skimmer failure equals algae?

[BoneXriffic]

It seems my skimmer has taken a dump and isnt pushing foam into the cup any more... last few days green algae has been covering glass within the day and tank loogs a bit foggy....do these sound connected? Can i combat this with frequent waterchanges untill i aquire a skimmer? Nitrates have read 0 last 3 days and phosphates are less than .2.... down from .5 a week and a half ago

 

[hejjo]

Might have salt build up where the pump sucks in air.

I have to pull my tube off about every 2-3 weeks n stick a tooth pick in it to bust up the salt creep.

 

[BoneXriffic]

Might have salt build up where the pump sucks in air.

I have to pull my tube off about every 2-3 weeks n stick a tooth pick in it to bust up the salt creep.

Thanks for the tip, never thought of this

 

[mcarroll]

It seems my skimmer has taken a dump and isnt pushing foam into the cup any more... last few days green algae has been covering glass within the day and tank loogs a bit foggy....do these sound connected? Can i combat this with frequent waterchanges untill i aquire a skimmer? Nitrates have read 0 last 3 days and phosphates are less than .2.... down from .5 a week and a half ago

Could also be a slight buildup of CO2 from the lack of aeration. Both conditions favor "foggy algae".

At most you'll need a new impeller or pump, but my money is on the advice you got from @hejjo. +1

Make sure that air-intake hole is clean!

While you're at it, take the pump apart and give it a thorough cleaning - especially focus on rinsing the impeller-well clean of all grit before re-assembly.

What skimmer is it, BTW?

 

[BoneXriffic]

Its a ....14ish year old aquaclear... pump runs good but i think the cylinder maybe be leaking where in flow goes in....also pump spits air all in the sump i has a filter pad around it to stop bubbles from getting in dt