Reef Octopus SRO 3000 Int Skimmer HELP

[Steve McGlamery]

Can you please help me? I have a SRO 3000 int skimmer I bought new 9 months ago. Right now I have the skimmer in 6 1/2 " of water. The skimmer will be running and not pulling out a lot of skim mate and all of a sudden the skimmer is over flowing. This happens about once a day. The skimmer is hardly working or its over flowing. I've tried to put the skimmer in 6" of water and the skimmer still is hardly working or its over flowing. It also sucks air if I have the skimmer at 6". Any suggestions?

 

[Frank Patano]

Is there fluctuation in water level? Can be many factors, including evaportation.. Is your sump baffled?

 

[Steve McGlamery]

This is what i thought and put a switch on the water level to shut off the skimmer if the water level changed. It still over flows for no apparent reason.

 

[Steve McGlamery]

I have an ATO.

 

[reef_junkie]

I javelin the same skimmer and it stopped doing that when I adjusted the in tank height to about 7.5". Where are you keeping your water lever in the skimmer body?

 

[reef_junkie]

Also, what pump are you running?

 

[Steve McGlamery]

Thats my next step. I'm running the skimmer at 6 1/2' now and it ran good over night. Reef octopus says they run one of theres at 8". What I can't under stand is that it will run ( making some skim mate ) then just start to over flow and I can not detect anything changing. Thanks.

 

[reef_junkie]

Possibly a clogged venturi. I have extended breathing tubes on my dual muffler to reduce noise and keep the air lines away from salt creep.

 

[Steve McGlamery]

You are correct....I found that the venturi was clog and thought I found the problem....Yahooo....No over flowed again....but it seems to have calmed down for now we will see....Thanks.

 

[reef_junkie]

Do I get a sticker[emoji14]

 

[Steve McGlamery]

Thanks to all that helped me........I believe I found the problem. When I installed the skimmer, I installed a PVC elbow to the output and extended it below the water line to silence the skimmer. It looks like an airlock was developing in the PVC pipe closing off the water flow and this was over flowing the skimmer. I shortened the PVC pipe and placed a hole for the air to escape and the skimmer has not over flowed for a week.

 

[Salt-Lick]

Lol this same thing happened to me a few years ago. Don't feel bad.

 

[Steve McGlamery]

Thanks....Live and learn.