Setting My Skimmer

[ccejka]

I am having an issue setting my skimmer. No matter how I turn the gate valve I can not get the skimmer to stop over flowing my cup, I tried to raise and lower it in the water and the problem still seems to happen.

I used the skimmer in the past but life got busy and the tank basically sat with me doing the bare minimum. Now I am working on cleaning it up doing water changes and can not get it to run like it used.

I am pulling my hair to figure this thing out and I am just looking for a little help.

 

[Rmckoy]

So same skimmer that once was used in the same position ?

same water depth ?

 

[dedragon]

reef octopus sro 1000, or 2000 (man its a great skimmer). Did you check the venturi or impeller for cracks or rust? Did you check air lines for calc buildup (inside of venturi as well)? Did you try to run the whole thing in citric acid and then wash it fully clean? Sometimes old skimmer may have had some calcification that popped off and clogged elsewhere when you first turned it on causing it to overflow.

 

[Rmckoy]

There is something in the water . That’s making it go this way .
or it was cleaned , something and it’s trying to break in ? Which can take some time .

this is the frustrating part of in sump skimmers and why I always preferred external .

 

[Uncle99]

Turn water pump down, then you can open the gate more.
Otherwise Venturi is blocked from air flow.

 

[Lost in the Sauce]

Sounds like it needs re broken in. Can you run it without the cup?

 

[dedragon]

if something isnt clogged it could just be regular break in, on this skimmer and if cleaned with citric acid it should only take 1-3 days to break in fully. When breaking in though I would use the water height you used in the past and run the gate valve almost completely open. For air I would restrict to the point it is "boiling" up to the lower part of the neck and just leave it there for a few days

 

[dedragon]

Turn water pump down, then you can open the gate more.
Otherwise Venturi is blocked from air flow.

Sounds like it needs re broken in. Can you run it without the cup?

Yep trying to explain that rn, you guys are always on the right track with wat you say as well, hope you had a happy holiday/ new years.

I usually run as low water "boiling" in the bottom of the neck and open the drain plug for the skimmer cup as it is in sump, but def agreed with the notion to help stop overflowing

 

[ccejka]

That gives me something to start with looking at.

It was a used skimmer I bought of here and worked great till the "great crash" of my tank.

Then I lost some love for the hobby and did the minimum to keep the fish alive and (be easy on me here lol) I left the skimmer in the sump not running at all .

She will get a soak and deep cleaning tomorrow followed by an inspection.

 

[dedragon]

If the pump or impeller is broken and it becomes hard to find replacements (old bubble blaster was great though), i highly suggest changing over to the sicce psk sdc 1200 for the external pump, or the jebao skimmer kit from coralbox (I highly suspect the reef octopus uses the same jebao components IMO) for a bit cheaper. You will need to see if the bubble baster venturi fits the psk 1200 pump though, or just add the venturi extra, just some good options to have in case the bubble blaster ever dies, but just my opinion.

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[dedragon]

That gives me something to start with looking at.

It was a used skimmer I bought of here and worked great till the "great crash" of my tank.

Then I lost some love for the hobby and did the minimum to keep the fish alive and (be easy on me here lol) I left the skimmer in the sump not running at all .

She will get a soak and deep cleaning tomorrow followed by an inspection.

Is it the 2000 or the 1000 just curious?

 

[dedragon]

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found the venturi just in case

 

[dedragon]

That gives me something to start with looking at.

It was a used skimmer I bought of here and worked great till the "great crash" of my tank.

Then I lost some love for the hobby and did the minimum to keep the fish alive and (be easy on me here lol) I left the skimmer in the sump not running at all .

She will get a soak and deep cleaning tomorrow followed by an inspection.

No soaps, it will take longer to clean it/break it in after. A good alternative to citric acid in a pinch is either muriatic acid (much harder to use), or white vinegar. Be careful as it can damage pumps as vinegar has been known to expand magnets but if you dont have the pump in it too long you should be fine

 

[ccejka]

No soaps, it will take longer to clean it/break it in after. A good alternative to citric acid in a pinch is either muriatic acid (much harder to use), or white vinegar. Be careful as it can damage pumps as vinegar has been known to expand magnets but if you dont have the pump in it too long you should be fine

I plan on using citric acid, that's all I have ever used on my equipment thanks to people on R2R.

And thanks for all the links if I can't get it running I like the idea of a DC controllable pump.

 

[ccejka]

Is it the 2000 or the 1000 just curious?

Super Reef Octopus 3000 int

 

[dedragon]

Super Reef Octopus 3000 int

for that i would say either the jebao or the sicce psk sdc 2600 turned down to half so you get the same amount of air to water as well as a dc pump running at half speed (low sound)