. I've tried numerous things to troubleshoot the problem and I'm kind of at a loss right now of what else I can do. I've tried opening it up to seeing if something was stuck inside (pump is always clear and clean). I've pulled out the gray venturi and tubing and rinsed it out. Nothing inside, doesn't change anything. I've tried cleaning the air intake. Again nothing inside, no changes. No matter what I do, this skimmer starts off day 1-2 skimming fine and then slowly starts skimming wetter and wetter every day afterwards. Right now I'm at a loss of what to do and I'm about to throw this thing in the trash.
The skimmer is hooked up to 75gal that I feed relatively heavily. The skimmer water level is at 7.5" and the skimmer is being controlled by my apex. I have very tight control settings over it to try to prevent overflowing - I have sensors that if the water rises above 8" the skimmer will automatically be shut off. I also have apex programming to shut the skimmer off before, during, and after preset feed modes 3-4 times a day where I shut off my return pump and the water level in my sump rises. During the feed modes, the water will rise about 0.75" below the skimmer neck (air intake). Right after a cleaning, my settings will be 7.5" water level and 12-13 on the dial. This creates a constant drier foam head. By day 3-5, I have to pretty much max the dial at 16 and even then it is skimming wetter than I would like. I've seen people dialing it in at 10 at similar water levels which seems impossible to me.
I've tried to combat this 'creeping overflow' by opening up the valve every few days but it's annoying that I have to babysit this skimmer like this and it doesn't seem normal. I've tried numerous things to troubleshoot the problem and I'm kind of at a loss right now of what else I can do. I've tried opening it up to seeing if something was stuck inside (pump is always clear and clean). I've pulled out the gray venturi and tubing and rinsed it out. Nothing inside, doesn't change anything. I've tried cleaning the air intake. Again nothing inside, no changes. No matter what I do, this skimmer starts off day 1-2 skimming fine and then slowly starts skimming wetter and wetter every day afterwards. Right now I'm at a loss of what to do and I'm about to throw this thing in the trash.
